St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-12-10
THE TRAMP'S STORY
BY Kenneth Herford.

porch last Thursday evening a
little group of congenial spirits com
posed Of tie doctor himself, Adams,
OF the .arnish company. C.eaver. en-
ployed at the gas house; Hethering-
ton. secretary of the Marine company;
Evans. and myself.
Fresh cigars had been lighted and
the doctor had said: "Now, Cieaver,
it's your turn for story" when
around the side of the house came A
Man. We called the stranger The Man
after he had gone and we probably al
ways shan so long as memory OF him
lives in our minds.
He stood on the gravel walk at the
foot of the porch steps and removed
lis hat, battered felt affair with hal!
the rim gone and hole in the crown
through which protruded wisp OF
hair. The Mans clothes corresponded
we'll with his hat. They were ragged
and threadbare. The bottoms of the
trousers were frayeG in fringe where
they fell over The Mans shoes. worn
out shoes with the toes turned up and
the heels run down.
When The Man removed his hat we
had a better view of his face. 1t was
long and deeply lined. There was
light of cleverness. or rather smart
ness. in the sunken eyes, and the fore
: head was high and to a degree bu'ging
The eyebrows were bushy and the
mouth, though weak in IFS droop, was
finely cut. evidently the mouth OF
man capable of appreciating the more
refined things of life.
The stranger looked up at us. Gen
tiemen,' he said. 81 was around at the
back door moment ago and the lady
Of the house said her husband was on
the porch with a few friends. 1merely
want to ask if there is some work that
/ might be allowed to do around the
place in exchange for supper and a
few cents with which to secure me a
bed for thenight?'
Before the, doctor could ansker,
Cleaver had whispered to him: ASK
the fellow to come up and sit down.
III bet almost anything the story OF
his life would be more interesting
than anything could tell"
"Yes, DO" put in Adams.
The. doctor did not argue the point.
"Well, my man." he said, addressing
the woe-begone appearing fellow-be-
ing who stood before him on the gravel
Il DON'T think there is anything to be
done around the house. But guess we
can fix up the supper and the bed
Come up and sit down awhile; you
appear tired
The Man besi.ated moment sheep.
ishly and then mounted the steps with
difficulty, either from laziness or ia
tigue. There was sort of far-away
look in his eyes as he sank into the
rocking chair on the doctors left.
..Thank you." he said, as he took
the cigar CIeaver offered him. ITS a
long time since I've smoked one oil
these"
He applied a match. extracted from
the right hand pocket of his tattered
green-brown waistcoat. and when he
had gotten the cigar fairly under way
he said. without removing it from mis-
lips: "lt's mighty kind of you gentle
men to ask me to smoke with you.
haven't smoked with gentlemen fol-
some time"
The dry humor of The Man struck
us all. C;eaver was becoming impa
tient to hear his story, so he asked
sWhat is your business?"
.Tramping-now." was the reply.
"But you haven't always been .
tramp put in the doctor.
"No. sir, not always. was an in
ventor once"
s'Teli me about il, won't you ." urged
Cleaver.
.sFifteen years ago" he continued. 81
was we,l-to-do ,aan. With no attach
ments in the way of wife or family. my
Huntsville. My first great invention
was an automatic car coupler. The
idea of it was stolen by the blacksmith
/ got to make the model for me. liz
took out a patent. He's worth twt
millions now. Three weeks ago hi.
wife gave me seventy-five cents 70,
cutting the grass in his front yard.
didn't sigh away the minutes, gentle
men. No, sir. not minute. not {
sigh. Then and there, upon the foun
dation OF my blasted hopes and shat
tered fortunes. set to work to invent
= machine that would revolutionize so
cicty. and the world. | finally decided
that my machine should be a mixer.
.Nhat kind of milker? Evan.
asked, leaning forward in his chair.
.An electric mixer. replied th'
Al
Improved pattern.
Storage battery ?" inquired Adams
with little smile.
"Yes, storage battery" answered
The Man, land the following sever
wears If my life were put in perfectinl
that mixer. but now-yor will pardon
me. gentlemen, if appear foolish, no
TO say childish. but wherever thinl
Of those lorg. long days spent in m.
workshop toiling over t1e details il
The construction of that milker, l an
carried away by my emotion and can
not keep back the tears"
And with greasy cid red and whit
bandana handkerchief The Man wipe'
away the gathering moisture from
his eyes.
He, resumed. Eyes. my friends" h,
said. .upon that mixer BASED all m,
-i- homes of future greatness. In m,
dreams saw the muititudes surgin,
around me. l saw mothers point m
o,it TO their children; Isaw young me-
oaze al me with looks of awe ard ad
miration mingled in their eyes, and
.aw old men remove their hats when
psssed among them. And in my wal
ips hours seemed 10 bear the cEas