The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-01-16

~" "krF KA"N +HN&N
She Western Reserve, which I knew
must be a-blaze with the splendor Of the
fNanaps burning red and yellow, pur-
nae and brown under the dun skies Of
Apdlan summer. I thought Of all these
thing "a that instant which comes be-
Feeh sleep and waking when one Isl
suddenly spoken to. Before / opened
y eyes ( had fancied that I was stand
ing On the hills back Of Mantua station
locking across that wide valley at one
Of the fairest scenes under the sun.
was not particularly pleased at be-
Ing brought back TO earth 50 suddenly,
but was ia no mood to be rude that
day. and sat up before responding to-
he implied question that had been
ked me.
II guess you have guessed il" I said.
II see your machine standin' there
ngin that willer all alone an was won
derin' where it come from an come
ever this way to see an / see the one-
sOed p'ints Of your shoes a-stickin' up
an then / knowed to once that you
come from taown. Say! Where dye
keep yer other toes, an'way?"
The implication that my shoes served
as a guide to indicate my whereabouts
while the rest of my person was con-
cealed, did not annoy me in the least
and just to hear the old man talk in
that old familiar 'down east dialect,
was worth much to me.
you live near here, / guess2" / sug-
gested, yelling my question in the true
Yankee style that / Inherited from an
cestral Yermonters.
"Y-e-s," he responded, as if reluctant
TO admit the fact; Il may say I live
around here, though l have been GALE
latin every year that / would go back
east to stay the rest of my days, an die
wien my time comes"
~How long have you lived here ?" l
asked, Stimulating an interest that had
no lodging place in my breast.
II come out here in 81, when this hull
country was nothin' but water an
grass an sky as fur as you could see.
Been considerable change sence them
He sat down and began to break a will
low twig which he picked out Of the
grass.
2AANNAHO WASH Y nluNl4 III DOWA
then, I suppose?p
"No. it didn't amount to much,
though | hain.t never been much inter-
ested in Chicago. It was big enough
for me when / come here, an it's too big
rpw with all them crowds on the street
Us IL there was & circrNAsn town every
day The year. l go up there once in
awhile, but I come back feelin' as if /
had a swarm o. bees in my head an
yowin' / won't go there ag'in till 1 have
TO-"
II suppose the growth of the city has
added to the value of your land some-
what2"
Eyes, oh, yes; Iain't got a word to
say as to that, though when a man has
. farm an lives on it, it don't make
&nch difference what the lands wuth
hs long as prices of products don't 60
up"
Really I was too lazy to discuss any
question and for a space silence fell be-
tween us. / noted his, hard hands,
his kindly sun-tanned face, his hat, evil
IDENTIFY bought for a dollar back toward
the silurian period somewhere, but !
did not feel like talking.
ssYes, me an Jud. Bramwell come
here nigh onto As year ago. said my
companion at last, as if he had been re-
viewing his life. "We had mighty lit
tie money, an we was glad enough to
tackle the rich soil an try to lay by
something for the comm time when we
should want to rest"
you succeeded, / suppose?' It
seemed impossible for me to get out OF
the i~nterrogative manner Of my forefa-
theirs, and / am not certain but there
wa an inherited prolongation Of the
word .tyeaou'' that sounds so delicious
to the and looks so dreadfully awful
il print. "Dreadfully awful" is a
phrase 4 learned from Office girl, by
the way.
~W-e-l-1, we didn't do so drefful- bad
IN the end. though Jud. got rather the
best Of II, all on account Of his daugh-
ter Betsy admitted my new acquain-
ance, after q moment spent in a critical
examination Of a fragment Of the will
low twig.
~How did she help him ont?' I asked
with some real interest, for / have
learned that all the good stories in the
wOrld are not in print. Twas anxious,
too, 10 learn how "Jud. got rather the
bestofit."
~You see, Jud. an I had allus been
good friends an come out here together
an our children growed up together on
the prnfrie an we sorter ealclated on
a@4~f Ar-E 49, 49,