Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-26

ID ~ your arrival We had never learn
Gu U designate ladies as %.fllics nor
nao we heard of the real gents, whom
you mention as having f]re6nented T xo,,r
e establishment. Thosa .hn -
interest and please US. Allow Is 3
snow some small sense If tho ho,o.
fen;ns eo sne coniers upon us, by chris
o.a;a you as 'G%entlemanly Joe,' ex-
uusang tne liberty we have taken with
Grafton" ~ 'ne "llit-
A great part Of his speech must have
Deen lost upon MI. Joseph. but never
ald elaborate sarcasm fall 90 uttarlv
naG; instead of being offended. as we
a 1ondly hoped would be the case he
BURST into an uproarious fit of laughter
and slapped his gathered leg With tho
ebony ruler in token of delight. "Haw!
haw!'' he roared, writhing abouto IN the
top OF the high stool. IWhntever,n
father say! Oh, law, to think Of IA
.Gentlemany Joe'-ehP You're RIGHT.
.nough; you're right, and not ashamed
TO up neither. I said when I was
comm up, Father says I, III teach
them a trick or two,' and 1 have, hain,t
l? VI course we're all gents here, for
clerks is mostly reckoned such, but I
90 make a difference when a man has
oeen brought in contac' with the real
thlng. You can call me Gentlemanlv
Joe, an pleasure, but not as meaning
TO imply that there is any in this
0 not such, though, may be, not one
OF you has seen a belted hurl give your
father one in the short ribs and boiler
out: YOU'RE a deep old scoundrel,
Smith, and one as knows how many
beans makes five!'"
Welstead's face at the idea of his
equity governor receiving such an at
tention at the hands of nobility was
SO ludicrous that we all burst into a
roar OF laughter, which ended the first
and last attempt to take a rise out of
U bucolic companion. 1t is true that
his life was spent under a continual
shower of small jokes and chaff, and
That his new name superseded his old
one, but there was a massive simplicity
about the man, and a marvellous power
OF converting the most unpromising re-
marks into compliments, which rem
dered him a very di%sconcerting indi-
vidual to attack. illusions to his hat,
necktie, or any other popularity of raj
ment were met by his eternal horse
laugh, and an earnest recommendation
that we should allow him to send down
to the country and procure facsimiles
for all and each of us. "You hain't got
nothin' spicy in Birchespool," he would
remark: 'Lord, I know a place at
'ome where you can get your collars
spotted over with fox's 'eads instead of
bein' plain white, which is a poor color
at the best" / think he imagined it
was nothing but want of money which
induced us to refuse to purchase these
and other %luxuries, and he was wont to
throw out illusions as to 'sit's not cost
ing us nothink," while he jingled the
loose coins in his trouser pockets.
Town life did not improve Joseph.
On the contrary, he de%teriorated. Dur
ing the first six months that he honored
the office with his presence, he not only
lost none of the traits which he had
brought with him from his fathers sta
bles, but he grated upon them every
thing which is Objectionable in the city
snob. The premonitory symptoms were
a suspicious waxiness of the half-dozen
hairs which adorned his upper lip, and
the appearance of a large diamond ring
with a greenish and vitreous hue. His
next venture was an eye-glass; and he
finally launched forth into a light ulster,
decorated with a large black check,
which gave him the appearance of be-
ing inside a cage, with his head pro-
jecting at n end and his feet st the
other. "It's a proper thing for a gent
to year, he remarked. "When you
see a get-up like this you know at a
glance who's a cad and who ANITA
sentiment which we all very cordially
endorsed.
In spite of all these peculiarities we
learned not only to tolerate the Gentle
man, but " to like him. Indeed, we
hardly knew how strong this feeling was
until he betook himself into the country
on a fortnight's leave, carrying with
him ulster, eyye-glass, ring, and every
thing else which was calculated to inn
press the rustics and stamp him as the
natural associate of the s'belted hurl."
He left quite a vacancy behind him.
There was a dead level of equality about
the five of us which deprived life Of all
ltS plquancy. Even WelSCeau, VINO
had disliked him from the first, was
fain to confess that he was good fun,
and that he wished him back. After
all, if his laugh was obtrusive, it was
hearty, and his quaint, vulgar face had
sincerity and g%ood-nature stamped upon
every line of it. 1t was with unaffected
pleasure hat we heard a loud view
halloa in the street one morning just af-
ter the opening of the doors, and saw
our friend staggering in, more ugly,
more dressy, and, if possible, more vul-
gar than before.
Newsomc, our bank manager, was an
excellent fellow, and on the best terms
with all of us. AS we were all single
men, with a very limited circle of
friends in Birchespool, he kindly gave
us the run of his house, and it was sell
dom that a week passed without our en-
joying a musical evening there, wind
ing up with one of the choice little sup
pers for which Mrs. Newsome was cele-
brated. On these occasions, since dis
tinctions would be invidious, Gentle
manly Joe used to be present in all his
glory, with a very large white frilled
ob;,t f.o,+ on6 onothor yitroOI1s fra ~