Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-04-22

tried to And a conveyance up town an
army of hackmen and runners de-
scended upon them, and, as | saw,
were about to take all the money the
poor fellow had, or nearly all SO that
he could not have reached home. 1t
occurred to me that instead of going
to a hotel, as | had intended, | would
go along with this family and learn
what a Little Rock cheap lodging
house might be. So l dispersed the
hackmen, took the business upon my
self, and having dragooned one young
fellow into reason and justice, led the
way to "a very good place." as the
driver declared, land as cheap as
any,"
A LITTLE ROCK BOARDING HOUSE.
1t was nearly midnight when we
reached the boarding house. 1t had
two rooms on the lower floor, and two
above. The front room down stairs
was the dining room, with long Ia
bles and chairs. In the rear of this
was a small room which served as the
kitchen, and as bedroom for the pro-
prietor and his family. There was
but one bel in it, and this, when we
arrived, the man of the house, his
wife and three children were sleeping.
The mar arose to receive us, and
ushered us at once into the kitchen,
then lighted a lamp and awoke his
wife aud eldest daughter, a we'll
grown girl of fifteen, who got up and
dressed, as we waited for some ar
rangements for providing us with
places for the remainder of the night.
1t was found that there was one va
cant rcd up stairs, and this was as
signed To the Texas family. They said
in Il e morning they had all slept well,
having been very tired. was given a
covcrlet and a place on the floor at the
sd ofthe cook-stove in the kitchen,
just about large enough for my accom-
motation. | put my satchel under
my head for a pillow, laid down on
one half OF my Ooverlet and drew the
ether over me, and was soon sleeping
soundly, though the night was chilly
and the room unite cold.
There was a litter of puppies with
their mother on a bed of their own on
the floor Just back of my pillow, and
in the night, sometimes, l was
awakened by one of the puppies
climbing over my satchel and over
my face, and irving to find a place in
my bed. Probably the little beast
had bcen sleeping ION the outside"
and had found it cold. l slapped him
sharply, vhererpon he tumbled back
over the satchel to his mother, He
howlcd piteously, and the other pup
pies howled in chorus, while their
mother wbined alphabetically. But
/ went to sleep again, and when | next
awoke the woman Of the house and
her daughters were getting breakfast,
and | lOund'the climate torrid enough.
This family was from Illinois.
They were "glad to see some
body from the north" and in proof
# their pleasure, charged us more
than the most exorbitant southerner
would have asked. | paid my own
bill without g~rumbling, feeling that
the experience and opportunity for
observation had been worth it. But
| would not see my Texan friend i'm
posed on, so | made them reduce his
bill to just proportions. The poor,
kind hearted fellow When at last |
saw him on the cars, with a fair pros
pect of reaching his old home with
out further detention, he was so CRATE
tul! He urged me to go or with him,
and stay a few weeks; said his father
had plenty Of everything, and they
would all be glad to see me, and would
do anything for me. l did not doubt
it, but could not command time for
such a visit; SO we said goodbye.