Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-08-11
| At the CROSSROADS Store
By JULIA TRUrTT BISHOP.
OUTS me in mind of ole man Free

tlSely as ne shaved keener edge on
the wooden sword he was making and
sighted along the blade with discern
ing eye.
y slight NOV ement went through the
group in the cross roads store. Ole
man Bolivar tilted his chair back at a
more reassuring angle, and ella sped his
hands about his knees in an easy atti-
tude for listening. George Smith
ceased the soft drawl which he had
been droning into the ears of the
storekeeper, and Pendants brought
in his buggy cushions and made him
self comfortable on the cracker box.
But even these very obvious prepara-
tions did not awaken the storytelling
mood as they should have done. 4
broad shaft of light from the large
lamp suspended in the center of the
store streamed across the road and
lost itself in the underground beyond.
We'll, what about ole man Free
MANI" asked George Smith at last, in
an exasperated way; and "ole man
Bolivar" surreptitiously removed one
of the large shoes and shook out of it
q stone as large as a hazel nut.
Blame that thing!" he remarked in
81 been c-thinkin' somethin' was in my
shoe all day long!"
'Ole man Freeman, he's back on the
ole place." the story teller finally be-
gan; IAN that boy, o. his'n, that Jim,
he's in the little cabin on the Hi Wat
tiers place, that cabin where the gall
rvs done fell in
What made i'm mover" asked
George Smith, whose weakness it was
to try to help along with fatuous ques-
tions.
II been a-knowin' old man Freeman
for nigh onto a real long time" pur-
Eued Mr.. lockwood, meditative an
it looks to me like he could do 4
mighty good job now If he could go
back an bring up his boys over again.
It's 4 powerful pity, it seems like to
me, that u man can't have but one
chance to raise his children, an If
they don't seem to pan out right that
time there amt no more show for him.
When they're raised they're raised, an
done with. If they was any rules for
raisin' 'em, now, like two tums two is
four, it would be dif'rent, but it amt
that way, not by a long shot. The
most of US is experimental anyhow,
like tryin' to raise a cotton crop.
Oncet in awhile it comes through all
right; but sometimes they's too much
rain an the cotton all runs to weed;
an then again they amt no rain at all
an a bumblebee could stand on the
groun' on his hind legs an pick the
cotton outen the top bolls. An l
reckon it was mighty bad year when
ole man Freeman's boys begin to grow
up
They was plenty of EN- sech as
they was" remarked old man Bolivar,
with quite unusual and unexpected
.candor.
1.-The ole man had seven boys" Mr..
HTeakwoo d went on with a dry inward
~chuckle at some memory; 'an' if the
ole folks had raised 'em right he
could "a set back in his easy cheer sn'
never done no more work as long IS he
lived. He did try the easy cheer game,
but it was everlastin'ly too late. Them
boys had grew up to think that the
airth was pretty much made SOS they
could have good time an nothin' to
do"
faint everybody knows how to
raise boys" said old man Bolivar, re-
Effectively. al tell We. the way my IA
Their brung me up was terror fer"
well, the ole mans crop was bum
blebee cotton, if ever they was any,"
pursued the narrator, ignoring the in
terruption. "They amt one O. them
seven boys that's worth KILN to-day.
an the ole mans workin' harder to-
day than he did 25 year ago. But L
reckon he thought Jim was goin' to
be somethin'. Long las winter, Jim
begin to shine up to one o them For
stall girls-the one with the turn-up
nose-an' it would "a made anybody
plum sick to have saw the way the ole
man taken on.
II tell you, they's outcome to that
boy O. mine, that JIM he says to me,
rubin his hands together, pleased as
pie. You wouldn't "a thought they
was that much spunk in i'm, would
.ye?-an' there he is, sparkin' up to
that girl, an her gran'pa was mem
Der O. the legislater!-an' shore as We
Twin, Jim'll be In the legislator hisself
some day, for he's got the nerve to
try it,"
AN nerves what gifts there, when it
comes to politics" said George Smith,
gloomily, with an irritable memory of
the last disastrous campaign. in which
he had run" for the position of road
oyerseer.
well, it may take nerve TO git man
into the legislator" replied the mar
rator cheerfully, but all the nerve in
the country don't git elected to the
legislator, you hear me. sonny. They's
lots of it IS left over, an We can fin it
LAWN aroun' loose wherever you may
go.
1T pears like I come to know al.
about this Freeman business kinder &C
-cidental like. You see. long middlin'
Hirly las spring l got on ole Nance |
one day an rode over 20 ole man Free |
mans for 10 borrer his harrer. | was |
a-gittin' my garden ready. an it was |
that grassy it was plum boun' for to- be |
harrered. When l got over there. /
Squire Biggs an some more men was
jes' ridin' away, an the ole man met |
me in the gal'ry lookin' like he'd been !
a-cryin'. an says he: I'm a-fixin' for
q change. Life says he 'Jim's a-goin'
to git married Sunday, an me an the
ole woman is ies' decided him this
place, an him an his wife is a-goin' to /
take keer of us the balance of our
days. You don't know how happy it
makes me feel. I'm a-goin' to have me