Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-02-07


Thoms' place h wrote ono day:
Oar CntcrpriSinG townSInan, Jacob
ThomS, ESQ. may be II good enough
Representative" of southern chivalry,
but he shnuld not pluck mere kids
Rather, for the good name of the
town, he should COniinC his efforts
to relieving wandering me luds' and
t"nd"rtOotS of their superfuous cash
W" pen these lines more in sorrow
than in anger, for we lOvo our Jake
rs we do our own ribs, and, taking
liberty of an old friend, mako this
suggestion To guido him in the fu.
turC
l recall that Jake was standing Il
the crowd in the little Office when
some one in the crowd, in n falsctto
voice, read ont tho paragraph and
said sharply: We'll, Jake, this IS
serious. You've got to take it up
with His Dudley NihS
Jacob Thoms Esq, strokcd his
long sandy muStaChe and replied:
well, now, l don't think the editor
has gone too far. We've got to have
somebody remind us now and thon
that the towns name must be kept
up, like a. if it was Filadclfy itself
The langwigc suits me down TO tho
ground, and tho paper SAYS, we pcn
these lines moro in SORROW than in
anger. That's what call real gen.
tlomanly, and if any one here thinks
1t ism { lets step out into the alley"
There was no further complaint
Once RoylStOn called down" old
Poppondyko himself in these terms:
Although our town may not yet
| boast u first class hotCl, such as we
hope to secure somo day, still it is
| incumbent on tho proprietor of tho
only place of public entertainment
we have to preserve order and pro
won't bullicS of the sort our MoX-
lean friends call three for u quar-
| ter from insulting travellers. Yes
! tCrday thCrH was q row ut Poppen.
! dyke : during breakfast. An eastern
man, forgetting where no was, com
montcd sharply, perhaps rightly, on
the age of tho eggs in his omelet A
steady and star bOardcr took it on
himself to toll the eastern gentleman
that if he did not like the eggs there
were no frcsher TO be had, and what
was good enough for the citizens
ought TO please his fastidious palate.
| Tho stranger continued, in a calm
tone, to damn the eggs, when the
permanent guest throw n pepper
cruot at his face and Poppendyke
intimated that better men than the
stranger had gone east in box be
cause the fare did not suit them.
Tho row ended with an apology
from the stranger, who remarked
that he WAS bilious that morning,
that he had forgotten he was not in
his own house, and that If tho citi
IONS liked stale eggs he would make
10 further complaint, as, if his name
was John Jay Hancock, he did not
feel any better than the rest of man
kind. What we object to is that Pop
pendykc should not have himself
apOlogiZcd for the eggs. If we arc to
keep up the good name of our town,
wo must SEQ to it that our omelets
are artiStically composed and the ma
tcrial is fresh and sweet Poppen-
dyke, like Homer, sometimes mods
but, on the whole, we are all proud
Of our Potter Poppendyke.
Thus did RoylHton pour oil in the
wounds he opened with his sharp
pen.
But there was much querying when
The Border Scout appeared as to who
that fellow Homer might be. Pop
pendyke, who was appeased at the
compliment in the last line Of the
paragraph, said that Homer was the
chief cook at Delmonico's, and so it
passed off
One day there arrived on the train
from the east perfect daisy at
least all the boys said so. She-of
course it was feminine charmer-
was as pretty brunette as you
could wish. She had something of
the Spanish languor, and her COM
pleXion, as clear as q tea rose leaf,
delighted all the boys. Ladies' We're
eminently safe in that town and
might walk Angel alley all day with
out fear of insult. Every man put on
his prettiest manner and gave the
whole sidewalk to any genuine lady
and to some who were far from mer.
iting that designation.
The unknown was tall, her nose
~as straight her mouth divinely
nodded and arched like Cupids bow,
and her boots, pcrched on dainty high
heels, tapped down the wooden walk
the next morning as she sought out
tho office of The Border Scout.
Roylston was seated behind his old
deal table, ink stained and laden with
exchanges. and when the fair vision
entered the Sanctum he gave leap
ont of his chair upSetting the waste
basket and knocking the papers on
tn" floor, crying: Mercedes, dar-
ling, how did yen come here? Els un
milagro!"
Arturo, began the vision Of love.
Illness, I've run away from home
I've come 10 you.
And thereby hangs a tale.
Mercedes Cervantes y de Palencia,
of an old and aristocratic family of
Venezuela, intermarricd with the
sangre aZul Of the ancient Mexican
nobility, was educated in France,
where, until two years before her
appearance in the office of The Bor-