The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1895-05-25
LUCK OF THE ATKINSES.
ny MARGARET II. YATES.

LUX Of' The AIKlNSES.
ny MARGARET II. YEArEs.
Nobody ever was poorer than the At
lSinses, or, in common parlat,ce, any
more '-shif'less." The family consisted
of the old man, Bill by name, a half
blind, aecrepit creature. who yet pos
scssed n share of quaint humors his
woman. who had grown fat on nothing
and who managed to keep her .nr1ff-
box full even when the coffcc-pot was
empty, and Ave or six lank, sallow
boys and girls in various stages of age
and tlirtiness. They occupied u small
log house on the outskirts of town in
the mountains of Arkansas, and their
simplicity. 1t consisted of single
room which the entire family occupied
without regard to age or sex; the fire.
place furnished at once heat, light and
the means of cooking their scanty
food. Three wretched beds, n broken
chair two, a box which served
rs table, frying-pan, spider
and coffee pot, with a few broken dish
es, composed the entire wealth of the
Atkins family, for their house was the
property of a vell-to-do citizen who
let them live there for very pity. It
was quite prosperous, this inland Ar
kansas town, though fifty rough and
rocky miles from the nearest railroad;
1t was considered by the country folk
around a dashing, stylish place. The
ladies there never went barefootcd,
even in the hottest weather, and sum
bonnets were long since out of date.
The men, too, wore store clothes, and
ing during the summer; but this inno-
walton was by no means popular. It
was gossipy little community, as an
isolated place must be, and its church
and political factions managed to keep
things from stagnating. But the whole
town was united upon one thing-in
heartily condemning the Atkinses.
Even the Methotlists and the Campbell
ties agreed on that, and they did not
often agree upon anything. for the
Complexities had affirmed that they
could sing louder and faster than the
NIcthodists, and the boast had caused
considera bic ill feeling.
The town had to support the Atkins
es, SO surely it had the right to disap-
prove of them, but the disapproval was
rather out of proportion to the aid they
furnished, and. had the position been
reversed, the At<inscs would have had
more to eat. One lady in the town had
declared that she would never help
them Atkinses" again. She related to a
had offered Mis- Atkins two bits n
week an all she could eat if she
would do her washing and cooking, but
the offer had been refused. Mrs. At
lSins said she had to stay at home and
take care of her man. as he was
mighty nigh blind" and the old man
had loosely remarked that he '''lowed
Lou-i-sy'd been dom nothin' SO long
she'd hate to quit
Mr. johnson was proprietor of the
only grocery store in the town. He
had come from New England years be-
fore, and had opened this store when
lemons and oranges were practically
unknown and white sugar wcll-nigh
as hard to obtain. BY dint of keeping
these and similar luxuries and selling
them at astonishingly high rates, and
by introducing into the western market
many high-priced novelties, such as
eardines, canned fruits, oatmeal, A b c
crackers, and other articles calculated
to please the eye and palate of the
village customer, he had managed to
amass quite a tidy little sum. On this
gentleman the burden of contributing
to the support of the Atlzinses fell
with especial severity. Not that he
gave more than anyone else-quite the
contrary-but that his well-known
stinginess made him feel it more. tits
doubtful if he would have given any
stand we'll in the eyes of the communi-
ty, and especially of the gentleman on
whose land the Atkinses lived. He
was the rich man of the town, and his
influence and Importance were wonder
full in a small way.
One evening a group OF men had
gathered in Mr.. Johnson's store, rs
was tho custom, solemnly gossiping
about the events of the day. The pro-
prietor stood behind the counter keep
ing an anxious eye on his boxes of
crackers and fruit that stood invitingly
open. He was slender man, slightly
stopped, with his face and upper lip
shaver and an iron-gray beard adorn-
ing his chin. He had small eyes and
q bland smile that was intended to be
very pleasing. 1t was hard to keep
the smile this evening, though, for q
lanl mountaineer was making fearful
depredations upon a box of animal
crackers that stood open on the coun-
tel. He dared not stop the man, for
he was a possible customer, but as he
saw his pastry cows and elephants dis
appearing his heart sank within him.
It was not until he had safely maneu-
that he was able to give his attention
to the chat that was going on.
Abe Lewis had the floor, and he was
telling something that was truly
astounding. "Have you fellers heerd
that ole Bill Atkins is goin' to draw
some money soon?" he asked, The
sensation tho news produced was fully