Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1897-04-09
THE SURVIVAL
ny pAuL Anobc.

s.ars uodging bacR ahd forth behind
the tops Of the pines. and The lone
coyote WHO had monopoly OF noises
down the gulch was indulging us with
n temporary rest. The Patriarch ,oc-
cupied the seat of hoiior. n camp-stoo,,
and the rest OF " were ranged On 4
tree-trunk.
The Patriarch. looked At me. "I'n
do you the favor" lie said, "of filling my
pipe with your tobnkky. Spcakin' OF
kea-ynrns. that story'of Jim's about the
cebcrgs thnt hunted In pairs, keepin' d
Keen lookout to squeeze ship caught
without breeze. while the polar bcnr4
snt by and laughed. wns tol'bly good;
md the one you told about the Thing
that could stand on it's head OH the floor
of the ocean and ilnp the face OF heaven
with Its tail, was purity fair, yes, purity
fair. But they war just yarns. .plaih
yarns. neatly .unravcicd. And that
makes me think OF whit old Absnlori,
Riggs used to say: Always tell ,th4,
truth, my lad. II you're master smart
hnnd ut It. i''''
"Absalom hnd n distant rclntive-he
lived In Nantucket, and his brother VIVA
anchored In Jamuiky--who bought un,l
sold everything, from queer shells I'd
queer money. His brother was n smart
man, nigh as smnrt as Absalom hImscAs.
and he might have lived to be great
one II they had given him plenty OF
rope. As II was, he war leetle too liigh.
rtrung to make s,tceess OF life. It's
queer how the furriners acquire all ot
our improvements, even the art OF
l,lynchin.'
"Absalom WINS mnster md sole pro-
prietor of the goo,l old trndIn' brig.
Keep Mum. They war two of "A kind, Alb.
snlom and the brig. Absnlom wore n
suit of homcspun thnt hung on him like
n saii wrapped around windmill and
the brig wns NIL right II she was only ns
hlack MS she. was painted, for she
needed sprncln' up badly; but they war
both hard to ben, In their deceptive
lines, reckon. The Keep Mum WINS
one Of the best OF her kind that ever
fnded out Of sight OF revenue cutter,
and Absalom WINS entitled to n patent
right on lots of the tricks OF HIS tradr.
lie was quiet kind OF man, though hc
hnd good command of language, re-
sultin' from hard study OF circus-post-
ers when he was n lad. md tho Keen
Mum sailed so .stilly TINT tho wind
couldn't whistle through her rlggin'
| even.
Nov. Absalom WINS temperance
mnn from principle and interest,
though he wnsn't particularly religious
md worshiped nothin,' 40 far ns
know, except savin's banks. Never
tnste the intoxicat!n' cup, young man,
he used TO say. you might miss n
chance to make dollar hut inst the
snme. after his brother came aboard nt
the end of my frat trip to Kingston.
bringin' with him mysterious mir
(kind of strongly sccnted). Absuloni
loaded the Keep Mum up with rum.
And such rum! In barrels. with rustcd
hoops and cobwebs clingin round 'em,
they hoisted II on board. The pirates
TINT hid 1t century before stored
nothin' weak. md every year added To
Its strength. Our second niatc, who
wns man OF much liquid experience
ashore ms we'll MS nj sea, took n cargo OF
one cup. II was just three days before
he could navigate. and-world you be.
licye it!-for two weeks after that
whenever he dreamed OF TINT rum Mt
night he'd wnkc up In the mornin tipsy
"Absalom was d fnnn who glanced
over newspapers from curiosity and
read trade Journals for profit. so knew
somcthin' extremely uncommon was IIi
when he spent whole forenoon porin'
over q newspaper, with his elbows on
the table and his fingers clutchcd In hi1
hair; and when heard his clitclslc,
wns interested. Absalom I,iggs never
wasted a chtcklc. I heard him say, M
he went out OF tho cabin! '.fhey'rc
strong IN the body. but weak In the
head
",Of coiirse | picked up the paper. II
told story OF nm awful tribe OF
cnnnybnls who resided on the west
coast OF Afriky. II seemed they wdr Il
tribe of reg'laf bunkostcerers. for nli
the missionaries who went there war
Invariably taken In. Then the qticen Of
England sent down n gunbodt; ohd the
ehptnin of the gtpbont sent man with
white ipg and proclamation in
violent l6hgudgc to these cannybals.
But there was some misunderstanding
about the matter. for the cnnnybals ntc
10th the .Rnllnnt tdr and the proclnma-
tion.. 1t hurt the captains feeliii'H very
much, so he landed most of his force
md went nftcr the heather. Alas! he
didn't know 'cm. disremember nll OF
the affectin' lines the poet .lnryyato
wrote about 'cn. but the centcrpicce of
the work run somethIn' like this:
They war an awful hungry lot
Ard hRvin. nothIn' tffuch to do,
lnynygled the tarstzthc sun was hot
Into n nice. seciocded SPOT,
Then alto that gallant crew
"Her majesty missed reception on
account of that. and the foreign secre-
tnry missed two flrst-class races. Then
n cruiser went down there on business.
hit the captain, not beifl' onto his fob,
WIS shortly on the rocks. and when the
men swain ashore. the heatlfen met 'etn
with n hearty reception. Aid IL was
iwful annoyin' Hfter Tint 10 tile Peoplc
CHI The English boats that went shiIin'
by 10 see them sdtSidges asSittin' On the
rocks and sinnln' themselves. dressed
in british naval iinif6tfns and sarcastic
smiles. And the fortfifi secretary had