The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-13

house an seed UNI. It thess came inter my
min whilst we been a settin' here talkin'
/ bout ghostses an the like er that. Daught's
! over wander settin' up wi Mis-. Clemmans,
an I wisht she wuz here. She know'd 'em
all.
"Well, sir, it wuz in North Calling, right
mex ter the FergInny line. whar we all
cum frum. They wuz a fammerly thar by
the name er Chambliss-Tom Chambliss
an his wife--an' they had a boy name
John, in about ez peart a chap ez you ever
sot your eyes on. After awhile, Miss
Chambliss, she took sick an died. Tom.
lie moped aroun' right smartualy. but
'twasn't long 70 he whirled in an mar
ried agin. He ven away off som'rs for
to get his wife, the Lord knows whar, an
she wuz a honey! She fused so much az.
went on so that Tom, he took to drink, an
he went from dram ter dram tell he wern't
John, the boy. an she thess %nachully. made
that child's life miserbul a-doggin' after
him all day long an half the night.
zone Sunday she fixed up an went ter
church, arter tellin' Johnny fer to stay at
home an keep the chickens outn' the sallid
patch. She locked the door of the house
before she went off am took the key wi
'er. 1t wuz right down coolish. but the sun
wuz a-shinln' an Johnny didn't min the
cold. Their wuz n big white oak tree in
the yard, an he clum' up that an ofope'
out on a linn nm got OH top or the comb.
He wuz a feelin' mighty lonesome, an
he didn't know what ter 10 wi hisse'f
skacely.
II dunno how long he sot thar, but pres
entity n great big acorn dropped on the
roof-kerbang! 1t wuz seoh q big one an
it fell so hard that it made Johnny jumpe
II fell on the roof bout half way hetwixt
the comb an the caves, an when johnny
1Anlral II r,ll1yls fpr I'm lAa- what mnday tina
fuss he seed the acorn Il rollin' up lords
whar he wuz a-settin. Yes, sir! stedder
rollin' down the roof mn fallin' off on the
groun', the acorn came a-rollln up the
shingles, thess like it wuz down grade.
Johnny grabbed it az it come. He picked
It 'roun' an 'roun' for to SEQ what kinder
oonsarn it wuz that rolled up hill steader
rollin' down hill. Whilst no wu2 a
turnin' the acorn aronn' no spied u worm
hole in it. an he wuz thess about ter break
it open when he heard somebody
wuz II calm i'm from a way OFT yander,
an he answered back 'Ma'am! thess ez
loud as ever he could, an then he sot still
an listened. Rimehy he heard the calm
again. an he answered back: Who 10 you.
an whar is you?' 1t seemlike then that he
could hear somebody laughin' at him
some'rs. These here. sounds sorter put i'm
out. an he took an shot the acorn down
the ROOF like it wu2 Il marvel. Iit, before
it could fall off. it seemed ter kinder ketch
itself, an then u come u-rollin' back to
johnny.
"Ihis sorter made Johnny feel kinder
creepy. He know'd mighty we'll that he
didn't nave no loadstone in his pocket, mn
he couldn't make no head ner tail to sech
on. He picked up the acorn IAN
ut il closer than ever, an turned il
rom an 'ronn' in his hand. nh helt it
right up to his eye. Whilst he was a-holdin'
it up thai a way, he heard u little bit or
voice ez fine az q cnmhrie needle, and it
seem like it was a-singin':
'Ningspie, N%ingapie,
Why au you holf me. At your eye2
hinsapie, hinsapsas
~"- Don't you know that you can't see?
hingapie, Ningapeer!
Why don't you hol' mo to your ear?
Johnny didn't know whether to laugh
or cry, but no helt the acorn to his ear,