Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-02-28

thlnkln what bad luck ii struck all
along tho last few months, my eve
caught on tO some lines in the scrap
of newspaper d wrapped round the
lunch and which WAS LYNN spread out
on my leg under the second piece of
bread just within good readin dis
tame" don't just r"Coll"Ct just how
tho words read. hut the drift of it
was that lots OF mon failed III gcttin
what they wanted in this world Just
because they didn't want il hard
enough aud didn't keep askin and
praYin for It until they got it. These
lines somehow hit my case il seemed
70 me. | hadn had much carly re-
llgiOus trainin, and tho idea of lust
prayln hard for what you wanted
and gcttln It struck mo as Somethin
now and simple and very satiSfac-
cory. There was no ond of things
wanted, and wanted bad, and if they
was to be had by just wantin ON
Dad enough and aSkin for ON violont
enough | was gOin to get EN- sure
"Thon l says to myself, why not
start in right now with n silent pray
err? So ! set at it. IrlOSCd nv ewes
and squeezed my lids together hard
| i WAS 50 dead in earnest. 1t was n
terrible SwCcpin, vigorous PRAYER |
handed in. First, wanted good luck
in general way and asked for it
hard. Then | got more down to par
|
prosperous, and wound up with %
sort of side handed suggestion that
itwould suit mo down to tho ground
to have Prot fall off his luck and get
poor, while l grew rich. All this
WASH right, of course as / see now,
ma am. But | wasn't SO much pray
in for bad luck to Prot for it's own
sake, as for the effect of it all on nv
gettin on with kittie German.
"Whcn prayed for tho blight on
Prot, | was SO sorter brought up by
the whole business that-just, sup
pose, to give things partic lar point
i fired out my right leg so vigOr-
ouSliko and struck the snOwshoe to
which I'd hucklcd the mail pouch SO
hard, that-Zip !-whiz like shot
! it was on its way down the hill. Ii
made clear shoot for about 500 feet.
every now and then spinnin about.
when an end would strike a snap, un.
til it brought up short against ledge
that cropped out across it's track,
sending SplintcrS of stone all about
when it struck, for, with the mail
pouch buckled on to it, it picked up
considerable speed and hit hard. II
bounded up and turned clean over,
and then stopped altogether, held
from slitlin any further by the crop
pins.
"Wcll, ma am, while that snow
shoe was pirouettin down the slope,
| was that surprised and mad all
through that, although I'd just been
within in prayer, As you might
say, | let loose line of language that
if there'd been any stop or feclin to
that sn0wShoe it would have brought
up within 80 feet. ! mention this
with regret, ma am, because l feel
now that if hadn't been moved to
make them remarks, just fresh on
top of the prayer, things would have
turned out different. But, boin
young and hot headed and thought
less then, of course l didn't look
ahead for consequences.
There was nothin to do but go
down to the ledge where tho snow
shoe lay, pick it up and tho mail
pouch and get on my way again. The
edge was rotten with tho weather
and pretty we'll broke up already,
and aside from the small pieces just
knocked out of it thcre'd been one
big chunk loosencd up, which had
rolled just away from the ledge and
lay with the fresh break turned uu
to the sun and dazzlin mo with it's
brightness.
No, young man"-this to a know
ing suggestion from Manton lit
WASH t mica OF course, nor mica at
all. That piece of rock was just criss
crossed all over and through with
coarse wire gold. stood starin at il
full minute before l could get il
through my head that I was lookin
at rock that would go over S., 900 to
the ton; that / was the discoverer
and owner of that ledge, and that
tindin it just meant to me everything
worth havin, includin of course first
and foremost riches and kittie Cor.
man.
while / stood there | rccollected
with start that riches and prosper
itS and kittie German was what I'd
boon prayin for hard for five minutes
before, and here it all was within
reach i'll answer to that prayer, just
rs If it had been on tap, SO to speak,
all the time, and I'd just turned the
spiSot Naturally | was some excited,
but | kept cool enough to put up
monuments and Il location notice all
right, and chriStsned the claim the
Heavenly SnowshOe, as bein some.
what appropriate to the situation.
You can imagine, ma am,
WASH III no state of mind after this
to keep on with the mail to Brown
Bear and Roundout. just wanted
to get back to German : and let 'em
know about the strike. So / climbed
up tb" hill again for the other shoe,
pounded off some good specimens to
show what I'd found and was back
again at German $ little after sun.
set
"When | won't down to tho hotel