The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1897-12-22

ing bundle in brown paper, ciumsiiS
tied with a coarse Irvine string. lying on
the floor at his feet.
He remembered the clerks having
mentioned package from the state
prison-ths must be it-and pushed
il impatIently to one side; but MS he
did so something in the coffin-shaped
outlines made him stoop and tear away
a part of the cover.
He found, to his amaZement. violin,
and appended to it a soiled pencil-writ-
ten note, evidently an appeal of some
kind
Curiosity conquered fatigue. He had
handled many and various petitions.
but never one in shape like this.
Detaching the note from its fasten-
ings. he crossed the room to the win
dow. and by the waning light of the
winters day deciphered the following
illiterate text:
ITO the Gunner: They tel me tibet yer
Hart gifts tender to Prisners at chrismus
time and you listens to what they has to
saw I've ben Hear % years fer KILN man
and I've ben Sorry evry day sence / done
it. / was hot headed Boy NV % and the
man called pap a Liar and sed things agin
nam. I couldn't noways stand tibet and
nocked him down. he was pale sickiy
completed tender foot and he never got
up agin / never ment TO kill him but my
fist was hevy and sum mad thing inside Nv
me sicked me on. they never give me no
sort NV a Trial but jes put me in Hear fer
Life his folks was rich and mine was pore
and couldn't pay no lawyer. pap is gone
blind and nam is old and they amt got no.
L. affo
is the gal tibet was goin to marry me. she
left her home when they sent me Hear and
went to look after the old Folks sames they
was hern. eff l could git back to JOSEF
and the old folks and the mountins Ide
never lif my han agin no man agen ceptin
twas to help him so help me God
..They tel me as how you kin make Fid-
die talk til the Children puts down their
Paintings and follers yer. GUNNER sends
YOU mine along Nv this what made when
was a Boy back in the mountins, the
sames / koted my gal with and played fer
mann and pap round the fire sunday evnins.
shes aged along with me but she KEEP her
voice sweet and stiddy yit.
.Take her GUNNER and set down by your
self in the still Nv the evnin and let her
talk to you fer me. amt afeerd shell fer
git nuthin, the old Home on the side Nv
the mountin and nam and pap and Josef
a settin thar and waitin these 20 years fer
the Boy they wouldn't let go their holt Nv
nor quit luyin no matter what he did. No
shell not fersit nuthin. she's too much like
them Wimmen shell be tellin you about.
seems like she knows things as well as I do.
praps cause shes ben lyin agin my Hart so
long and II she cant tell you nuthin Guv-
ner let her talk to yer Wife. Its about
Wimmen shell tel you mostly. Wimmen
and Sorrer And Wimmen Is quicken raen
10 understan them things.
That's all Its TUX me weeks - rite
this letter. Goodby. God go with the old
Fiddle and help her tel 1t strate.
"ABNER HILL"
When the governor turned away from
the window there was look on his
face that few had ever seen there except
his wife.
He lifted the violin carefully from
the floor. tore away its wrappings and
looked al il long and curiolsly. II was
roughly made of native pine and maple
and vanished with the homemade var
nish of the mountains. but the strings
gave back the true viol tone. clear and
-iRging
bringing his chair closer to the CRATE,
be placed the instrument In position,