Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1898-09-21


dwelt with his mother. Irish by birth,
washerwoman by trade, and relict of
the only pure-blooded Hollander ever
known in the village, in n white-wash-
ed cottage fronting II littleused side
street. Aside from Deacon Orcott, of
the Freewill Baptist Church, who was
too old to work, and, besides, had a
little money laid by, and old John Tom
linson, who lived in the big white
house across from the postotlce and
was rich, being worth $4,000 at least,
and maybe more, Cal was the only
grown man In the place who seemed to
have no regular occupation. Hence his
unpopularity.
"You see, DOCTOR" Jabez Ruggles, the
wagon-maker, explained to me one day,
soon after | began practicing in North
Pisa, Gal amt got no gumption. In
fact, he's-wal, what you might call
shifless. He won't never work none
at all, 'ceptin' when the beans is ripe.
Then he does go out into the field and
pull, sometimes, though he didn't last
year. When he's min to he kin do
more work n anybody know, for he's
tie ablebodiedest man anywhere round
here, but you never see him a-pitchin
no hay, nor a-workin' in no harvest
field; not even when such men as Su-
peryisor Bulger or Deacon Warboys Is
offerin' two an Il ha'f a day to save
their crops.
mo, sir; he'd ruther live on his poor
old mother than to work, an about all
he does Is to go'n git the clo'es in II
basket before she washes EN-, an kerry
'em home afterward You kin see i'm
a-doin that every mornin' an every
night reg lar. What he does in the mid
die of the day Is myst'ry to every
body. Some days he goes a-tishin', but
that's mostly on Sundays. Week days
he gems ally shets 'imself in the house
Jest to loaf, 1 s'pose. | shd think
'twould make him shamed to hear the
sound of the scrubbin when his moth
ers to work over the washboard an
he's layin' round, doin nothin.
Some day the boys II all git mad n
run him out, unless he braces up and
goes to work. When that happens
North Pisa IL git notice in the county
paper, sure
In spite of the wagonmaker's story,
l found 1t hard to dislike Cal Vanport
without knowing more concerning him,
rious village magnates. But the testi-
mony thus gathered was all of one
sort. 1t was clear that all the men of
North Pisa both hated and despised him
us an utterly worthless vagabond. The
| feeling of antagonlsm between Cal and
his kind, however, was like Jug han
die. all on one side,' as | found when
| I came to know him personally. II ever
there was man who bore nobody i'll
It was Cal Vanport, and before | had
met either Cal or his mother face to
face perceived that some of the wom-
en- of the place held the young man in
better esteem.
"They may say all the mean things
they want about Cal Nanport," said
Mrs. Miggs, the sturdy old blacksmith S
wife, who had two grown sons of her
own, ''and | won't deny that it does
look like small potatoes and few in the
hill fer him to live on his mothers
earnin's, as he pears to; but they'd be
some happier mothers In North Pisa II
nil sons was like him. | know some
Young men in this village that work
hard enough an save their money that
ain't near so kind to their mothers as
he Is. When Mis- Vanport was younger
nm Cal was a-goin' to school an she
used to 90 out to wash, which she don
do no more, she told me he never spoke
n sassy word to her In his life. l wisht
everybody could say as much for their
bows. l told my man yistiddy an 1t
made him mad, that some folks know
would be willin' to have their boys a
little lazier If they could only say what
Mis- Vanport kin, but they can't, she
concluded, In tone clearly showing a
desire to be confidential, which | care
fully ignored by promptly bidding her
good day.