Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-10-22
A COLUMBIAN TALE.

Amt seen no seen hkcc'tis Slhoo
afore tn wah. !"
"Humphi" calculated the man from
Anacostia.
"Afore tn wah, resumed Uncle
jeff reminiscently, "skeeters wuz awful
In 81 they wuz outrageous bad. An,
Lor how big they wuz. TAX about yo'r
Jarsey skeeters, why, these could lay 'em
all over tn deck. At that time l wuz
bo'in with Lem Potter. Lem said he
had one o. tn bes' places G be foun
north o. Mason an Dixon's line. an |
believe him. Well, guess after all it
wuz purity nice place, on'y tn skeet-
ers wuz so dinged bad.
II dom min any ord nary skeeter,
but wen it comes T. fin'i 'em as big
as hummin birds, why, calkerlate
that | kinder objeck on gineral princi-
Piles. Couple nights after fust arrive
at LENS see hull lot o. queer things
fioatin aroun through tn air.
Lem, said |, w at be them thingsT
'Oh, them, said Lem, offhand laik,
"Well, they looked it. Fer all l
knowed, they might IA bin wuss then
that. As we happened to be smokin at
tn time, tn Georgetown hummers
didn't give us much trouble. But later
i foun out all erbout 'em. l reckon
hadn't been asleep more'n ten minnits
W en- felt pow full tuggin at my pill
II L
sleepy laik:
Lego, Lem.
"But 'twan't Lem. 1t wuz George
town hummer. Jee gollyjoshwhops, how
he did tug After awhile let him hev
tn piller, an out tn winder he flew
with it. TIL mex day Lem foun Sec
tion of tn piller i'll an apple tree.
How d that piller get up thur he
asst.
Georgetown hummer, SEE /.
IAN Lem only laughed. TIL mex
night i wuz SCUM asleep W ZEN all t onct
tn bald gave way, an down t. tn floor
1 went. Gosh, but that wuz fall
Wen | elm out tn wreck, seen six
Georgetown hummers carryin tn foot
o. tn bald out through tn winder. TIL
mex day it wuz foun OH tn roof O. tn
ban. An Lem laughed ag'in. He said
that wuz on'y habit tn Georgetown
hummers had. Well, reckoned it wuz
a purity bad habit, but KEN t. tn con-
clusion I'd give tn derned things err
mother chance.
Them hummers reckoned they'd
done enough fer two nights, l guess, an
so fer several nights they didn't bother
me much. One mo'nin woke up, an
where d yo think foun mys'f?'
Back in Washington" replied the
man from Anacostia.
Mary time Right ON tn roof o.
LENS house. Lucky for me it wuz a
fiat rooted house, or I'd rolled of.
yelled an hollered until Lem KEN w tn
"a ladder an let me git down.
"'Ho'd We git up thur?' Lem asst.
Georgetown hummers, sed /, an
Lem laughed.
'Yo'r lucky, sed he.
"'W'y?' sed /.
"'T' be alive, sed he.
IAN i reckon that wuZ right. TIL
mex night got up fust rate skeem t.
beat 'em.
IAN all this time they want bitin
yo'?" asked the man from Anacostia
incredulously.
mot bite, replied Uncle jeff
rather too airily.
The man from Anacostia said some
thing about "bein too tough for even
skeeters," and Uncle JEFF continued his
narrative.
"My skeem wuz good one, so
thought at tn time | tied tn bald t
tn floor an felt sho they couldn't git
it away from me nohow. When l woke
up tn mex mo'nin, i wuz out in LENS
orchard tied fas' { tn bald. Lem he
only laughed c split his sides.
WY didn't yo' keep awake an tie
them skeeters wen they come in yo'r
room?' he asst.
'Yaas, wy don't try t. stop tn
wind?' sed, VERY mad.
but Lem only laughed ag'in. Cou-
pie mo'nin's after that one o. LENS
children wuz missin. That wuz once
wen Lem didn't laugh. He couldn see
emmy joke in ennything that happint t
him. 1t wuz allus his way t. laugh at
others. But 20 kin jes' bet that laugh
ed. Wy, l hollered until Lem sed if
didn't shet my face he pizen me.
After long hunt we foun tn little
Teller. TIL Georgetown hummers had
carried him off durin tn night an dropt
him down chimbly. If it hadn't bin
fer his hollers, l reckon we'd never
foun him. l got outer LENS place as
quick as ! could. 'Twnn't safe t. stay
thur emmy longer.
Il reckon not, said the man from
Anacostia. "Yo'r sperience minis me
of tn time / was at Alexandria once.
Tn skeeters wuz pow full big there too.
Two o. 'em stabbed IA boss t. death one
night. | put my boots outside tn door
fer tn boy e clean in tn mo'Din. The
mex mo'nin came "A rap at tn door
Hello. said |.
Boots, boss. Gimme 'em. l want
t. clean 'em.
Put EN- afore tn door las night,
seq l.
They amt no boots hyer, boss,
SEE tn boy.
81 opened til door 4 look. On tn
floor lay two boot straps. Th' derned