Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1883-08-29
On Account of a Card.

On Account of a Card.
81 shall never forget my experience
in mountain district of Arkansaw,'
said Capt. Mellvine, when the CONVEX
sation had turned upon adventure.
"There are many pleasant occurrences
that we forget, but an affair of horror
remains with US. The memory of a
pleasant dream soon passes away, but
the recollection of nightmare be-
comes a mental landmark. Some time
ago was instructed by my employers
to repair at once to the White Oak
mountains and buy all the cattle that a
reasonable sum of money would induce
to leave the rugged trails | boarded
a railway train, and was soon rushing
toward my destination. Sociability is
a prominent feature of my nature,
which / suppose is an heirloom left by
long experience as newspaper reporter;
and | had not been long on the train
until ] had formed the acquaintance
Of several gentlemen, among them a
United States deputy marshal, who
gave me his card with an evident air
of pride in being connected with so
prominent an institution as our gov
ernment. At small station. long
haired man, Il genuine native OF Ar
kansaw, surmsed boarded the train
and took seat opposite me. ! was
desirous of hearing him talk in his
quaint dialect, and moved over. al-
dressed him and handed him my card.
He looked at the card significantly and
carefully placed it in an old black
pocket-book. He eyed me neryously
for a moment and then asked;
"Whar mout yer be goin'?'
"White Oak mountains replied
4 get off at Patsey station
"He looked at me with an earnest
ness, an uneasiness Of gaze that l
could not understand, and said:
"1 reckin you'll find it rite pleasant
up thar. Best lot o fellers yer ever
seed, an they amt afeerd, lemme tell
you
81 could not divine why their physi
cal courage should in the least add to
the pleasure of my visit, but suppos-
ing the remark grew out of his admir-
alton for men who are not 'afeerd,' and
that such information would Tighten,
in charming anticipation, the fatigues
of the journey, | did not ask him to
explain. lie did not seem to cotton
to me, as the planters sometimes say in
expressing prediction. and he left
his seat and stood near the door. |
approached him again. feeling more
than ever in interest in him, and ask
ed him if he had ever been among the
White Oak mountains.
"1Iave got fingers and toes:' he
replied.
81 can answer assuredly concerning
your fingers, and can speculate with
chances in my favor in regard to your
toes | said in facetious attempt.
"Wall, then, I've been thar
"'Many cattle in that countryl'
"Yes, an yer'll find some of them
putty hard to han'le, lemme tell yer
"My friend, | must confess that
you puzzle Inc. have asked you sev-
eral very civil questions, expecting civ
il answers, but you are 80 evasive that
| can get no satisfaction.
Yer're gone to school, hain't yery'
eyes
"'Talk Latin, l reckin'.'
"'My knowledge of Latin is limited.'
"It's what they call a dead talk,
amt it?'
"Yes, it is a dead language
"Then yer mout need it ar'ter a
while
80 don't understand you. Your
meaning is AS dead to me as the Ian
guage in question is to the unlettered
world
$50 much the worse for yer.
reckin' yer air sorter proud oyer learn
in an it may be all right to fling out
yer book business at every man yer
see but it don't speak o very SCUM
sense, lemme tell yer. In my country
when man gets to spoutin' like yer've
been doin, we put him down as grin
mel an don't have nothin' more to do
with him.
"By this time the train was Stacking
up at station. The brakeman shout
ed 'Patsey,' and in Il moment more l
was standing on the platform. The
next business to be transacted was to
hire a horse, which | did after consid-
erable trouble. Just as / mounted
and started across the rugged country,
saw my long-haired acquaintance on
mule, riding rapidly in the direction
l was to take. | called to him. but he
made no reply.
"My instructions were to call on
gentleman named Harvey. learned
that he lived about fifteen miles from
the station, and when night came on l