The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1883-09-15

gourds. They held rom . quart to
two quarts each, and the shells, when
carefully dried and shellacked, made
very good TASKS for water, or any
other common liquid that might be put
in them.
When these were full, sealed up and
ornamented with the stems, held in the
proper places by glue, they SO closely
resembled the green gourds that it
would have taken vigilant eye to
detect the difference.
These gourds I placed in the bottom
of my cart among paper-rags and tag
locks. If any one saw and spoke Of
them, replied that it was lot that ]
had bought to crafty whim.
So it came to pass that select circle
of my customers in the Pine-Tree State
received from time to time gourdful
of something, which / always noticed
they were very anxious about. On re-
turning the gourds to me, they filed
them with water or grain of some kind.
and carefully restored the stem to its
place.
This kind of smuggling went on for
long time without interruption. My
customers were not informers, as you
may suppose. l felt in no danger OF
being betrayed by them. They would
have lost hand sooner than given the
slightest hint to the ''prohibitionists."
Nevertheless, / did not make much
money out of the business. 1t was not
done by me for money, nor had any
idea of turning my cart into travelling
rum-shop. 1 never carried more than
the dozen gourds at once, and these
more to crafty little circle of genial
old fellows whom l knew, than for any
motive of gain.
One day stopped to trade at house
near the Corners in the town OF
F., where there had of late been
several '.rum-cases" tried. There were
three or four women at this house, and
as usual, they came cut to look over my
tin-ware, prints and notions in the cart.
Women always will do that, whether
they want to buy or not; we expect it.
1t is one of the things a peddler must
accept good-naturedly.
When / first began peddling, this
habit of the women made me angry; for
l thought they did it to make me work
in folding things up and putting them
away again. But that is not the rea,
son. They cannot help it; it is natural
to them. And they like to see ped
der fold and replace his goods care
fully, even if it takes him half an hour.
You would think, perhaps, that they
did not care, or realize, how much work
they make the trader; but they do, and
that is the funniest part of it; and think
very much more of you if you have un-
bounded patience With them.
A bright woman always knows that
she has several weaknesses, and she is
apt to confide in man who she sees
knows it, and has heartful of patience
for her whims. 1t took me thirty or
forty years to learn even so much oil
woman nature. don't pretend to
know much about women yet; and, in
fact. never saw the man who did.
As l have said, there were three OF
four women at the house, one of them
very pretty, blue-eyed young lady
about twenty years old, who seemed to
be caller or visitor. She came to the
back of the cart with the others, and
while peering in, her sharp eyes spied
one of the gourds.
co." said she, s'do let me look at
that droll, crook-necked squash!'' and
at once she pulled one of them from
under the paper-rags.
1t CHANGED to be one that had re-
ceived back from an old customer only
the day before, full of barley-corns.
He had neglected to glue on the stem
as carefully as he should have done.
While the young lady was holding it,
the stem came off and some of the bar
ley ran out.
That circumstance / might perhaps
have explained satisfactorily to her, if
nothing else except the barley had run
out. But something else, not percep-
tible to the eye, but appreciable by the
nose, also came out of the gourd.
She first shifted, and then put it to
her pretty little nose and shifted again.
Then she gave me quick little look
out of the corners of her blue eyes.
knew in an instant that Twas caught,
though she did not say word for
moment or two, and then only asked
me, innocently enough, to be so kind as
to sell her one of those droll little
gourds.
l tired to plead of. wanted to
carry them all home, / said, which was
very true.
But she pouted and seized another
one-one Of the fall ones, too, as it
happened-and said that must, and
that should sell her that one.
l was now in trouble. As coolly as i
could, l replied: mo, no; cannot do
it." But she had the gourd in her
hand, and could not very well get it
without taking it from her by force,
and that l wouldn't do.
She offered me fifty cents, and held
on to the gourd. i would not take the
money! knew better than that-but I
assured her, since she would have It,
that would make her q present of it.
Finding that she could not get me to
take pay for it, she ran into the house,
got her hat, and started off with the
60 49, IL