The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1884-10-09
They Traded Names.

"Ihat matter about your fish buyin'
reminds me of what happened two sum-
kmers ago to my sister, or ruther to her
two little boys, or, moro correct yit, to
one OF 'em. Them was two curi'us lit
tie boys. They was allus tradin' with
each other. Their father deals mostly
in horses, and they must havc got 1t
from him. At the timo I'm tcllin' of
they traded everything they had, and
when they had nothin' else to swap they
traded names. Joe ne took Johnny's
name and Johnny took Joe's. Just
about when they had done this they
both got sick with sumthin'. or other,
tho oldest ono pretty bad, the other not
much. Now, there amt any doctor
within twenty miles of where my sister
lives. But there is one who sometimes
has call to GO through that part of
tho country, and the people in that
part is allus very glad when they
chance to be sick when he comes along.
Now this good luck happened to my
sister for the doctor came by jist at this
time. Ho looks into the state of tho
boys and while their mother was gone
down stairs he mixes up some medicine
he has along with him. What's your
nameP he says to the oldest boy.
Now, as no had traded names fair and
square, he wasn't goin' back on tho
trade. and he said Joe" "And my
name is Johnny" up and says tho 9TH
or one. Then the doctor goes and gives
bottle of medicine to their mother,
| and says he: This medicine is fur Joe.
You must give him teaspoonful every
two hours Keep up the treatment and
ho will be all right. AS fur Johnny,
he amt sick much and don't need no
medicine. And then he went away.
'Every two hours after that Joe, who
wasn't sick worth mentioning, had to
take a dose of horrid stuff, and pretty
soon he took to his bed, and Johnny he
just played around and got we'll in the
nat'ral way. Joe's mother kept up tho
treatment, gittin' up in tho night to
feed that stuff to him, but the poor little
boy got wuss and wuss, and ono morn
in he says to his mother, says he:
Mother, guess am goin' to die, and
I'd ruther than to take any moro of that
medicine, and l wish you'd call Johnny
and we'll trade names back again, and
if he don't want to do it, you ken tell
him he ken keep the old mink skin
gave him to boot on account of his
name havin' q Wesley in it." Trade
namesP" says his mother. "What do
you mean by thatp" And then he told
her what he and Johnny had done.
"And did you ever tell anybody about
this?" says she. Nobody but Doctor
Barnes" says he. "After that 1 got
sick and forgot it," When my sister
heard that an idce struck into her like
you put fork into an apple-dumplin'.
Traded names and told the doctor!
She ID all along thought it strange that
tho boy that seemed wuss should be
turned out and the other one put under
treatment, but it wasn't for her to set
up her opinion against that of man
like DIR. Barnes. Down she went, in
about seventeen jumps, to where Eli
Iimpkins, tho hired man, was plowin'
in the corn. "Take that horse out O.
that, she hollers, can you may kill
him if you have to, but git DR.. Barnes
here before my little boy dies" Whom
the doctor come he heard the story,
and looked at the sick ,youngster, and
then says he: "If he'd kept his mini,
skin and not hankcred after a Wesley
in his name, he'd a had better time
of it. Stop the treatment and he'll be
all right. " Which she did; and he was.
--FTanb r. Stockton, II, The Manhattan.