The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-04-25

looking out for pensions is goin' to git
| n pension fer BILL" he continued.
You all know Bill fit in tho war. nm
| he's blind, you know, an he's goin' to
| git his money now soon. / reckon his
back pay'll be scv'rul thousand dollars.
Itll be two or three months before
| he'll git it, but they say it's sure to
come" Well, we'll! would wonders
never cease? Bill Atkins n moncycd
man! The news must be true, for the
whole party remembered the pension
examiner who had visited the town,
and two or three men testified to see
ing him go to Atkins house.
The news spread like wildfire
through the little town, and created a
variety of emotions few sllcptical
souls pretended not 20 believe it, but
they were in n hopeless minority, and
the subject was discussed in all its
bearings. The Atllinses had suddenly,
and by no effort of their own, become
very important citizens. Mrs. Smith.
the wife of one of the ministers, told
the ladies in the sewing society
that She thought it shame that none
of them ever went to see the Atl1inscs.
They've got souls to save if they air
pore" she added, judiciously overlook
ing tho fact that report said they were
no longer beggars. Mrs. Kelly, the
lady who had avowed her intention of
never helping them again, looked quite
abashcd, and secretly resolved to send
Mrs. Atkins Il pitcher OF buttcrmillz
that very evening.
Next morning Mrs. Atkins herself
set forth for Il visit to Johnson's store,
ar, 1 W.
was abroad. She entered the place
rather timidly and i'll Il very apologize
tone asked for a pound of bacon, lit
tie coffee and Il box of snuff, adding, rs
was her invariab BILE rule, that She would
pay for the things as soon as berries
gifts ripe" AS Mrs. Atkins had made
this same promise every time she had
entered the store, there was no reason
why it should have particularly i'm
pressed Mr.. Johnson; yet he seemed de-
lighted, and hastily produced the things
she wished, but i'll much more generous
quantities. "Uow would you like n nice
ham?" he asked, holding up the article
in question Mrs. Atkins hcsitated.
She was rs honest as her limited
means would permit, so she shook her
head, saying he would get tired of
waiting for his pay. mo, indeed" he
insisted; take your own time to pay
for it. don't mind waiting a bit on a
good customer" Thus urged, Mrs.
Atkins took the ham, and added several
unaccustomed luXuries to her list. He
would not allow her to carry the
things, but sent them in his delivery
wagon, and gave her at parting n po-
lite call again" Mrs. Atkins went
home in a truly astonished state of
mind, related her remarkable adven-
ture to the old man and the children,
and wound up by declaring that "Jim
Johnson's been converted, and know
1T, else he never would have did it."
The Atkinses enjoyed square meal
that morning, the first in many
weary day.
The two churches-there were ONLY
two in the town-scemed to vie with
each other in paying delicate atten-
tions to the hitherto neglected family.
To be just, the two ministers and their
wives had endeavorcd to induce the
Atkinses to ''join the church." but
their efforts had not been crowned
with success, largely, it seemed, be-
cause Mrs. Atkins and Mandy, the
oldest girl, had "nothin' to wear"
But now the other ladies of the church
developed sudden interest in the
matter, and upon receiving the usual
reply one of them boldly asked:
We'll, why don't you git dress at
Boothby's? He'll wait till YOU git the
money" Mrs. Atkins, who was getting
little accustomed to her unexpected
turn of good luck, pluclscd up heart
to go to Boothby's, the largest dry
goods and general merchandise" store
in the place, and, though somewhat un-
certain of her reception, managed to
express Il desire for certain purple
calico toward which her heart had in
clined, but which she had never
dreamed of possessing. Mr. Boothby
was most a1fable; certainly she could
have the goods, and anything else she
wished. a pink calico for Mandy
was added, and the entcrprising mer-
chant succeeded in pressing upon the
bewildcrcd woman various articles of
adornmcnt entirely unsuitable to her,
but of which he had found some trouble
in disposing.
Thus it went on. Mandy and her
mother became regular church goers,
arraycd in their elegant new calicoes,
and even the old man had q new suit
of store clothes" sold him on time
| and somewhat against his will by an
accommodating merchant of the town
In vain the Atltinses protested that
they did not know when they could
pay for all these luXuries; these gen
erous friends smilingly waved aside
all such scruplcs and protested that