The times., 1897-08-29
SQUAN CREEK FOLKS.


Joe Hobson moved up from Harnegat and
went into the lobster biziness. One of the
first men hestruck was Ebeneezer Higgins,
and Eben shook hands with him and said.
'sI never was down at Rarnegat, but
hear ryea siev some awful liars there
'sYes. soeie of the bustinest kind o liars,
replied Hobson.
..kia they beat our Spuan Creek liars?'
Il dunno, but l guess they'd bust
lung in tryin'."
ar you much of q liar yourse IT..
asked Eben. with an anxious look.
.I'm no liar at all / can't remember
that / ever told one in all my life
wasn't sot agin' iyin' down at Barnegat,
and I'm not goin' to he sot agin lynn
at Suuan Greek. It's jest my way not
to lie Them as wants To lie Kin lie, and
I'll he nayburly with 'em, but shall
keen right ON ketchin Holsters and stickin
to the truth,
Il dunno how youll git along in this
town If We don't lie. We bain't got but
one kind OF society, and that's high so
cjety, aud no man who baint liar is
considered swell Better jine US
Mr. Hobson said be thought he'd keep
on in the old way for awhile, anyhow,
as the doctors said he had heart trouble
and he mustn't git no sudden shock.
Ebeneezer put everybody on to the fact
that the Barnegit man was DO patriot
nor natroniZer OF home in dustry, and
he got the cold shoulder on all sides
If he'd tin willin' to listen to other folks
lies we could bev half respected him,
but he wasn't The mint that any one
begun to tell OF shark thirty feet
long; sea-turtle as big as bath
house, or one eyed whale cayortin'
around the bay. and carryin an anchor
in his mouth, MIR. Hobson would take
cut his Testament and begin TO read
aloud He. had nice wife and two
children, but society in Squan Greek gin
the family the cold cut, and all the
grocers wanted cash down for sugar and
tea Things was made mighty Lonesome
fur the truthful man, and at the end OF
three months Abraham Spooner met him
one Cay, and says:
Mr. Hobson, ar the holsters walkin
into tie pots sccordin to expectashun?"
II can't say they arr replies Mr.. Hob
son.
do you find sqaan Creek folks all you
could wish fur?''
Il can't say that l do. No, l can't
skassly say that and speak the truth
take IL all around, things is putty home
sickish, 1 guess?"
That's what they be, and I'm purity
nigh disc.suraiged.'
..Mr. iiobson," says Abraham in feel
in way, 1T ain't no use to hold oct agin
| high society any longer"
| I'm sorter thinkin' that way" says
IIobson, ..but my mind amt fully made
| up ytt I'm rayther afeard of my heart,
! ! am"
'.shoo about yer heartl Jest git up to-
lnurrer rnornin' and begin To lie, ard III
warrant yer heart viii be all right. II
| We want an ybody TO post you Jest call on
me, as I'm one of the pioneer liars of this
town. In Cact, told the fust lie ever shot
off in squan Creek
| Mr. Hobson wouldn't promise anything
| definite, but we begun to hey hopes OF
| him. One mornin', three or four days
later, he told about coming across the
marsh at night and beiii jumped on by q
| 'skeeter which he declared was as big as
"a fuligrown goose, and had claws which
/ ratified aud teeth which chanked. Wher
] h. told that We almost wep fur joy, and
| Moses Gubby put his orms around Mr.
Hobson and cried out:
/ Brothers, another liar has come among
US and must new our love and purtecs hun
| All hail the noble liar from Barnegat!"
''But | hain't no liar!'' says Mr.. Hobson
But ye must bel"
''Buu I'm tellin' the solemn truth about
| that 'skeeter and / want ye to believe me
If I'm a liar then 1 be struck dead"
Then we re joiced SUN more. lie lied
| anG we knowed he lied, and we jinet
hands and circled around him and took
him into high society at once. That nigh,
he was out on the marsh agin, huntin
fur lost knife or sunthin, and next day
| he rstold thatsame story about the skeeter
| He did more. He showed US two place
| whar' he had bin bit, the same as If dog
had put his teethinJo him. and his coat wa'
torn and his hat was chawed. He talked
so airnestly and made so many moshun
| that his wife and children believed h'
was tellin the truth. Nobody else in SquaI
| Creek did however. We knowed Mr. Hob
son had let go Of the truth and hloSsoned
out as liar. and while we rejoiced over
it we also felt that we had got TO brusl
up and git some new lies or he would bt
champion.
ThiRg4 vent on fur week, and then on
day MIR HobSon was found dead on tn
marsh He hadn't COME home the nigh
before, and he had bin bit and clawed {
death within half mile of his house. l
was that 'skeeter that did it. We turne'
| out with guns and made a hunt fur him ant
reused him out of his lair. He bit EbeneeZel
Higgins in the leg and laid him up fur
month. and he clawed Abraham Spoone
so bad that it took two doctors to save hi
life He got away by swimmin' across Pol
poise Creek, hut NOR n thirty of us saw hin
as plain as day. He was about the sze o
q gauder, had wings like goose, and hi
mouth was full of teeth an inch long. Thar
was no mistake about his bein' a 'skeeter
though he was the biggest one ever see
around Squan Creek. He was supposed q
be about cne hundred years old, aud it wa
purity gineralIy agreed that he was blind il
the left eye and as bobtailed as d rabbit
Everybody was disappointed that he 20
away, but what hurt US most was findin
out that Joe Hobsoa hand't gone back .
| the truth as he allowed he had, but ha
stuck to 1t and offered up his life as sac
rifice. Nobody turned on touhe funeral. an
his grave ain It got no headstun' to this day
|
The Innocent Little Sister.
The other day a Detroit youth Who ha
come home from college for vacation too
his younger sister out to see baseba
game. She is quiet, demufe little las
with blue eyes and timid manner, an
she slipped into her seatin the grand stan