Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1891-03-13


ther door an get half ont, n come
back an shet the door an talk. an
one n another wud go off ter bed. till
there wouldn't be soul left hat re.
An one night | VOW If ! didn't 20 to
sleep in nv cheer after he'd opened the
door an shet it Inore'n twenty times
n hadn't sot down at all; an when /
woke mp he wasn't thcre-so | s'pose
he managed somehow to 90. One win
tcr's noruin' he come over TO our house
afore liVht-ve was a-caten' brclfust,
| know. Il he sed he WIZ in q great
hurry ter borrer or log chain, 'en |
Gyed i'm sunthin' or nuther about his
! quarrel with Uncle Jim Caldwell about
a line fence. an he took or cheer an
entered inter pcrticlzerlcrs. an III be
hanged ef he didn't keep it up till my
wife he'd dinner on ther table. an his
i wife come after him, an be hadn't he'd
a mou'ful ter eat thet day"
THAT puts me IN mind Of Joe Prin-
( de said Aunt Hannah, who was up 70
/ her elbows in the bread tray, mixing rye
/ and Indian into sticky mass that was
/ sure TO turn ont the most excellent OF
/ brown bread. "WkeIi he was a young
7 spark he used ter 20 10 see Hannah
4 simmons, an he would stay n stay, n
never know when ter 60 home. One
/ hot summer night, after he'd been n
reapin' rye all day, he was tired. |
/ s'pose, n he dropped ersleep in his
cheer, n snored like all-possessed.
/ She went n fetched er pillar n put
under his head. an then she fetched the
I old-fashioned long handled dash ehuru
an set it down beside her cheer, n put
on il her little white dimity r1iIled cape
n ap'on. an hung her little cap on top
or the dash an went ter bed He woke
up at day break an see what the joke
wuz, an he put the cape N ap'on n
cap in his pocket n went Off She
told ont, n it got all around. n every
budy had their fling at Joe, n we all
thought 'twould lreak up ther match.
But he kept a goin' ter see her Jest the
same but mind ye he kept awake
an after a considerable Of er spell they
,guz engaged. She sed she had ter
promise ter hav i'm ter git her property
back"
Il uster know her said Zebediah
Marcy, who happened to remember
that his wife wanted him 20 ask Aunt
Hannah for her rule for ''riz cake" and
so had made his way from the bar-room
to the hospitable kitchen. '.She was
own cousin 60 Darius Glazier 4 great
hand to visit, Darius was, an he had
the greatest znack at allus happening
in about meal time. He never would
hitch his horse, but would drive up,
drop his lines n go in. Grimes he
would say, any hoss thet belongs ter
me has got ter stan, n il they don't
know how to stan at fust they've got
ter larn.' One dark, foggy night in
March he cum inter our house an sed
he'd been er-tradin' hosses with old
man Hammond, the grave-stone maker,
an he rcckoned how he'd got er hoss
that would stan an wait till he'd he'd
time ter bargain and sell er grave
stone. He laughed about it all the
evenin,' an told stories about all the
hosses he'd ever owned, an hain't he
larnt them on EN- ter stan that
wouldn't ter begin with? Amazin fond
Of er a hoss. Riuz wuz. NJ at last he
made up his mind ter 90, n / lit the
lantun, an we all went out, wife an
all, ter see the new hoss. Darius went
ahead, an when he got where twas
'twan't there.
Why the tarnal critters gone said
he, Grimes! l wonder how long she
thought she'd otter wait ter hev
grave-stun sold?'
"We thot she might hev gone ter the
barn, or under shed, or inter the sheep
fold, n we all hunted. Twas darker
thin tar, n the fog wuz thicker then
black sleeps wool. We lit up a lot or
pine torches thet we use, you kEow.
when we go a fshin' il lller night, n
twas comioal huff ter ST. US prowlin'
all over the primises with ther slush up
to our knees. jest as we concluded
that she had started for Monson, ter her
old home, my boy Joe sung out thet
he'd found tracks he couldn't count for,
leadin' down toward the river. an
Darius sed he guessed she was so dis
gusted with her new master she'd sot
out TO drown herself. Wall, we all fol-
lowed along arter the tracks an half
way ter ther river they struck off fur
the left, an we followed half-mile or
more, an ez sure ez I'm q sinner we
found ther cutter a-standin' stretchin'
her neck over the burying-ground fence.
Good hoss,' said Darius You know
your bizncss-you sold a stun, an then
you come ter set it up Ila. IIa""
"Why, here's the stage a-comin' n
reddy," said Aunt Hannah; ''an here's !
Jabez. 50 glad ter see ye, Jabez.
We've told al the young folllses about !
you an your stories, an we hope You
won't forget a single one on 'em."
Jabez needed no encouragement TO be
entertaining. He kept a laughing /
group around him from the moment he
entered the old stage tavern.
''The balin's got to go on all night
ter be ready fur the bah supper Thanks
giving night" said Aunt Hannah.
"There's pound cake TO bake and |
brown bread, an a load of pies, an its |
true ez prcachin' that there is more |
than twice as many follSses in thcr
house ez there is beds-not thet any |
house could have too many friends al
Thanksgiving time, only it seems ter be /
an amazin' lucky time ter entertain |
Jabcz."
.Jabcz for his part talked and talked |
without his stock of stories beginning |
20 run dry. Ills listeners were attentive |
and responsive. To be sure, they |
changed of now and then; from time
to time he found himself looking into |
different faces, but the laugh never |
failed at just the right point and Jabez |
felt that he was the life Of the company |
and was glad he had come. The time |
slipped away fast, and IL did not seem |
long before the six o'clock breakfast |
was ready. Jabcz always was blessed |
with good appetite, and IL never oc-
Cured to him 20 think whether he was
eating breakfast or supper Before |
they were up from the table the Nor
wich stage came in, and after that there |
were corners and goers all day long.
That night was the ball. Jabez and |
Aunt Hannah led the frst figure, and |
Jabcz danced all night, and the next |
day he went home.
'Ncver he'd so good IA time in my
life" he told his mother They was !
all master glad ter see me, an / wuz
glad | wept."
"Wherc'd you sleep?" asked his
mother, who had been brought up in |
the old Connecticut stage-tavern and |
was naturally anxious to know all the |
particulars. There wuz such house |
full Niece Hannah couldn't hev pat !
you inter her best bed?"
"Why, no, She didn't" said Jabez II |
didn't stay all night, did j? Why, ] |
must hev, fur / went of Wednesday |
and now It's a Friday. | swanny! ] |
hadn't thought ont, b. hain't been