The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-11-03
A ..cRAcKER" coURTsHIP.
How = Pop Wen the Hand of His Neigh
b0r the wislOW.

How "Pop' Won the Hand OF HI. Neigh
bOr th~ Widow
Down In this unknown nook characters
may he met who would delight those aI-
preciative OF the fresh and distinctive in
human nature. Here i'm the deepest re-
cesses of the ''pincy woods" are ''crack-
ers' who have never penetrated ten miles
from the smoky cabins in which they
were born, and whose domestic life has
been bounded 10y the live oak logs, clay
walls and palmetto thatch of their abins
Here they have. lived since the time back
i'm the '3Os, when osceolo and his Semi
nolcs were captured 10y the regulars or
driven to the gators, uoccasins and mia
SINAI swanps of the Everglades. Idolcncc
ignorance. shiftlessness, courage and
pride are their more prominent qualities.
Some miles back from the lake is a 'er-
which stands u In.rticul irly heavy and
luxuriant growth of pine. magnolia and
liveoak. In il are several clcarings which
were made some four or five decades
since, 10y the first 'crackcrs" who canc
to this section, at the time of their arrival
~ wild and virgin country, which foot of
white man may not have tro<iden since
Ponce de Leon ranged the peninsula in
his quest for the tabled fountain of youth.
Three OF the clcarings are clustered
closely together, one ownedhy the Widow
Lagarc pronounced LcErs'cI one by Pop
Soiners and the third by "Unclc Billy
Thomas. Uncle Billy has contrived To
pass 6s years i'm single blesse,lness, but
during the last eight years he has found
widow. On the other hand "Pop' has
had three wives, the last i'm the sequence
n nnS. 20 state that "Hop,, ' + |. man Of in,
dividuality. not given tn inaction and vain
rcpininRs when he has suffered "a loss.
Misfortune has u bracinH effect on him
and stimulates him tai repair his LOSSES.
Consequently l was not surprised at the
With him a fortnight after the death Of
his third wife. Replying tn some ex-
prrssions of sympathy ON my pssrt. the old
"Yes. Iank. I've done lust n good house
Keeper. So my. cabin his i'm mighty pore
ways. SO Of co'.s I've done h.s.n, r,.kon.
busy"
acting ON "a mischicvo,s~ impulse, I sue~
Have you thought 81 the widow Lr-
garc? She's pail as u housA,ks.,per
and isn't 10 day more than As"
II 'lowed,' was the reply, 'thas ] mout
i'm bein' in sich "a pow'rful rush. Purity
soon Ill take err day tn hunt fur err wossan:
Gittin' or wife, is like giitin' or n.ul.; and
iasi " :" ~''"'s a''" a"n.
Uncle Billy may cut i'm ahead Of you."
~idder hainf brnash. Uncle Billy ter tsn,e
i'm much as nigh Ugh years. B"' I'll
Exactly a week later "Pop~ .addled his
/ umule anu ruAtc tO tne WIDOW ,. ne hou1itCl
the buxum nAntron mentiin9 the guard
that hung i'm her well and bait I will tell
the ale ia his own words.
".Mornin'. widlder. Howyly . SEE l.
What do you-hns want ? said AN
suspicious like.
$50 I done come right down tn Il ant
said I'm rcckonin' 1 low fur TER ri
ernurthe wifc.andl want YER take XSH-uns
you-uns think ~ scs l i'm my peartc~t.
".l dunno, se1 she uns. .Ain't thi,
sudden? Lemme think. Thar's dis yer
Uncle Billy
".Durn Uncle Billy!' I snapped out, he
like. + right smart critter he is. He
had eight yeer the start on me and h
haint never done nothin'. I'm a live maj
wi four acres cleared land, and thrp
cows and twenty orange trees and q
mule. Better say yes, widder. j figRc
out that YOU uns will like it,
"Wall. she wouldn't just then. but sh
did two minutes later. just then the Gil
cult rider done come long, and ! don
told the widder that we'd hich ou
hands together right thar and saw
, time and he through with IL. Bu
she said that thar wasn't no way to b
: marrid and lowed she wanted to rid
5 round by Uncle Billy's right away an
. he married much as higher fortnight after