The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1888-03-23
GM Qrmurrat- Star
HE PLAYED IL
A Tragedy of Rural Tennessee
How a Nest of Hornets Broke
Up a Family.
N. y. Mail and Express.

~
knew" said px-City Judge Hyatt,
at the Criterion Clud recently, twas
Sut Lovingood, of Tennessee. He
had a big reputation before The war,
but | can't ind anybody nowadays
who seems to remember him. lie
died about the time tue war broke
out. Thirty Years ago the papers
were filled with furry things Sut
Loviugool bad SAID or done. | re-
member one OF the stories he used
to tell. 1t was the story OF a Ten
nessee rustic, told as if he were
telling il himself, in the drawing
vernacular of his kind. SUIT de-
scribed him as a long-leggetl, short
bodied, White haired, hog-eyed,
funny sort of a genius, who had
ridden up to u of the back woods
groceries of the region, Oh IA crow
bait OF a horse, where Il crowd of
wild mountaineeIS we're assembled,
full of fight and bad whisky. They
guyed the rustic and his horse un-
mercifully, and finally he got mad
and yelled back at them
81 say, you ash-eats! Jlst keep
yer shirts on, will yer? You uns
never seed a rdal boss till | rid up.
Tarpole h'yar is mex to the best
boss ut ever shelled nubbins, aud
the fus' bes' ones name war Ticky-
tail. He's dead ~ a still worm,
pore OF Tickytail isl
'sThen the mountaincers waited
to know what killed T~ickytail, and
the rustic went on-but SUIT Lovin-
good ought to be here TO tell it.
"Wot killed him ~ drawled the
bog.eyed genius. "Why, %nawthin,
We tarnation fools! He jis' died,
that's all. Standiu' up at that +!
Waru't that pl1ek I He fruz so stiff
ut when me an'dad pushed i'm over
he JUS stuck out the four corners
likes tipped. over carpenters bench,
an we he'd TO wait seventeen days
fer i'm to thawr out afore We cud
skin i'm. Wall, thar We war, me
an dad, Sal an Jake, Phineas an
Simon, Jonas au' Charlotte, Ca'lina
an Cashus Henry Clay, Noar Dan
an Cather'n Secont, Uleopatry An.
tony au' Jane Lind, the baby am
the prospect, an' nam berself-al
left ithout no boss TO crop with
Now, that war a nice ness fer {
spectacle family to be sloshed abou.
it, warn't it? | 'clar eft | did't fee
like stealin' q boss sometimes
Wall, l waited am [ rested, an
waited am rested on, till wall mig!
to strawb'ry time, hopin' ut some
stray hoes mowt come along, bui
dog my cats ef any seeh luck ever
comes whar my dad is, he's SO drot.
ted mean AM lazy, an savage, au
ugly, am tryin' like,
8" Wall, Ii night dad lie lai,
awake all night, a-suortiT am a rol
lin an a whisp'rin' at nam. Mex
mornin' be n ter me
""'I tell We wot we'll do" he SUI
"Ill be boss m'self, am pull the
plow," he SUI, "Nhile you drive, au
we'll break up corn-grOwin'," he
SUI. ''Then the OF quilt'-meanln
mam-"an' the hrats KIN plant il
ur let it alone just w they please,
he SUI.
1850 out me an dad goes TO tht
pawpaw, aud pcels a right smar
chance o bark, amman au' me made
gears for dad, an they become in
like a new bed.tick shirt. Then dat
he would have a bride, an l ben
an twisted an uinbril wire sorte
into a birdie bit. Dad wanted
curb, he said, az be hadn't worked
Tor sometime am mOwt sOrter fee
his oats an go to eavOrtiD'. Wall
when we got the bride all fixed OF
dad he clamped his bit jes' like
real boss. Dad alters war a com
plicated OF tool, anyhow. | put
the gears on IN, au' out me an dad
goes to the field, me a leadin' dad
by the birdie an tOtin' the gopher
pillow on my back.
"tWEen we come to the fence
let down a gap. That made cad
mad. He wanted ter jump the
fence on all tours, boss way. quiet
ed i'm down, an hitched i'm on ter
the gopher, an away we went, dad
a leanin' for'ard Ter his pullin' righl
peart like. Au' we made SHARP
ploughin' dad a go!R right over
the bushes an sprouts. same NJ
real boss. The only Difference wal
ut he went on two legs. BdminbyC
We comes TO a sassylrax patch, an
dad, ter be a boss all owes, bulged
squar' inter it, aud tore down a hOr
nets nest nigh as big as a hoss'S
head, AM all the tribe kivered i'm
right straight. He r'ared am kick
ed wunst or twice, all fetched 6
sQueal wuss nor any boss in the
deestric', an sot utter runnin' erway
jist uz n%at,ral az ever yer seed.
81 let 60 the pillow an hOllered
fWoa, dadl woa, But yer mOwt u
wall er said wOa ter q tearin loker
motif. JeeNillikinsl how he aiS
runl When e come ter a bush e.,
cir 1t, gopher an all. l reckon !,
mOWt er thort thar wal another set
Element o. hornets in it, an ut wa.
another settlement o. hornets ia it
an ut war safer ter 60 over it Ihui
through il, gu quicker done. Ev'r,
now and then ed pawr one side c
lis head 18th fust one fore leg an
then 18th t'Oiher. Then ED gin i'm
self an e~peu-hauded slap ut sound
ed like the craekin' of a wagon whip
an''e KEEP n ruuniu' ali the time, an
a carryin' O. that gopher jist erbou