The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-07-06
THE DOWNFALL @ A

accident that he had a few years ago, did
/, when he and I was goin' to Murry-
vile, tradin'? Wal, if 1 hain't, then I
will, that is, if you won't tell him that I
told ont, cause he's alias sayin' a wom-
an can't keep nothin' to herself, and 1
allow there is some things 1 can't keep,
and this is ono on 'cm.
Gas 1 was goin' to say, Josiah had got
to go and git a lot of stuff, some paint, a
few rails to fix the fence with, some
meal an bran, an one thing an another,
don't remember jest what now, only I
had occasion to remember these few. I'd
got to have some cotton cloth, calikcr,
molasses, sugar, ETC., SO I told him I
guessed I'd go along too. So I packed
some eggs into a peck measure of oats,
an l had pretty near a pound of feathers
tied up in a paper bag that 1, had been
savln' along, so I thought I'd take 'em
an turn 'cm towards my cloth an
things.
eve loaded up nm got started early
one Saturday mornin.' We took the old
gray mare an the lumbcr-wagin. Yc
see, Josiah thought he could bring the
rails better in a long wagin. The dash
board was split off pretty low down, but
he said he guessed 'twould hold all we
should want to bring without spiilin'
out. So we drove along an got to town
about ten o'clock.
II went round to Jacobs's and sold nv
eggs, an to Hyde 6 Taylor's with nv
feathers, but they wouldn't give me nv
price, so I jest put 'em back into the
wagin, an went to Loomis's and bought
my cloth and things, ans got back to
Williams's stable - where Josiah alias
keeps his horse-at jest two o'clock. an
he AN there, so I went to the m1illiner's
shop to git my bunnit fixed, an 80 told
the stable Teller to tell Josiah where I
was, an to come after me with the team. !
When got there the bunnit hadn't been
touched, an in a few minutes up drove
Josiah. Now, if you ever went any,
where with a man that's alias in a hurry,
why, then, it's no use for me to under
take to tell We what I went through with
a-tryin' to keep that man from goin' off
without me or sassin' that millincr. B,..ts]
we got started at last, and Josiah savs
says he:
We've got SIGH a load, and it's so
kinder hot, I'm goin' To take the down.
hill road; it's a goodGaaals higher that
way than it's t'other, ana better road
COO, except that pcsky HILL
eyes says ], "pcsky hilp is Jest
where shan't go. I've rid down that
hill once, a-holdin' on with all my might,
an like ter pitched out the wagin head
tust. No, sir, if you go that road you'll
to stop an let me git out
"Now you know Josiah as we'll as T
do; he'll do anything to save a cent o.
money ora minutes time, and he's alias
sayin' ''timc is money"
oval, I let him have his way rutber
than to have any more words about if.
out when we got to the hill I got out.
an after Josiah had took a good cud o.
tobacker into his mouth, ne and the old
marc logged along; but I see a few bram-
bic berries 'longsidc the road, and ston.
ped to pick 81 few on 'cm, when I heerd
somethin' go k~erslam, and there the old
mare was, flat down, the wagin kinder
standln' on end, an Josiah a~-sprawlin'
around on the horses back, an the lug
o molasses, pot o. paint, an measure O.
oats on top of him, an somethin' o.
cuther had wet my bag of feathers nm,
made a big hole int, and things was
kinder squeezed onto 'em, so that thew
was a-pufin' out in all directions. The
cork got out o. the jug, an the fence
rails was stan'in' in the air, some on ,em
an don't know what not.
II that didn't beat all the sights I ever
see. l never was SO tickled in nv life.
an if it had killed him 1 don't believe I
could have helped lafRn', for there he
lay, covered with paint, molasses, fcath-
ers, oats, bran an dirt, an a madden
man you never see than he was.
Snow, Josiah don't very often swear
in my hearin', but I tell ye there was n
blue streak ont down that hill that after
noon, what WANT already streaked with
paint and molasses. Says l.: !
"'Josiah, what's h~appened7 Don't yc ,
like the down-hill road2' ,
'Consarn it'll that's woman all over. ,
Amt satisfied with seein' a man stove
ound in this way, without twitt;n, IN ;ts