The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-11-11
A Pointed Reminder.

bag across his shoulder and we stole
along the stone wall yonder and entered
the woods beneath that group of chest
nuts. Two of us acted as Outposts on
picket guard another, young Teddy
Shoopegg by name, the best climber in
the village, did the shaking. There
were five busy pairs of hands beneath
these trees, l can tell you, for each one
of us fully realized the necessity of
making the most of his time, not know
ing how soon the warning cry from our
outposts might put us all to head-lOng
flight, for the alarm, Turner coming
was enough to lift the hair of any boy in
town.
But luck seemed to favor US on that
day. We ''cleaned out" six big chest
nut-trees and then turned our attention
to the hickories. There was a splendid
tall shagbark close by, with branches
fairly loaded with the white nuts in
their open shucks. They were all ready
to drop and when the shaking once COM
menced the nuts came down like a
shower of hail, bounding from the rocks,
rafting among the dry leaves and keep
ing up a clatter all around. We scram-
blood on all tours and gathered them by
quarts and quarts. There was no need
of poking over the leaves for them, the
ground was covered with their bleached
shells, all in plain sight. While busily
engaged we noticed an ominous lull
among the branches overhead.
Sst! 'sstr' whispered Shoopegg up
above; g see old Turner on his white
horse daown the road yender."
Coming this way?" alsoin whisper,
from below.
81 dunno yit, but 1 jest guess you'd
better be gittin' reddy to leg it, fer he's
hitchin' his old nag't the side o. the
road. YiS, sir, L bleeve he's a-cum-
min. Shoopegg, you'd better be gittin'
aout O. this" and he commenced to
drop hap-hazard from his lofty perch.
In a moment, however, he seemed to
change his mind and paused once more
upon the watch. "Say, fellers," he
again broke in, as we were preparing for
aretreat, she s gone off tod the cedars;
he amt cummin this way at ALL" So
he again assembled into the tree-top and
finished his shaking in peace and we
! our picking also. There was still an
other tree, with elegant large nuts, that
we had all concluded to 81 finish up on. -
1t would not do to leave it. They were
the largest and thinnest-shelled nuts in
town and there were over a bushel in
sight on the branch tips. Shoopegg
was up among them in two minutes
and they were showered down in tor
rents as before. And what splendid,
perfect nuts they were! We bagged
them with eager hands, picked the
ground all clean and with Jolly
chuckles at our luck were Just about
thinking of starting for home with our
well-rounded sacks, when a change
came DER the spirit of our dreams
There was a suspicious noise in the
shrubbery near by and in moment
more we heard our doom.
"Jest yeu look eeah, yeu boys" ex-
claimed a high-pitched voice from the
neighboring shrubbery, accompanied
by the form of Deacon Turner, ap-
preaching at brisk pace, hardly thirty
feet way. Don't yeu think yeu' We
got jest abaout enufo' them nuts?''
OF course a wild panic ensued, in
which we made for the bags and dear
life, but Turner was prepared and ready
tor the emergency and raising a huge
old shotgun he levelled it and yelled,
"Don't any ON We stir ner move, or, by
Christopher, I'll blow the heads clean
off n the hull pile on we. I'd shoot We
quicker'n lightnin' b"
And we believed him, for his aim was
true, and his whole expression was not
that of a man who was trihing. l never
shall forget the uncomfortable sensation
that l experienced as I looked into the
muzzle of that double-barreled shot
gun, and saw both hammers fully raised.
too. And | can see now the squirt and
the glaring eye that glanced along those
barrels. There was a wonderful per-
suasive power lurking in those horizon
tai tubes; so | FASTENED to inform the
deacon that we were g not going to
run"
"Wa'al," he drawled, " it looked
leetle that 1Cay, l thort, a spell ago."
and he still kept us in the field of his
weapon, till at length l exclaimed, in
desperation:
=" Point thatgun in some other way,
will you?''
" Wa'al, no! I'm not fer pintin' it
ennywhar else jest yit-not until you've
sot them ar bags daown agin, jist whar
We got 'em, every one on ye." The
bags were speedily replaced and he
slowly lowered his gun.
Wa'al, naow," he continued, as he
came up in our midst, " this is putty
bizniss, amt it? Bin havin' a putty
lively sort O. time teu, sh'd ledge
from the looks o these ere bags. One
-two-Sir on 'em; an l vaow they
must be nigh on ten two an a half
bushel in every pleggy one on 'em.
Wa'al, naow" with his peculiar
drawl-" look eeah; you're a putty
industrious lot O. There's I'm bleSt if We
amt" But the deacon did all the talk
ing, for his maneuvers were such as TO
render us speechless. Putty likely
place ten cum a-nuttin', amt it?''
Pause. Putty nice mess O. she'll
barks We got thar, l tell We. Quite a
sight O. chestnuts in yOurn, amt they?"
There was only one spoken side to the
dialogue, but the pauses were eloquent
on both sides and we boys kept up a
deal of tall thinking as we watched the
deacon alternate his glib remarks by
the gradual removal of the bags to the
foot of neighboring tree. This done
he seated himself upon a rock beside
them.
- Thar" he exclaimed, removing his
tall hat and wiping his white-fringed
forehead with red bandana handker-
chief "rm much Obleeged. I've been
a-watchin' on We gittin these ere nuts
the huh afternoon. thort ez how yeu
might like to know it, And then, as
though a happy thought had struck
hiR, what should he do but deliberate
ly spit on his hands and grasp his gun.