Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1895-04-23
LUCK OF THE ATKINSES.
BY MARGARET u. YEATEs.


more "shifless." The family consisted
of the old man, Bill by name, half
blind, decrepit creature, who yet pos
sessed a share of quaint humor; his
wife, Lou-i-sy, a lazy, ragged old
woman, who had grown fat on nothing
and who managed to keep her snuff
box full even when the coffee-pot was
empty. and five or six lank, sallow
boys and girls in various stages of age
and dirtiness They occupied a small
log house on the outskirts of town in
the mountains of Arkansas, and their
dwelling was remarkable only for it's
simplicity. 1t consisted of a 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, broken
chair or two, box which served
as table, a frying-pan, spider
and coffee pot, with few broken dish
es, composed the entire wealth of the
Atkins h.mily, for their house was the
property of wcll-to-do citizen who
let them live there for very pity. 1t
was quite prosperous, this inland Ar
kansas town, though fifty rough and
rocky miles from the nearest railroad;
it was considered by the country folk
around dashing, stylish place. The
ladies there never went barefooted,
bonnets were long since out of date.
The men, too, wore store clothes, and
some of them wore their coats TO meet
ing during the summer; but this inno-
walton was by no means popular. 1t
was gossipy little community, as an
isolated place must be, and it's 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 Methodists and the Campbsll-
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
Methodists, and the boast had caused
considerable i'll feeling.
The town had to support the Atkins
es, so surely it had the right to disap-
prove of them, but the 6isapproval was
rather out of proportion to the aid they
furnished, and. had the position been
reversed, the Atkinses would have had
more to eat. One lady in the town had
declared that she would never help
them Atliinses" again. She related to a
circle of sympathizing friends that she
had offered Mis- Atkins two bits a
week an all she could eat If she
would do her washing and cooking, but
the offer had been refused. Mrs. At
kins said she had to stay at home and
take care of her man." as he was
mighty nigh bind" and the old man
had loosely remarked that he Flowed
Lou-i-sy'd been dom nothin' so long
she'd hate to quit"
Mr.. Johnson was proprietor of the
1nlv grocery store in the town. He
lad come from New England years be-
ore, and had opened this store when
emons and oranges were practically
Unknown and white sugar well-nigh
is hard to obtain. BY dint of keeping
hese and similar luXuries and selling
hem at astonishingly high rates, and
~ introducing into the western market
many high-priced novelties. such as
ardines, canned fruits, oatmeal, A b C
crackers, and other articles calculated
o please the eye and palate of the
-illage customer, he had managed to
lmass quite tidy little sum. On this
gentleman the burden of contributing
% the support of the Atkinses fell
With especial severity. Not that he
gave more than anyone else-quite the
that his well-known
,tinginess made him feel it more. tbs
doubtful if he would have given any
hing at all, but from his desire to
stand well 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 group of men had
gathered in Mr.. Johnson's store, as
was the 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
shaven and an iron-gray beard adorn-
ing his chin. He had small ewes and
a bland smile that was intended to be
very pleasing. 1t was hard to keep
the smile this evening, though, for a
lank mountaineer was making fearful
upon box of animal
crackers" that stood open ON the coun-
tel. He dared not stop the man, for
ne was a possible customer, but as he
Jaw his pastry cows and elephants dis
his heart sank within him.
t was not until he had safely maneu-
7ered the box out of the mans reach
hat he was able to give his attention
20 the chat that was going on.
Abe Lewis had the floor, and he was
ceiling something that was truly
astounding. Have you fellers heerd
hat ole Bill Atkins is goin' to draw
'ome money soon?' he asked. The
sensation the news produced was fully
up to the ,peaker's expectation. "Yes,
hat man that was here awhile back
ooking out for pensions is goin' to git
! pension fer Bill" he continued.
You all know I,ill fit in the war, an
he's blind, you know, an he's goin' to
yit his money now soon. reckon his
back pay'n be sev'rul thousand dollars.
TIL be two or three months before
hell git it, but they say it's sure to
some" Well, well! would wonders
never cease? Bill Atkins moneyed