Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-07-12
THE TOWNS PACPERS.
The story Told by Deacon Moses. Keen
er OF the Hic kOrytOVyn Poor Farm.

yes-they're a queer LOT
them town paupers; but then-wall-
Jtler IS a master sight Of queer folkg i
this ere world n I dunno IS pa1pers i
any queerer n the bulk on EN- I dun
no y they're any stranger N folks I
average. Some times ] think they be
a then ag'in + -don't-know. :"
Deacon Moses took of his hat, ant
gazed fxedly into it like witch into
pot, as though expecting to find ther,
the solution of the perplexity. The1
he drew, from the hats depths,
pocket-handkerchIef, so called by The
compliment of custom, the which, how
ever, no pocket ever did, would, on
comfortably could, contain, by reason
OF its size In fact, a very marvel o.
magnitude and gorgeousness was this
pocket or hat-handkerchief. SO large
indeed, was it that Mrs. Deacon Moses
was reported, and commonly believed,
to have worn it, folded g kitten on
her cODubial shoulders, one afternoon,
TO the lecture preparatory" which
assemblage was, in Hickorytown, sort
OF undress solemnity, either requiring
nor admitting of fuH-dress pont1ficials.
As to the color this same article in
evItablY suggested a millennial union
OF the hags Of ali nations, their com
bined hues and mingled designs beine
brought together to produce a kaleido-
scope effect, which was, in an eminent
degree, unique and startling.
Ii [ have seemed, in this description
of the handkerchief, to lose sight of
the man, it is because the man is, at
the present lost sight of behind the
handkerchief, his wrinkled, grizzly face,
being for an instant, obscured in the
gorgeous folds of the bandana From
this brief eclipse, however, Deacon
Moses energies, and with fresh strength
picks up the threads of his conversa-
ton, if, indeed, that can be called con-
veesatiOn which is not dialogue but
monolOgue, not coloquy but soliloquy.
But | set out to tell We bout Aunt
Reeny. You see we don't hev much
company up to our 'us'n' eff Z do git
anybody tn talk to I'm apt to run on
but ye see Aunt Reeny- Manton,
she that was, merried to Uncle Mace
jah Bangs. An an old brute he was,
an beasts life he led her, n bimeby
he had cancer n that made him forty
times crOsser N he wos before, which
Warn't necessary no how. Beat all how
long he lived arter that thing took holt
on him. Seemed as eff he didn't die coz
the Lord warn't in want O. just such.
But he did die finally, an twarn't long
arter that fore his wldder come to our
place. | tell you she was a woman.
50 Cross z Bless yer dear heart, no!
She was just the meekest, cleverest,
blessedest leetle ole critter t ever did
live. From the day t she come to our
house. remember il s If t W S this
ere mOrniag, come q settin' in an old
reaniynr, The e,raly property she owned IN
the world-from the day she came in
ter my house a-settin' in that cheer to
the day t she went out on t a layin' in
her pauper's coffin, that air woman
never said or did thing to trouble
any hvIn' cIlttur inside ont Gin'rally
speakn' women paupers are more pes
term than men paupers. I dunno why,
only they be. There's Bash now. She'll
have her tantrums to this day. Like
'nough she'll git mad an won't open
her head, nor speak word to none of
us from one weeks end to mother
Iaint woman's way, mostly, O. show
IN her spunk, but see'll talk to herself,
an to Jerry-that's her brother, YOU
know-he has to take it at thin times
Now, don't never pay no 'ttention to
none OF her fractiousness, but my wife
don't like it.
: You see ther was a good deal t. wus
extraordinary about Aunt Reeny. Meb-
by sh'll tire re out with this yarn ?
Thank ye-much obleeged for the com
pbment. I'll go ahead.
Iou see Aunt Reeny warn't no COM
mon woman. Poor as poverty's back
doOr'n he'd ben, all her born DAYS.
You know most o the towns poor
have seen better days. Efthey haint,
they sware they hev, an tn come 'long'n
and Sc down 'mongst 'em, n hear 'em
runnin on, why bless my soul, you'd
think they'd all ben kings N queens
once. But Aunt Reeney warn't worth
dollar in the world when she come
there, N yet she hadn't ben there a
month before everybody under that ruff
respected her s sefshe'd ben the grandest
lady IN the land. She wus so kind N
lovin' IN forgivin' 'nonseltish like. Eff
| was goin' off somer'ers it was,
! Deacon Moses, can't [ git down yer
overcoat, and can't / find yer
amberel fur YOU? An when
/ got back, she'd come a-walk-
ing so slow an soft like
she wus lame-out ont the piazzv t1
meet me-, pears to me sometimes [ can
see her jest as she used to look, her
face all peaked, and wrinkied, and her
h 10 h., Il oE
ver-leaf poppler tree, creepin' out ont
the stoop a-smilin' and askin', Have
you had a good time, Deacon Moses ?
Did you find SOphy well and the chill
dren@ Then when [ got in she'd come
an Sc down with her knittin' work long
side o. the table while [ eat my supper,
and she'd want tu know all about
Sophy, aud little Jack, and all of 'em.
An her Words-wall, [ can't tell YOU
nothing there aIn't no sort O. use try
IN to tell you nothin t all about it.
Their amt no givin' you no sort Of an
idea what Aunt Reeny was anyhow, no
way nor shape But theirs something
| must tell, cause t was sort o remark
able An that was the way she died.
You know Sophy's my married
ddu8nlSI. iCAe NllG TO young NGQ
Langley the storekeeper down t the
Falls. Ever been init that store o MS
'en? I s'pose it's bout the neatest
thing o that sort ther is in these parts.
Sophy allus was proper smart girl
Takes after her mother Sophy does.
But then, that amt neither here nun
there. What [ was goin' to tell was
how Aunt Reeny died. It was in straw
berry time, If [ remember right, and
Sophy was stayin' t home with he1
boy, that's Jack. He was goin' on three
years old t that time, Ii he took the
greatest ikin to Aunt Reeny, just as
all the rest Of us did for that matter.
first thing when his nHss fetched the
little scamp down III the morning he'd
stretch out his hands to her and get
into her lap, he would, an pull the
comb out, and letdown her hair. 1t was
kinder cnnIty, aud curly, Aunt Reeny s
halr WIS, an alIus made me think
9 corn silk inside of the husks.
L. WIS SO sort % wavy an soft. Wall.
they'd set there, Aunt Reenv a-smilin
zhat SHINY kind Of q smile o. hern. an6
Jack buiiOIn' an laugbin, SOL yor