St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-07-31
scream, and zee the blood squirt and
the fur f1Y.

nightmare to a dead faint. And then
felt like couldn't stand it no longer
Under the painful circumference of the
awful surroundins. Icouldnt think OF
anything better for me to do than to
take rale bad case Of the earache. ]
had travelled the road before and l
knowed good and well that nothin
would touch Aunt Liza's heart SO quick
and deep as the mCan.s and groans of q
suherin boy. She will strike light,
says I to myself. and come and work
with me and wait on me till the spell
passes off.
And SO she did. When she heard my
means and groans and sobs and sighs,
she struck light and here she comes.
With iaudanum and warm water. and
sperits Of turpentine and hot flannels.
she doctored me through the dark and
weary. hours Of the night. But
didn't have any serious notion Of stay
In out there in that shed room BY my
lone self. and 50 instid Of the usual
speedy recovery, gradually by degrees
l got worse and worse. When Mt last
daylight come SO Aunt Liza could 70
out and find live Betsy bug. pull its
head of and let the onlyest drop of
blood fall in my ear. my sufferin yield
ed to the treatment and got well.
Now then, SO fur as know. old Misses
Stoudenmirc's ring streaked and
striped cat is dead till yet. My old dog
Mack lived on through many years. a
holy terror to every wild varmint that
ranged the woods. But as for me and
him, one house cat was 4 large and
gracious plenty.
Only q Freak Of Nature.
Jest between us gals, as It were.
Rufe. there are but blame few things
in this world which ! know for Ger
tain. But il / have to tell 1t on my
own triflin self. do know a most
Relations plenty about two or three
things-men and horses amongst the
rest. Now would love for some Of
these durn literary fellefs that have
went on to school and picked up lit
tie smatterin of everything, to tell me
why it is that man like Andy Lucas
can stick to the cold facts all along the
line till it comes to horses, and then
couldn't tell the truth with . dead
rest.
The hands and the stock bein tire
mendius busy layin by corn. I had cut
me . fast three-year-old walkin stick
and lit out and went over to spend the
day with my old friend and fellow serv-
ant, Bunk Weatherford. And when he
branched on on the freaks OF human
nature told him he would have to
come at me with somethin q little more
easier.
"You must recollect, Rufe, that was
swappin horses often and on. more or
less. before Andy Lucas was ever
borned and brung forth into this world.
Horse tradin amt my reglar business,
you understand, and don't make no
sulfurious big brags about what can
do in those regards. But it gives me .
comm appetite to spit when l see . man
like Andy, which makes it his busi-
ness to trade, and trade for the stuff
he can squeeze out Of it, tryin to throw
sand in my eyes and do the swappin
for both OF us. may have all the
marks and appearments of q native
born idiot, and may have my lucid
intervals, az the doctogs call EN-, but
I'll be dadburned if have ever yet saw
the day when was fool enough to let
Andy Lucas swap my horse for his,
without my knowledge or consent, and
me not even lookin on when he made
the trade.
An Alabana Lie.
''Oncst upon q time-seven years ago
this summer-Andy made his first pass
at me for q horse trade, and didn't
do blessed thing but stand there with
my finger in my mouth and let him
swap the very socks ofen me, as it were.
He was ridin of big high-headed sor-
rel horse and had good plug Of =
mule, both Of which had shed their
baby teeth many years before. ! didn't
have but precious little to say about the
mule from the simple fact that sho
hadn't been lookin to me for her corn
and fodder but few days and1 didn't
know much to tell.
There's the mule, Andy. and if we
trade you must take her like the hair
says !.
.But from the way Andy talked
stranger couldn't tell but what he had
raised the sorrel from colt. Natural |
" I had to put little salt on his ram
blin remarks, but he looked me 50 full
and straight in the face till thought |
he mought by mere accident tell me
the truth somewheres along the line
But in less than three days it come to |
pass that Andy hadn't told me blame |
thing about the horse which was 20.
didn't ask him no questions and he
didn't have to tell me no lies. He had
done It from the force Of habit or .
freak OF nature and can't say which.
Amongst other things Andy told me
and lowed he would kiss the Bible on
it-that the big sorrel was the bulliest
plow horse that ever peeped through
collar, and that he had been pullin
2c-inch Alabama sweep for three weeks
hand runnin-which in the fullness OF
time that turned out to be the 22-inch
Alabama lie.
THAT was along in the last days OF
June and / was in 4 scandalous big
push to scrape through my corn for the
last time. Wen. the big sorrel was now
foragin in my lot, and ! lowed he
a. well be lookin through set
Of plow gear for me. So consequential
" 7 hooked him up and swung him N
the next mornin. He helt out till about
noon and then turned up with roarin
bad case Of the thumps. From that he