The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1894-03-22
THE LIMEkILN CLUB.
Br'er Gardner Discourses on rroVi-
dence-- Big Mistakes am
Possible

envy fren's,' said Brother Gardner
Of the Lfmekiln Club, when the rout-
inc business of the meeting had been
disposed Of, II heard Brudder Bebee
sayin' to Shindig Watkins de odder
night dat he should Deepen upon
Providence to git frew de Winter. l
also heard Brudder Shin sayin' to
Givadam Jones dat his rent was be-
hind but Providence would step in
srimwhar. / want to say few words
to yo' on dis matter of Providence.
| used to figger heap on Providence
helpin' me out, but de night | dun
left my henhouse doah unlocked an
went to bed dependin' on Providence
to stand guard | made SIGH mistake
dat l haint got ober feelin' mad yit.
Doorin' dat dark an tremulous night
a Guild pusson jumped my fence an
entered dat henhouse an removed
TO teen of de incest chickens in all
dis Stait. If Providence was around
dar anywhar she propably helped put
dem chickens in de bag.
Il knowed a pusson about three
vars ago who owned mewl, an
one night dat mewl was tooken sick.
| was called on, an ! saw it was a
case of collie an / recommended de
usual remedy. De owner of dat
mewl concluded to depend upon
Providence instead and when he riz
up next mawnin' he had a cold
corpse on his hands. Dat same pus-
son cut hole in de roof of his kitch-
en- an run stovepipe freW it wldout
any safeguard. One day, when we
was away from home, dependin' on
Providence to see to dat stovepipe,
his house caught fire and was dun
burned to the ground.
Oar am sartin member OF dis
club, an his name am Shutdown
White, who used to depend upon
Providence to even furnish him cod
fish for breakfast. He 'spected Provi-
dence to hunt him up job, doctor
his family, buy shoes fur his chillen
an pay his house rent, an even when
dey war gwine to send him to de
poorhouse he hung to Providence.
l is happy to say dat | am de pusson
who opened his eyes at last. He
cum ober to my cabin to borrow ~,
He depended on Providence to open
my heart but got sadly left. Den he
got mad an depended on Providence
to help lick me, but | peeled off my
coat an Civ him SIGH Il thrashin
dat he was in bed fur two weeks.
When he got out he Civ Providence
de cold shake, an to-day he am well
fixed an gettin' along all right.
Oar am sartin members Of dis
club who reckon dey kin sit on de
fence all summer and be sartin dat
Providence will furnish EN- wild taters
an bacon frew de winter. Long about
Jinuary deyll be mighty glad to fill
up de vacuum wild stewed pumpkin.
If Providence was eber in de proyis-
sion biznesS she went out of it long
ago. Oar was time in my life when
| let de winter woodpile 90 an de-
pended on Providence to keep the ole
cook stove red hot. AFTER my dawg
had friz to death, de ole woman lost
her big toes, an | had got crop Of
chilblains to last me the rest OF my
life, | cum to the conclusun that
Providence wasn't in the woodward
bizness. It's all right if yo' am
gwine to ride on Il railrodc to lean on
Providence, though she doan' seem to
Git furder west dan Buffalo, but when
yo figger dat she am gwine to put a
SIS obercoat on yo' back as Christ
mas present yo' will get badly mis-
took.
Our own experience right here in
Paradise Hall proves de troof Of
what ! say. On one occashun ! left
seben dollars in de safe an forgot to
set de b artrap on de stars. | went
home, dependin' on Providence, but
long about midnight got Uneasy an
cum down an sot de traps an changed
de combinashun from reptile to
kangaroo | friz my heel a-goin'
home, but what did the next day re-
veal? In one of dose b 'artraps was a
big toe from human foot. An evil
minded pusson had got into dis hall
to rob us. After BORN sebenteen
holes in our safe Wild an auger he had
started downstairs to find bag to
put de money in, an de trap had
cotched him. He didn't depend on
no Providence to open dat trap, but
jest pulled away till he pulled his toe
off and den skated away.
Oar ann pusson right yere befo'
me tonight who borrowed S3 of me
last Spring an am dependin' on
Providence to pay it back. Ize wait
ed to see if he would do it, but he
hasn't. Fze gwine to wait one mo-
week, an den if dat money hain't
handed over I'ze gwine to pint to
dat pusson dat Providence neither
borrows nor lends, an dat she amt
got no use fur lazy folks or liars. II
he lodges me in dark alley he may
figure dat Providence aided him, but
he'll be wrong. It'll be on account
of dat squint in my right eye, an I'll
trail him down by daylight! We
will now break up de meetin' an de,
pend on Providence to keep de trolley