The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1879-09-13
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"a mornln' ike this, with the sun a
shinin' and the birds singin', and the
posies bIosseming in those beds down
there seems to ehirk one up nightly, "
said Mrs lib, flirting her dust rag vig-
orously s.It's pity you amt able to
be up and get peak at it. It'd do you
more good than medicine, 'cording 20
my notion There's lots of folks gone
by already, the kind that has little to do.
Well, If l everr and Mrs. Zib's poke
bonnet and the edge of her sharp nose
seemed IN imminent danger of going
through the shutter, she was so inquisi-
lively eager in her inspection of some
passer by.
It's that Hoke boy" she said pres
emily, withdrawing her head and pro-
ceeding to set in order the walls on the
stand s.I declare he's shaver to be
driving his own pony, black one with
q ball face and a-what do you call it
dog cart; don't see why there's any
need of giving decent wagon such an
outlandish name. He amt more than
eight years old I'm sure, and is about as
sassy as they make 'em; but then some
folks are able to make all sorts of fol-de-
rolls for their children, and others are
mt to their wits end to get bread for
theirs. and you can't help feelin' that
lots is various. Some do seem to get all
the plums in the pudding, and others
can't even get a Whit at the crust. It's
queer, but suppose it's right.
She gave me an interrogatiye glance
as she spoke, then spying some uneasl-
ness in the little, week-old morsel OF hu-
manity who was euddled in my arms,
she took him away and sat down with
him in the low rocker. You folks
make an awful fuss over him" she said
meditatively; mot that he is anything
ont of the ordinary run, either, as l can
see. but somehow you seem to think he
is wonderful. S'posing, now, you had
felt bad about his coming, not knowing
how he could be fed or clothed, and
s'posing nobody kissed or cuddled him,
and wondered whether he looked like
YOU or his father, or his grandmother, OF
all the rest Of 'em ?"
Mrs. lib, please hand me that baby
right away. / want to kiss him.
II amt going to do any such thing,
said the nurse peremptorily. Hes JUS
been fooled with enough this morning
All them big girls in the family had Il
have their foolishness over him before
they went to school, and hain't counted
how many times you've kissed him
He'll take it easy enough on my lap fol
awhile. Yeller, amt he? Well. that
the iaunders; it makes 'em sleepy, too
once saw baby just as likely for hi
age as this one; but laws, he was blinkin
and winkin' away in miserable sort o
a shanty. and nobody seemed to wan
MIN in the world very much. He wa
r l. hat fFoAc xvl,f
at the pudding He belonged to th'
Briggs, Dan1 and Melindy, and the be
longing to them want much of bless
ing. for they we're two of the shiftless
slack. always behind hand sort of peopl
who never seem to know how to tax,
care of themselves rightly. Their folk
had been Just so, too, workin' LITTLE
on other folks land, doing an odd joi
shabby clothes somehow, the womeI
gettin' cold vittles when they washed fol
the farmers wives, and some of the ole
clothes it want no use to make over
Dan1. however, was the very cream o
the hull so far as slackhandedness ane
downright laziness was concerned. i
want no trouble for him to do nothin'
and never troubled his conscience
one to trouble Sometimes he got job
in harvest or plantin time, but gener-
ally folks were shy about hiring him
nobody likes to pay man for settin
drummin' his heels agin the fence, OF
5rspniB1tn talk to everybody who hap
pens to 60 by. The women folks said he
was heavy hand, too, on the butter and
the meat. He was great one to &C
hin tcI
along regular, two NANCY, ribby hounds
followin' after; such folks must keep {
dog, you know, even if they hahn
nothin' for themselves.
"Melindy used to say sometimes tina
she wished Dan'l was little steadler a
his work, but if you went to blaming
him she always had some excuse fo
him. Squire wanted him to work tot
hard, or he had to take care of the baby.
''There was always baby In th'
house, little, half-dressed, general,
miserable creetur, for they never got thu
right kind of fare, and want made th'
least of, though Dan'l and Melindy hkee
them in their way. l can't even say |
was curious the little things died OF
after one another, but it did seem to MI
fortunate, for there want no gainsayint
but what they were better off out OF th'
world than in it. Jack, though, h'
TOUCHED it out, though he had all tn
draw backs the others had, and grew t.
be little black-eyed youngster, hang
ing to Melindy's skirts, trottin' 'rount
after Dan1, or lyin' in the sun and sane
alongside them miserable dogs.
Melindy went when the seventh bah.
come, and she and the child were buried
together, and you wouldn't hardly thlnl
it, but one day when one OF my boy
went past the place where she wa
buried, if there want that forlorn httl'
: Jack walkin' round and round 1t ant
pipin', Nanny, mammyr
'sMisfortunes never come single, the,
say, and I believe it, and to prove i
Danl's gun went off all of sudden one
day when he was climbing fence, ant
somebody found him the same day lyint
there clean shot through the heart. AT
ter he was decently buried no one knew
what to do with Jack. 1t want to bs
thought Of that anybody around should
want him, and the only way seemed tt
be to send him to the poor house.
remember he sat out on a big stone il
the yard, hiding his face from every
body in his torn jacket sleeve, and cry.
ing IOE bu0 QOB ILdb OQulTe JONES mao
took away cause he said he was o good
bird dog, and somebody or other had
hushed him up quite sharp when he
called for 'pappy.
"Old Mrs. Fox asked me if 1 didn't
feel to take him, but / didn't mean to fly
in the face of providence by taking that
child when I had tough work to keep my
own. So Jack went to the poor house,
I'm sure we have to pay taxes to keep it
going, and it's fair somebody should be
sent there once in awhile.
"Do You know the Brones? No? Well
that's curious, for they live only mat
ter of four miles away Likely as not
you've heard enough of them to know
that they are awful close, but Tn free to
saw that of all stingy, scraping, rich crea-
tltres they are the very beat. l was sent
for to come and nurse Toms wife when
she had her baby couple of years ago.
Tom came over beforehand to strike a
bargain with me, tried to tell me the
work would be Light with Samantha, her
niece. there, and asked me right out to
take off couple Of dollars in my price.
But I knew the Brones, and they knew
me. and I went for my regular wages or
NOT at ALI You see, there is great deal
TO do ON d large farm like theirs, and
they expected me to be busy every
minute
tsT Taoften wondered when was there
what was the use of money if you
couldn't enjoy it. They certainly didn't
Seem IN cef any good. so TO speak, out of