Morris tribune., 1880-09-23
A TARDY REMINDER.

I.
The backlog in our great Texas fire.
place had just been punched after an
approved method, and the flames were
leaping up as flames will on windy
nights, roaring steadily and starting
shadow dances in the corners of the
room. Suddenly some quick change
subdued the flame till it merely hung in
the smoke above the hearth, and at this
moment a most unearthly sound, APP
parently at our very door, startled me
into an unbecoming posture, that was
taken advantage of by my friend, who
thereupon INDUCED in a succession of
chuckles Of kind could never locate
in him. He soon recrossed his legs,
however-he could never chuckle ex-
cept with feet wide apart-saying as he
did so:
"You never heard screech-owl be-
fore, reckon. We hear them often in
Indiany-often," and he added, after a
moment, more intensely, and as if a
little startled by some thought" often"
"Was that an owl? Heavens it sound
ed more like the scream of a locomotive
whistle"
GIVE a notion of writin' home to-
night, jim"
"You have ?" 1t startled me almost
as much-quite in different way-as
the screech-owl's terrible song. The
words carried me back to our place of
meeting year before. Taking Mis-
sissippi river boat at Cairo, I found
must share my state-room with another
or rather he with me, since l was the
later conner. He did not strike me
favorably at first. was New In
gland boy and suspicious of everything
south of St. Louis, and this man looked
not unlike the men had been cautioned
against He could not very well help
that, indeed, since had been warned in
very general terms that included every
one did not know. However, We shook
hands, exchanged some remarks meant
to be facetious, and in few days knew
his name-William Jackson.
cat home they call me Bll-short,
like myself, you see," he said, and
grinned in bashful sort of way that
came very near to capturing me on the
spot. In fact, he was not short, but,
instead, the tallest man I ever saw of
MS length of leg and body; for what he
lost elsewhere he made up In neck
that never ceased to be a wonder to me.
It ran up like the watch-tower of fire.
engine house, slim and so long that,
while his shoulders barely reached mine,
his head overhung all others, and was
two inches more than six feet above the
ground. His head was large, too, and
that made his general appearance more
striking. while the general slimness of
his body ended below in pair of enor-
mously large Sect. His face was much
.Anned and smooth-shaven, except the
upper lip, which was covered by coarse
stubble of ferce-standing, sandy hair.
But no description of him would be
complete that did not touch on that
feature of his countenance which was Of
ten concealed entirely and which would
have made him trusted anywhere. As a
fellow-traveler said, ellis general looks
is agin him. but his mouth captures me. u
He said his mouth, but he meant his
laugh-not that there was much noise
about it, but it was so far-reaching in its
effect on his own person. First, around
his mouth would break two deep
wrinkles; then outside of these two
more; and so on, on till his eyes were
brought into the whirlpool of wrinkles
and the ong-standing ones on his neck
and forehead shaped themselves to the
general effect of one supreme expression
of delight. It was then you believed
him from your very heart. did, and he
never, as he himself would express it
"threw dirt" on me.
After all, he had, so far as learned
little to often bring forth SO great {
revelation on his face. But few of the
amenities of life had been his at any time
He said little of home" somewhere II
Indiany" except when at one time be
spoke bitterly of his dead fathers grand
mistake in life, which it appeared was
simply this, that he kept his children
Cboys and girls, large family on the
farm till he died, then they came of ne
cessity out into the world to find them
selves great, grown-up understanding
more-without any other feeling thar
that they must, as Jim said, "hitch OF
to some one" All the girls, but ont
who died, were too old to "hitch on.
The boys did the best they could in tina
line. and after a time Jim " hitched on
to met was in New Orleans, after com
ing down from Cairo-and we soon be
came what at the West they call "pards.
We were friends, at any rate, and, hav
ing joined forces to the amount of abou
$3.50, were farming in Texas on poo
lands on what our landlord calle
"sheers;" that is, he furnished the tools
mules and land and we the brains an,
human muscle, keeping our own hons
and dividing the spoils-that is, tn
creps-equally.
So, knowing how little he looked Il
any other home than the one aroun,
him, I could but question his notion,
and add:
''Who to, Jim?" rather thought
less question.
His voice went down almost the Who'll
length of that wonderful neck, I thought
as he threw his face forward into hi
hands, and, staring into dark corne
of the fire, said:
ga woman"
"a woman. Jim why, wha--l Oh
sister, perhaps?" I said, seeking th
only refuge that seemed at hand.
"No. no sister" A Ion
pause. 'sIt's like this" and he sal
nothing more for some minutes, but ak
sently reached over for his violin an
picked the strings for an almost-forgot
ten chord. It seemed to me that hi