The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-10-17
WASH JONES, LOAFER.

"There is Wash Jones, propping NJ
the corner rs usual. The LATEST, mos;
worthless fellow ever saw in my life.
He hasn't snap enough 10 do much mis-
chief. and certainly not enough 10 do
any good" tt't t9.i"i
Mr.. Nathan Brent was driving slowly
along the main street of Berkeley vii
lage, the only other occupant of his
dOuble-seate wagon being a girl of IS,
whose features sufficiently proclaimed
her his daughter. ....-
al hear every body saying how shift
less he is" she responded; " however,
it's better so than if he were downright
ugly with his lGziness."
81 don't know; | don't know Mr..
Brent shook his head slowly. Isome-
times think | had rather see fellow
with some life, even if it does break
over. We amt any of us perfect"
"And / suppose this fellows imper-
fection is want of energy. Very I'M
pleasant, of course, but not the worst
thing in the world" -.r...
:" That amt his only fault, You may
depend upon it. just look at him as he
stands there, and see if you can think of
any place in life made for such as be.
Too intelligent for fool; too lazy to be
much of rascal; only fit to disgust and
burden the world"
They were in front of the.-yillage
bank Mr.. Brent drove down to the
edge of the curb, dropped the lines
across the dashboard, laads went inside
to transact some business. The girl,
sitting upon the back seat, half turned
her head to watch the object of their
remarks. Not that Wash Jones was
personally very attractive. Tall, gaunt,
lifeless, he leaned against the corner of
a building near and fazily watched what
passed before his eyes with scarcely q
sign OF interest in the busy life-scene.
BY general consent Wash was
acknowledged the loafer of the village
of Berkeley; and there certainly was
not another OF his class who presented
such contradictory phases of character
If character he could be said to have
at all. Worthless as he was, in every
practical sense, and gravitating ever to-
ward the worst socisty-in the place.
for country villages do have very bad
social elements, notwithstanding the
stereotyped paragraphs in regard to
their purity-there seemed a repellsnt
element somewhere in his nature. Al
though all afloat in the sea of iniquty,
he would not sink beneath its~waves, d
and he quite as'resolutely. resisted all.
efforts at his rescue. None of the serious
iniquitieS that now and then disturbed
the neighborhood were ever traced To
him, and no effort of the very many that
were made TO induce him TO come out
from his vile associates and strive for
something better ever produced the
slightest result The church, Sunday
school, even any erdiharysocialg gather
ing, was quite beyond the range of his
aspiration, and he had never been in
duced to take part in any good work
any more thanin manual labor. His
widowed mother, by -loseping- II sfriaff-
clearinghouse, and his sister, by serv-
ices rs school-teacher, managed to
support the family ofufouE, - younger
brother completing the family. -wT1~
So Z" Wasii'h- only hisnlother and
sister seemed 10 know That he had once
been christened in honor % of the
father of his cOuntry-stood upon cor
ners, smoked, whistled, danced a bit of
a Jig now and then, but was never
known to exert himself ia any other
way, save VIXEN some ugly orsbstinate
horse had exhausted the skill and pa
thence of the horsemen- of fthe place,
when he would frequently put forth a
Judgment and dexterity that made him
in a manner famops.F - r-y,
But Wash. was nOt-boastful and with
great physical power, when he saw fit to
~ hn hv-
ouarrelsome. Neither, strangely enough
under the circumstances, did he often
drink deeply, never 10 intoxication.
These were the features of yoang
,Jones's life known TO every body, aud
Ellen Brent had often heard them dis
cussed by those who. earnestly desired
that the young man might be won 10 bet
ter WAYS of life as well as by those who
were confident that there was no posi-
bility of improvement in the fellow Did
his features furnish any elew to the inner
life of so worthless a being? She could
not see that they did; and while gazing
intently and recalling the many things
she had heard of him, the. giTl became
quite indifferent TO the little of active life 1
Transporting about her. 4" 1li-
She did not even HOtice enaS = ~ Ut
handkerchief, dropped from an upper 1
window OF the nearest building had been /
caught by passing zephyr, and carried /
some distasce in the air. Asst descend /
ed it drifted directly toward her. The T,
horse. catching glimpse of the white !
recoiled in terror; the next
momentF strack full in his face, and
with bouad 6fErsghtthe animal sprang I
into the air. The girl, not as yet alarm