Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-06-30

an crack an Granny of the box wigglin'
little pictur's of Aunt Hammer was
crawlin'.
" Not much l says Aunt Hammers
all right, but hain't wantin' any cous-
ms a-growin up here with Aunt Han
ner's natur' in EN-
80 l gethered up the young uns an
made 'em give up the ghost, one an
all. The was forty-eight of EN-, all
born durin' the night Aunt Hammer
had had more p'ints than l had noticed
about her, an | took to her morn ever.
But she was sassier'n ever an wouldn't
eat nothin'. She ratified an she tore
around in her box for morn three
months and hadn't ct a thing One
mornin' | went out to take a look at
her an she was gone. A knot had tum-
bled out of board in the box an she
had crawled out of the hole. | hunted
for her, an long to'ards night | came
on her layin' in my tater patch. The
most astonishin pint about her then
was the tip end of a frogs hind feet
stickin' out of her mouth. The rest of
the frog was pOoty we'll down toards
her innards.
She's gobbled Uncle Bailey! I mol
Tered, an so she had.
But that want nothin' to be done
fer him, so l gethered Aunt Hammer
up and put her back in her box. In
the course of two or three days she had
absorbed all of Uncle Bailey an was as
peaceful as dove. She ct everything l
crir - oh. f,.i, al 7
let her out O. the box. She made her
self useful, tell We! She KEEP the dogs
away from the chickens and hunted up
hens nests fer me and fetched me the
eggs in relar. She come out strong on
lightnin rod peddlers an patent hay
fork agents, an they usety go by my
place a-hummin'. But she was greatest
on tax collectors. The money Aunt
Hammer saved me in taxes the two year
an better that she had the run o my
clearin' KEEP me in cider an t'backer
When I'd see a tax collector p'intin fer
the cabin I'd hOller:
Aunt Hammer, Taxes
Then Aunt Hanner'd come a sailin
along, her head up an her eyes a snap
pin an her latter end jist a-buzzin', an
away go that tax collector so fast we
could play checkers on his coat tail
they stuck out so stiff an straight An
now Aunt Hammers dead an I'm set
tin here gain an ponderin'. Died
O. shame, too. Bout twict a year Aunt
Hammer had way O changin her clo'es.
She'd hursel off her ole skin an some
out all dressed up in a shiny new one.
But she was so awful modest that she'd
90 way somers where | couldn't see her
make the change. Yesterday, though, l
see her stealth away, an | knowd she
was goin' to undress an dress up, an
unbeknownst to her l follered her an
watcher her to see how the proceedin'
was done She never seen me till she
had stripped off all her OIL buds an was
pooty as pictur' in her new ones. Then
she cuddled down an tried to hide
away from me, and the blood rushed
clean from her rattles to her face, til
! she was blushin' red as a piny. She
give one reproachin' look an turned
her head away. Aunt Hammer was
dead. | had seen her maxim her toilet
and she jist naurly couldn't get over
the shame O. it, an it killed her
The native took my flask from his
pocket and emptied it. Throwing it
away, he rose and said:
Il hope the next time We come along
here. cap'n, that we've learned to be a
good enough fisherman to carry quart.
fer I mowt be ponderin' here again"
Then The native went away into the
woods and resumed my fshing.-New
/ York Sun.