The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-07-19

tie garden the size Of city lot, in which
he raises many weeds and few vege-
| tables and letting that serve as an excuse
| when anything is to be done in the fields.
| He is a lazy creature, the male cracker,
fond of smoking his pipe in front or the
| find congenial company. The storekeeper
is reasonably sure to have a mortgage on
! the corn and cotton now growing. and
| perhaps on the crop to be planted next
| spring. and it is a saving point in the
crackers character that most of the goods
| purchased are for the wife and children,
/ always excepting the tobacco and whisky
| So long there is anything TO mortgage
want. and always the best the little shop
can supply. They can even have shoes. but
such luxuries are for use only on holidays.
CRACKER HOME.
! There could not have been better intro
duction to a cracker cabin than a break
down before the door, for that was posi-
tive evidence that the strangers had no ul-
| terror motive. The man would not have
went back to his work if he had not been
satisfied of this. The Judge and his COM
panion went through the rickety gate past
the hogs that were tired of roaming
through the cabin and had gone to sleep in
a corner of the fence and ventured as Tar
carrying the horsewhip to drive off any
| dogs that might appear. This last was not
peculiar to cracker cabins In many days
of driving over Georgia roads he did not
once enter a yard without carrying the
whip as a defense against dogs; no dog
appeared in this case, but the well like the
! sweep was broken short off, and the
bucket. with its pole attached was down
| in the water
| Hits clean broke" said the little girl,
looking up again from her work Hit
done snap an paw amt had no time TO
fix it. Youn's set under the tree; I'll tote
| you some water
| Several weather-beaten soap boxes under
the big china tree answered for seats, and
the little girl took rusty tomato can from
her bench. with frowsy string tied to the
edge. and dipped up water from the We'll
Your paw Is very busy. is he? one OF
the strangers asked, noticing that the
break in the pole was dark enough to be a
year old.
He alters are" she answered. SOS me
an NAV. We amt had time to do no
tradin' this spring
This was a touch of nature that might
have made the visitors smile, but a smile
at that point would have choked of the
the trading the little girl looked down de-
precatingly at her torn dress and bare feet
in a way that said plain as words: That's
the reason I'm not wearing better clothes
And do you go to school?' she was
asked.
IT amt had no time. An it's too fer
No reasonable person could deny that the
nearest school, in. Gntown, four miles
away was too fur" The nearest neighbor
was more than mile off through the pine
woods though the little patch was at least
two generations old; for, as she expressed
Paws paw done made the clearn'."
Throughout the conversation that fol-
lowed the little girl continued to chew the
stick in her mouth. She looked as if she
might be about twelve years old, though
she did not know. but said that maws
done got hit somewhere in the house,
meaning evidently a record of her birth
You dip. do you?" she was asked. 1t
ton oI, To- for the stick was evidence enough.
The cracker women of all ages chew
little stick til. the end is like brush; then
dip II in snuff. and keep the snuffy end In
the mouth like chew OF tobacco.
..Yaas' she replied; me an NAV both
dips. Paw he chaws. Hit Keeps OH the
Chewing snuffy stick certainly is not,
custom to be recommended for little girls.
but this girl showed none OF the unpleasant
results usually attributed TO dipping-her
| lps were not unnaturally red, nor her
cheeks sunken nor the holows under her
eyes darkened. On the contrary her cheeks
were round and plump. and her whole APP
pearance remarkably healthy for child
who lived on smoked bacon in a cabin next
door to a swamp. A drain to carry of the
stagnant water might have done more to-
ward keeping away the 'aguey. but such
a suggestion would have been waste of
breath
1t was clear that if the interior of the
cabin was to be reached it must be done
through this little girl Accordingly the
conversation was directed toward clothes,
and the girl became more and more inter
|
know only.tw varieties of dress. Sunday
close" and ''wukkin close. and the Judge
adroitly suggested that his Sc little girl , had
i've got one she exclaimed; hits
raid" meaning it's red. An shoes. too
! Only a person familiar with the tastes
of the crackers would have thought OF
mentioning dress of solid bright color
a blue. red. purple. yellow. The best fabric
paled before bright blue. IT takes a
bright color to catch the cracker eye. The
girls satisfied with nothing short of
crimson or scarlet or indigo for their Sun
day gowns: and they pay unreasonable
prices for them at the little shops. and
sometimes buy white satin shoes TO wear
with q flaming red dress and "a hat gaudy
with bright bows and feathers. The satin
shoes however. are not so much damaged
| by muddy roads one might ina CINE. for
the custom is to carry both shoes and
stockings in the hands till msetin' is az
roadside and put them en-
I'll show hit TO you. she said. without
waiting for the doubts the strangers were
taken into the cabin to see the dress
Hits in the house. Nav won't mind
NAV NOT HOSPITABLE.
1t was reassuring to hear that NAV"
would not mind. for the mother was not
an encouraging figure to approach By
this time she had finished her work the
time being between the noon dinner and
the early supper. and sat complacently in
the doorway in backless chair, smoking
a black clay pipe, with no more expression
in her face than of the slabs of bacon
| that hung on the inner wall. She was
| leaning forward, with her elbows on her
| knees, apparently absorbed in watching the
| fence.
Good evening ma am" her visitors said
as they approached the door; but the salu-
tation brought no change to the woman's
countenance. She leaned slightly to one
side to give room to pass and from some
where in her neighborhood came a whisper
1
pipe remained in her mouth. and her lips
did not move. This tacit permission TO en-
Ter was enough, however, dno ~ a minute
raid dress. produced from an old chest,
which contained all the family treasures.
The floor OF the cabin bare earth.
: M clred 10 nd hu r,,,,cl, .,xn grha conf~r ~