The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-09-25
Andersns1 gutelligeueer.
BILL ARP.

BILL ARP.
He.is.ylsited by "Cousin John" Thrasher--
A Snake Story. 5
r1,z Atlanta Constellation.
Cousin John Thrasher came to see us
the other day and made US proud. Foi
it is no small compliment for man like
him to ride five miles on dirt road IN
siiot weather to do us honor and show hls
regard. He dident stop long, for he il
alWays in a hurry, and so just before ieav.
inp he said be wanted to 60 down to the
spTing and dip up drink of pure water
went down with him and kept little
ahead. I slept down off the log that was
close by the spring, and Uncle John step'
down lust behind me, and he slept high
and he slept far, and hollered snake
Snre enough I had slept over the var
amint4a big, rusty moecasin.and he
made for hole in the rocks and we lost
him. Cousin John dident get over it fol
several minutes, and had to set down and
blow, for heis aufully afraid Of snakes,
1t is mighty hard on my wife, Tor snakes !,'
-arg her everlasting horror. Ii we, klll
one on the premises she always declares
there is another close by, and if we kill
two she saws there must be oen q
them. and 30 there is no way to PacIfy
and make her calm and serene. Cari!la
getting to be right smart chunksof 9
boy now. and haukers after gun, and
so the other day Itold him we would 60
hunting snakes. Igave him the small
epun Eand7 Il took the big one, and we
meandered slowly along the branch, and
.:suresenough he .spied thatsame big moe.
asin down below the spring summing him:
self on plank, and got him rest and
cooked his gun, and he took trembling
,aim.and fired and; killed the, beast, and
ne 4 Mas the proudest' boy I think 1 ever
saw. We killed four on that excursion,
and now he don't want to do anything
but hunt snakes, and swells up and struts
round with his new importance. we
killed rattlesnake's- pilot over in the
field and ten young ones came crawling
out of her mouth. 1t is snake time now.
This hot, dry, dusty weather makes them
travel around in search of food, and you
can See their wormy. squirmy tracks SI
across the road most every day. Inc ne
books say that snakes that lay eggs are
non-venemous, and those that give birth
to their young are venemous and none
but the latter ever allow their young to
run in and run out of them. But they
are all the. same to me, and l
iat nono .eecana If T can help it.. Our
mortal antipathy to snakes issto my mind
one of the strongest proofs of scripture,
and it is part of my religion to "hrnlse
his headn whenever ] have chance.
NV wife, Mrs. Arp, loves to 60 down
to the spring house and see after the milk
and superintend the churning, and she is
proud of the rich cream, and prouder of
the butter, and don't want any of these
iusidious, perambulated reptiles to inter-
fere with her perfect serenity. ! love the
buttermilk, the pure, cold buttermllk
that she prepares, for | know it is nice.
She called me down to the spring house
Yesterday to show me how much nice
yellow butter she had made at q double
chnrniDg. Of course complimented her
with gushing and uxorious language, and
when she told me to go to the house and
look on the pantry shelf and bring her
theihowl of salt, wherewith to season the
butter, ] went with alacrity and brought
it, and I watched her as she sprinkled it
ailoYer and stirred it in with the paddle,
and in course of time she concluded to
taste it and see if it was salty enough.
and. never will forget the lost and la.
mented look she gave me as she exclaim-
ed, civilian, you brought me sugar"
She sat down ON chair and looked
away off. II thought twas salt" said I,
aIfound it just where you told M" "Of
course you did," she said. 'I'm not
blaming you at all; / forgot there was 6
bowl of sugar there, and if had had on
my specks I I.could have told the differ
ence. Oh my what pity it is to be
old and neatly blind. 1t was a beautiful
lot. Of butter and now it is sllspoilt." =
aMy3 DEAR" said ], aWon't it do for
cake, and yon said you was going to make
bread pudding to day and it will be
splendid for sauce. 1t is already mixed"
She never said anything, but handed
me the butter and told me to set it in the
spring house. did SO and ventured to
remark that it was mighty nice sweet
butter. Well, / get the pudding for din
ner and eat about twice astmuch as l
wanted Just to show her how good itwas,
and now everything is calm and serene.
I expect We will hsve pudding and cake
every day for week, but / don't expect
!; to eyer mistake sugar for salt again as
long as live. There are some things
that won's bear repeating in 9 family,
and Mrs. Arp sometimes suspects me Of
doing little devilment out of pure cuss-
adness. l-gf ,3f't lJaE
We are preparing to go into winter
quarters now. My wife has called my
respectful attention, ito a few broken
window glass, andasleak in the roof, and
a brick or two that are loose in the chin
ney back, and she has mentioned that
another pair of blankets will be needed,
for the grandchildren oe coming out
and she says that my fan ael shirts are
getting old and dilapidated; she always
looks after me, bless her heart, and /
always look after her, bless my heart,
too, for sheswon't ask for anything and /
have to talk to the girls and find out
what their mother needs. lfshe ever