Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-08-18
. III the CROSSROADS StOre
2, JULIA TpuTr BrsHop.


: hands about his knees IN an easy q alt-
! ;uGe for listening. George Smith
ceased tls soft drawI which he had
! been droning into the ears OF th2
/, storekeeper, and PendarTis brought
| Ia bis buggy cushions and made him-
I self comfortable On the cracker box
But even these very obvious prepara-
! tions did not awaken the storytelling
| mood as they should have done. y
broad shaft OF Ight from the large
| lamp suspended in the center OF tho
| store strcamed across the road and
lost itself in the underground beyond.
We'll, what about ole man Free
man?" asked George smith at last, IL
al exas2erated way; and ole man
Bolivar" surreptitiously removed one
Of The large shoes and shook ont of ii
a stone az large as hazel nut.
Blame that thirg." he remarked in
an undertone of distinct irritation;
I 81 been 9-lhinlcin' somethin' was in my
shoe al. day long!"
"OIe man Freeman, he's back on the
ole place" the story teller finally be
gan; "an' that boy O. his'n, that jim,
ters place, that cabin where the gall
RVS douc fell in"
what made i'm move?' asked
George Smith, whose weakness Il was
to try to help along with fatuous ques-
tons.
'I been a-kDowin' old man Freeman
for nigh onto a real long time" ppr-
gued Mr.. Teakwood. meditatively; an
It looks to me like he could do a
mighty good Job nov If he could 30
back an bring up his boys over again.
It's a powerful pity, il seems Ike TO
ne, that man can't have hut one
chance TO raise his children, an if
they don't seem tc pan ont right that
time there ain I no more show for him.
When they're raised they're raised, an
done with. IL they was any rules for
raisin' en-, now, like two tums two is
four, It would be dif'reut, but IL amt
that way, not by a long shot. The
most of us is experiment tin anyhow,
like irwin 20 raise cotton crop.
Oncet IN awhile 1t comes through ell
right; but sometimes they's too much
rain an the cotton all ruur to weed;
an then again they amt no rain st all
an a. bumblebee could stand on the
groun' On his hind legs an pick the
cotton outcn the top bolis. An /
reckon 1t was mighty bad year when
ole man Freeman's boys begin to grow
up"
"'Tain't everybody knows how TO
rnise boys" said old man Bolivar, re
hectively. "I tell ye, the way my ia
tber brung me up was q terror fer
well, the ole mans crop was bum
biebee- cotton, IL ever they was any,"
pursued the narrator, ignoring the in
terruption. "TLey amt one o them
IL, ,oc,,.i-{I,, bar3er 70
DAY than he did 25 year ago. But l
reckon nc thought Jim was goin' to
be someth!n'. 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.
"I tell you, they's outcome 10 that
boy o. mine, that JIM he says 10 me,
rubbin' his hands together, pleased as
pie. You wouldn't "a thought they
was that much spnnk in i'm, would
ye?-an' there he is, sparhn' up to
that girl, an her gran pa was mem
Der o. the legisla ri--an' shore es ye
liyin', Jim'!l be in the legislator hi-self
some day, for he's got the nerve to
try IT."
"An' nerves what Rits there, when 1t
comes to politics" said George Smith,
gioomily, with an irritable memory Of
the last disastrous campaign, In which
he had run for tho position of road
overseer.
"Well, IL may take nerve 70 git man
into the legislator" replied the mar
rator cheeriully, "but all the nerve IN
the country don't git elected to the
legislator, you hear me, sonny. Tbey's
lots of IL Is left over, an ye can fin II
layin' aroun' loose wherever you may
90.
"It pears like l come to know all
about this Freeman business kinder &C
cidental like. You see, long !niddlin'
airly las spring got on ole Nance
one day an rode over 10 ole man Free
mans for to borrer his harrer. l was
a-gittin' my garden ready, an II was
that grassy II was plum boun' for to be
harrered. When I got over there,
Squire Dlggs an some more men was
jes' rldlu' away, an The ole man met
me Ia the qal'ry looldn' like he'd been
a-cryin', an says he: Tn a-fixin' for
change, Iije,' says be 'Jim's a-goin'
TO git married Sunday, an me an ths
ole woman Is ies' decided him this
place, nm him an his wife is agoin' 10
take keer Of us the balance OF our
days. You don't know how happy 1t
makes mo feel. I'm a-roiu' TO have me
d big cheer an .et out here in the gal'rY
where 7 kin watch the cows goin' to
paster, an Jim piowin' In the fur field,
an where the ole woman kin listen TO
Jim's wife potteriu' roun' the house,
you know, an kin kinder oversee an
tell him how 20 do things, for jim
don't know so pesl,y much about
farmin''
"sYou better hoP on 70 that deed TIL
You de- says I Ia warniH' 'ioce, nm
let the takln' kcer come hrst;' and
bless gracious, the ole mau was 70
mad he come mighty nigh not lettin'
me have the harrer
"Wcll, shore enough, Jim he married,
an brung hi7 wife home, an got hia
deed safe an 5un', an for good while
eyer'thin' was as nice az pie. Jim'g
wife couldn't do enough for pa an
ma, an you'd "a thought they was all
a-slidin' down hill With all the wheels
creased, things went 80 easy. Ever
| time / pissed there the ole man and ole
woman 'ud be settih' up in the gal'ry
IN two big chairs, lookin' Hike they
| owned the earth an u good-sized chunk
| of thc moon. The ole man use to
rnicker when he seen me comm, an
say: Well, Lie, I'm n-havin' mid
| d8in' good time, ye see
Std o. fadin' away an dyln' as
anybody'd n thought they'd a done,
| thc ole man and ole woman begin 10
| pearten up uu' git fat. When went
| over there nlong in June for TO take
| the harrer home, the old man said be
| b1ieved he was good for IS more years
| vet. jim an his wife hecrd It, an
| 'twan't long after that before Jim'a
| wife begin to fix for scttlin' the ole
| folkses nash She got awful mad be
| cause the ole man ch4wed terbacccr,
| an She les cuuilu't stand II, nOhOw;
an she couldn': eat ut the table with