Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-06-27
LOOKING BACK.
An old Man whoWatchedt the Preacher
and fIre Chicken.

Il DshN-Nr.-
An old Man W hoWatchedt the Preacher
and tIre Chicken.
Areanscr TurcsT.
ssThe town boy knows nothing of life
which il a severe cross while it is borne,
Init which. looked back upon, is a wreath
of endearing recollection, memory teem-
inc with humor."
Old Colonel Battleford leaned back in his
chair. closed his eyes as though by shutting
ont every object, he would look, with isr-
reaching eve of the mind, back upon MS
early life He and party Of friends were
sitting In tho rotunda of hotel when some
one made remare1-that country boy
hstter understood humOr and bad moro OF
Il IN his nature than town boy. This re-
mark was followed BY the observation WIN
which this sketch opens.
~ was BON and brought up in the coun-
try. and now. as look back, | can see
everything as | saw II then. Ii you gen
tlencn have the patience to listen, | Will
90 off into sort of trance"
'sWe will gladly listen"
SATURDAY. noon. I'll take out my horse
and 90 TO the house. Gracious how hot II
is, 1t seems that the horn never would
blow. I'm not tall enough TO spring upon
nv horse. so shall have TO stand on the
beam of my pillow. Whoa, You dodge Knit
fiy like man lodging a stone. Now we
are all right The trace chains rattle, Inc
horsc-old Bill reaches around, bites MS
itching hide and almost shakes ME OIL.
Here are the draw bars. must get OIL anu
LET them down. Whoa, You are so anxious
70 get to the stable that you want to run
off and leave me. Yonder is my father,
wistfullv gazing at cloud which he knows
does not contain single drop of rain. We
had the promise of shower late yesterday
evening. but the cloud, following the creek
left us dry. feed my horse and hurry to
thc house. How cool and delightful the
shady ward is. How | wish that | had
nothing to do but to play in it. My father
is speaking TO me.
John
"'YcS, sir.
odd You git that piece Of corn dun?
"'N0 sir,
".Thcn you'd better finish it, this even
ing -
''Ny spirits fall. l want to knock oil
for the afternoon. He notices my disal-
| paintmcnt and says: Never mind; You
can finish it Monday 1 am delighted
We 20 into dinner. Hungry! / am aS
vol. We have cabbage, and snap beans
boiled with bacon, corn bread made IN
poncs. and. above all, we have great crock
! iar full of butter-milk. How ! loll around
in the grass Ny de- aud what IN easy
! time Tie rascal h;tS--luns and jumps on
me, | am almost too liStlcss to play with
him. This morning the sun seemed to
stand still, hut now it is flying. To-mor-
row will be Sunday. 1t is called a day of
rest for me. The sun goes down. | 90
/ to bed, and il seems that the (GrS heAt
moment hcay Uu.s ialhcr calling me.
open my eyes; the sun is shining. We, all,
| including my two sisters, "a to church and
| have to saddle their horses. The horses
are shedding, and get some of their hair
down my collar We AZ " Mount hion.
! Gracious. loGK at the peolrle The women
all gd into the house. hut many Of The men
remain outside. They throw their sllawlS
upon the ground, sit down apon them, and
white Everybody seems to bc tired
There are but few fresh faces to he seen
! The men talk 50 loud that some one comes
from the inside of tie church, Odd BAYS
| "'BOys, don't talk 80 loud
"'Ali right. Say, how long before the
thing will bust
;Not lihg
The 'thing' does bust My father
and mother arc talking To the preacher.
, Hu ia coming hmno with us. Two haw-
having, red faced fellows come with my
sisters. | have quite job on my hands
when ! get home,
"'Ih0thar Jones', says my father, You d
better have your horse put up.
"'NO, brother, Just let him stand. Well,
You may have him put up, but you needn't
give him much TO eat take the horses,
water and feed them. by the time R,t
back 90 tho HOUSE they have all sat down
10 dinner What a delicious Qdor comes
from the dining room. Fried chicken and
now potatoes Those fellows laugh and
talk rs though I'm hot as hungry Us wolf.
oh, sex ynu, through this crack. What
an appetite that preacher has. If he dips
into that potato dish many more times I'm
left. There comes another dish of chicken.
That's the third time the dish has gone
back to the. kitchen and each time see Il
decrease in the amount. That's the last.
l'vc got my eve on the 'pully-bOne' Ugh.
! that red-handcd fellow came within one OF
getting il that time The potatoes are all
gone. Ny sisters giggle and their beaux
chuckle but notice that they don't stop
eating.
brother Jones, says my mother, have
some more of the fry, meaning the chicken.
Ono, sister, I'm obliScd-wcll, ! don't
care if do
'Shc passes the dish and III be doggcd
if he Doesn't stick his fork into my 'pully-
bone There's nothing left but two wings
andaneck, but they are better than nothing.
lirilna, one of the wings are gone. What!
! there goes tho neck Veil, there's one
wing lolt. There, its gone, | turn away,
hcart,hrokcn. They all get up from the
table and 30 out on the porch. My mother
calls me- Come on, John!
, "1 don't want no dinner
"'YOu are not sick, are you?'
Nome
"'Thcn why don't you want some
thing
! Just Causcn
"'Come on, have saved you some
chicken and potatoes. | am delighte-'
Colonel" said one OF the listeners,
placing his hand on the narratOr's Shout
der, Il can't stand it any longer. I'm 90
: ing into the rctaraunt and order us Il cOun-
, try fried chicken and some new uotatoes -