The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-08-28
THE MAN WIG Vas KICKEp.
But, Nevertheless, a Man Whom All the
Camp Found Cause to be Proud OF.

lie was then about u Years Of age. A /
tall, gaunt, awkward man, clad in a |
faded, ill-fitting suit of homespun, and |
walking with an undecided, hesitating /
gait, with his head thrown forward, and /
one uncertain hand helplessly rubbing a
receding chin, was the figure presented /
as he went out of the hall at the close of
prayers. Infirmity of purpose was writ
ten all over him. He had an air of be-
ing old without ever having been young.
His face was long, with large features,
high cheek bones, n long nose, prOmi-
nent mouth, and receding chin, from
which struggling whisEer prOtruded
certain way, as though in doubt wheth-
er to grow longer or disappear altogeth-
er. 1t was very weak face, with an
infirm culver of the hardly closed lower
lip, and vacillating, half timid eyes of
very pale blue. Its weakness and indie
cision might have been comical had not
an expression of earnestness and seri-
business made it pathetic. His speech
was hesitating and appealing, as though
craving constant indulgence for his te-
merity when speaking at all. Yet there
was such assurance of his hearers SYM
pathy and help, that it generally carried
its point.
From the time when Davis first sided
into the seat and leaned against the wall
for support, he continued leaning, only
exchanging the wall for his classmates,
or indeed any one who would carry his
weight. No sooner did his support give
way in one direction than he transferred
himself to another, and leaned all the
harder. During the years of his academ-
ical life, his manners retained their
primitive rusticity, despite the constant
attrition to which they were subjected at
the hands of his fellows. His taste in
dress took no turn for the better; his
bearing and gait changed not an iota
and when he set out on foot for the hill
region whence he came, he seemed ex-
actly the same old young man that had
sidled in upon us three years before
A short time afterward | learned that
he was teaching the school iii his native
village. 1t turned out, however, that
he carried his habit of leaning with him
even there. He asked the advice of his
\ pupils as to what he should do so fire.
quently that the took advantage of his
weakness to do pretty much us they
| pleased. They barred the master out,
| refused to attend recitatiOns, save
at their own pleasure, and otherwise
enjoyed themselves to such an extent
that the trustees felt compelled to de-
mand his resignation on the ground of
lack of government. After that he went
| into the country and taught a district
school, boarding round among his pu-
| pills. 1t was while thus engaged that he
| became temporarily resident in the fam
| lily of a small farmer, possessed of
| grasping, questionable character, and
several daughters for some time in the
matrimonial market. These latter were
| thin, sharp-faced, managing maids, who
| partook of the unattractive characters
ties of their sire. The most unattractive,
| perhaps, of them all set her eyes upon
| Davis, in lack of better material, and
| actually became his wife before that hes
| itating person had decided what to do in
the matter. After this he drifted out of
my knowledge, and his memory, with
that of other class associates, rapidly
merged into the sere and yellow leaf of
recollection.
In the summer of 1871 l was one of
| semi-oificial prospecting party in west
ern Dakota. We intended TO penetrate
the Indian country as far as the Souri,
River, near the British line, returning
by way of the Black Hills, if circum-
stances permitted. The dozen men con-
stituting the party were all heavily arm
ed, and we had, by way of impeachment,
three mule wagons. The day before
we started from the small town which,
for the fortnight previous, had
been our headquarters, a tall round
| shouldered man sauntered into the camp,
| and, leaning against a wagOn-wheel,
looked kindly but inquiringly about. He
wore long coat of alpaca of ecclesias-
| teal cut, and wideawake hat, fustian
trousers, and low CATERS tied with "A
string. His face was long, and its fea-
! lures large, and Il retreating mouth, al
most destitute of teeth, gave a greater
prominence to his rather elongated nose
He carried a black silver-headed stick,
and altogether he was curious mixture
of the clerical with the rustic After
being made the butt of considerable rid
icule, he expressed, in a hesitating way,
his desire to 90 to the Black Hills. And
when / returned to camp toward even
| ing, l found the stranger added to the
party rs the guide, philosopher, and
friend of one of the mule teams. A
glance at the awkward figure was
! enough. 1t was Davis. How he came
there was told in a single one of his hes
itating sentences.
! q You see, Mrs. Davis left me, and
! took up with neighbOr of ours. | sup
pose / was too slow for her. But
thought it might make her uncomforta-
BILE to have me living so close by; so l
came Vest
Further conversation revealed the fact
that he had tramped most of the way,
and that all his earthly possessions were
wrapped in the flaming handkerchief
which he brought into camp later in the
! evening.
1t was apparent from the first that the
characteristics that had made Davis
conspicuous character in academical
! days had not forsaken him as he had
| grown older. He began leaning from
the moment he came into camp. After
| futile attempts upon myself, he trans
| ferred his weight to a man from Ken
| tucky-a demOnstrative, devil-may-care
| fellow, who was his opposite in every
respect. The first days drive, too, re-
vealed the fact that, whatever may have
been his capabilities as a district school
| teacher, they did not assist him in the
driving of mules. More than once he
| involved the leaders in a hopeless tangle
with the wheel animals, and his COM
| plicationS with the harness were a pa
thetic mixture of helplessness and igno-
rance. As to his helplessness, it was
unique and complete in its way. He
seemed utterly incapable of doing any
thing without advice and assistance.
1t Is, perhaps, needless to say that
these characteristics, however original
and amusing in themselves, were not
such as to elevate their possessor in the
esteem of the party. In less than week
from the day of the departure the man
from Kentucky had warned Davis not
to come near him again at the risk of
being crippled for life. At the end of a
fortnight, / gTieve to say, he had been
kicked by an irascible member of the
party, and the propriety of deserving
him on the plains was seriously discuss