St. Landry democrat., 1888-12-01

mofe tnan the whole OF Pocahontas
An sech Ian! 'cept dat little strip O
meadder it's so pore it wouldn't sprou
peas"
/ ''Ycu see,h said one of the men
turning to me in good-humored expla
nation and shifting the quid of tabacel
ne was chewing from one cheek to thu
other, ''you see when they was sur
veyln and prospectin' of the whole
kentry to build this here railroad, one
OF the lines they surveyed was ligh
through gap In the mountains tina,
belongs to Jim, "Wa-al,' with a laz,
crawl, nobody never thought nothin
ABOUT 1t tell one these smart Flick,
real estate agents comes along an he
goes to jim an tells him how the roads
Jest boun' to come that way thro' the
gap, an that's jest the place for a town,
an they'll lay out the valley in town
lots, an they'll get a lot of fellers from
the cities to come up and buy 'em, an
they'll build a big summer hotel, an
they Il make more thoney than you kin
shake q stick at. At fust, Jim he
wouldn't hear of it, but the Teller was
one of them slick talkin' chaps will,
tongues that run like they are creased,
and in the end he nigh an about run
Jim crazy with the idea of gettin' rich.
Wa-al, the Teller he measured
an he measured and he staked CT
streets an eveneds and corner
lots Jlst like a sllo nough town, right
there In the gap of the mountain; an if
you'll believe me, he went down to
Ro'noke an Norfolk an lot mo- places
and talked UP Jim's place-Boontown,
ne called it-tell he got lot of them
city chaps to come up to the sale. Cose,
went. faint every day you gifts to
walk down the streets of city where
they ain't nary a house, an anyhow,
they was goin' to have big dinner.
After dinner the auctioneer (they
fotch one up from the city, got up an
he bugun to talk bout the railroad an
what 1t was goin' to do for the kentry
tell you'd thought it was jest goin' to
haul gold for us to shovel up. An
then he went on an on about the noun
tains, an said they was chists with for
tunes locked up in 'em in iron an
marble an lime, an then he turned up
hiseyes like a wall-eyed boss and sayss
What do | see? l see right here in
this valley great manufacturing city.
lnstid of the song of the bird the whir
of machinery. Where the wild flower
now blooms vast factories, lots selling
for a few dollars foot
worth hundreds in few years, on yon-
der heights a great summer resort
where thousands of guests are intoxi-
Gated with the wine of mountain air.
Great Jehosiphat, says to myself, ef
he kin see all that In this valley he'd
better rent his eyes out for telescope.
An then he went on talkin' en- talkin',
an after awhile he begun to auction off
the lots. | was standin' by Jim all the
while the Teller was talkin', an I seen
him gittin mighty pale an a tremblin',
an jest as a man from Norfolk bid on
the fust lot he stepped forward an says:
L forbid the sale. It's mine an I'll
keep it. You see he done believe every
blamed word that the auctioneer said,
an he thought that old valley of hisen
was worth as much as the heart of the
town. Wall, the Teller that got up the
thing wSss mad as a hornet, but twarnt
no use. Jim's one O the set kind. All
the Ednondses is, en- taint no use
awaistin' your breath contendin' with
EN-, en- the folks jes had to go home
cussin' the real-estate chap for bringin'
'em there on sech a wild goose chase"
The speaker paused a moment and
then added.
''After all, when they did build the
railroad, they didu't run it through
Jim's gap in the mountains, but pears
like it all jest turned his head. He's
still looking for the railroad and the
city to be built there, an he feels jest
as rich as ef he owned 'em all instead
of them pore, red gully hills"
A little, wizzened man, biting
straw nervously between his teeth,
broke in with:
"It's agin the Scriptures to set your
affections on the riches of this worl'.
IF Jim set as much store by the New
Jerusalem as he do by Boomtown it
would be better for him in this worl'
and the mex. Amt no good ever come
Of a settin' yo'self up better'n your
neighbors. Jes look at Bill Roberson's
son. His father inchin' and pinchin'
to save, an so close he would skun a
flea for his hide an taller, an send the
boy off to school, and when he got
back he's that full of pomposity and
verbosity you couldn't understand what
he's a talkin' about
.sThat's so,'' chimed in another,
riches brings their keers an troubles.
When / was down in the mountain last
week I met Tom Cyarter, an he was a
tellin' me he done adopted a son. Lawd
Almighty, Tom, says I what on earth is,
. single man like you, without no
women folks in the house, agoin' to do
with a babye Why, eli it had the collie
you wouldn't know how to make SCOT
tea, an as for bringin' it through teeth
n, tell you candid, l don't believe |
you can do it. With that he burst out |
aughin', and said he'd show me his |
baby, an I'm blamed eff he hadn't |
dopted a great big Teller, nigh en- about |
Is big an old as he was. He said he
lid it for comply, but it stands to rea-
ION that ef TonAhad a had to work he
had No call to saddle hisself
Nth that great fel!er for comply.