Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-10-12

furce as wolves after it. write to you fust of
YOU done me hckins tise sci1oels masser sa1st
takin' care of me when had the fever, and
nobody, else eefhe nigh me- a send a check
that will pay ypur expenses gsttini. here; and
er you're % aaiprs lloo ours s5a3ls ~.
p. stiYotI can bessure itbese wa'n't never
nothin' like it tora chance to naalse;a fortin,
81 There was a chorus OF sexclanations.a
f "Well, Sim, I begin to- p'lleve there
is somethin' in .yohr q gdrins after all -
said Elijah WisWeH, scrutin izing the
check. Elijah was p practical man and
knew that brilliant prospects were often
delasive, bat the check Impressed him.
ssWell, neye- had no head for fig
gers and mebbe that's the reason! I'm
to the bottom of the heap, =. said Uncle
Zach, mournfully.'a stGran,ther he al-a
ways. said a mans luck lay I'M his
bumps" Z" tF,is fs2f5f'iiis@ I'll
f.Just my luck. that I never licked a
school master, nor took care of a Teller
through a fever,' grumbled Jim Dur
gin. s'But I'm glad of your luck. any
way, SIM K ~.,f. 20 .-,,f -. 49,.
And Sim receiveda great many hearty
grips of the hand, for though he was
| ssshiftless," there was something about,
Sim that made Everybody like him.. i.s.;
| In spite of his firm faith that his
chance was on the way, Sim seemed al.
most overcome by surprise. His angular
frame trembled, and Precipitation stood
| in drops upon his brow. L'Ilf rs y !.
| "I'm obleeged to We ALL" he said. in
a somewhat bewidered way, f'but I'm
kind of took by surprise, for it's come
sooner'n l calkerlated. You see, it's
been a little kind of hard. WANT
| never one that stiddy days work come
| material to, but amt one neither that
likes to have folks think slightin' of him,
! and pint their finger at him, and be-
grudge him a meal of victuals. So,
though I amt a-goin' to complain of
nothin', it has been sometimes little
mite hard. For there amt none of us.
but what's got feelin's. And now my
chance comm along so kind of onex-
pected, 1 be little, upset. So III jest
shake hands all round once more, and
then I'll 90 home.'' And Sim shuf1ied
off, while the crowd fingered, glad of an
opportunity to talk over his good for
tune without the embarrassment of his
! presence. -. ''i-.'t - - 5'i'5f. ~ -i
And as he drew near bis own gate Sim
saw that group Of neighbors was gath
cred around it. Had the news of his
good fortune reached them SO soon, and
had they come to rejoice with him !. Sim
liked sympathy, but just now, until the
first flush of his joy was over, he felt
that he would rather be alone. But the
Eneighbors fell into the background as
he drew near, and disclosed a stranger
"a worn and haggard looking woman,
who, with two little girls clinging to her
skirts, leaned against the fence. q
Sim looked at her, with no sign of re
cognition in his face. But she raised
her sad and heavy eyes to his, and said,
appealingly: 'sHe's dead. and he told
me to come to you. didn't want. to,
and I've been, tryin' for more'n a year
to get along, but l. fell sick, and /
had hard time, Sim. He didn't treat
me very well, particularly after he took
to drinking; but he had hard luck, poor
fellow everything seemed to go against
him. Ii you'll take me and the chill
dren in, we sha'n't cost you much I
sha'n't last great while, but | can
work some you know I used to stitch
shoes" r. rs-v ta. -.r. is-t- ia,l7
| ssYou can't never in this livin' world
be Cynthv Jane?" said Sim, tremu-
| lousy. ~ -- t',. ~f ''..sf' s--''. 5..E .-.s
eyes, I am. It's no wonder that you
don't know me, said the woman, sadly.
81 used to be so blpomin', and now I'm
| nothin' but a shadder." E''
81 do know you, Cynthy Jane. I
know your, voice and your eyes, but 1
kind of didn't want to believe twas you
lookin' so pindlin'.'', saa... r-,
He smoothed back the children's hair
from their foreheads and scrutinized
their faces gravely. Then he marshaled
the little group before him into the
| house. ', g. ~ .}ra
| 1t was dreary and sparsely furnished
little place. The emptiness and dreari-
ness struck Sim as never, before, but a
vine nodded at the window, and it was
cool and quiet. The woman sank down
on the hard little lounge with long
sigh of relief, but the children cried out,
in their pathetic little voices, that they
were hungry. 'f "r @ss a.isra er ts.
Sim was filled with shame and dis
tress. A few very dry crusts were all
that his larder afforded. Dan 1Wingate
had been fishing, and he had intended
to drop in upon Dan upon some errand
that would serve as an excuse at about
the time when Dams fry would be likely
to be done to turn. He had made no
preparations whatever to ''set his own
pot a-b'ilin'" that day. He was rub
bing his forehead with his bandana in
direst perpiexity, when, moved, as it
seemed to Sim, by some direct interpo-
tition of Providence, Mrs. Kimberley,
the wife of the well-to-do blacksmith
who lived next door, appeared, bearing
dish of soup, from which was waited q
an appetizing odor, and a loaf of bread
of goodly size. And following in her
wake came other neighbors bringing
eatables, until Sims table groaned I'M
der burden such as it had never known
before. " t''-@ Fsn agl
"You see we thought you might not
be prepared for company, being single
man, )" explained Mrs. Kimberley, ''and,
besides, we felt as if we wanted to do
something to welcome Cynthy Jane
back" ..a ....gl 3.-.,... d. ....,....
Sim was glad and thankful that his
guests were provided with food, but
| f,,l hot ho, fy.iod RI cot