Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1898-11-16
HE WAS FOOLED ONCE
so JOSH SWAYBAcK HAS NO USE
 NOW FOR SPECULATION.

The Pathetic Tale of a Loan He Made
 For His Daughter. sake and With
 an Eye tO His Own Interest Into
 the Bargain
 "No, sirr' exclaimed Josh Sway back as he reached into the barrel and took out a cracker, "speckylation ain't in my line. Yew kin talk all ye wanter bout 20 year endowment policies an sich, an speokylations, but don't want none of 'em."
 The reaper and harvester agent smiled and broke open a dried prune. That's the trouble with the American farmers, he said; "they won't risk anything-thst is, the majority of them won't, even when it is shown them as clear as day that they will make a good lot of money in the end. "
 ''Hain't no sich thing, snapped Josh Swayback. "Th' American farmer is th , nacheruI prey of every skalywag on earth. Iwuz done out O a pile O money wunst myself, an know vat I'm talk in 'beout."
 How was that?" asked the proprie- tor of the store, who had never heard of the experience. "Who did it, Josh2''
 "Scruggs' boy, Tom
 "Sho', you don't say. Heow?"
 Easy ez shearin sheep" And Josh took a large chew from a plug of Rural Delight.
 Then he hitched his thumbs in the flaps of his vest pockets and continued: "Yew remember him, Hi? O. co Sc yew do. Yew also remember, likely ez not, what a high fiier he turned into when tn old man died? Gosh, but didn't he ies' throw it onl He wuz IS then, an fur 'beout a year tn young cuss had been a-waitin on my Marthy. He wuz t tn house 'beout three-guArtors O tn time, till Susan, my wife, sez t me one evenin, sez she, Josh, them young folks pear [ be a-thinkin heap O each oth- T, an Marthy tol' me t'day thet Tom
 r her thet if be wuz 21 he'd marry [ m take her [ Detroit t live. We'll. C ake a long story short, tn persist ence O thet young feller's waitin on Marthy struck me ez tn real article. seen he meant biZness, an my interes' in his affairs rose 'beout six pegs They want no question 'beout his lovin her, jes' ez they want no question 'beout her lovin him. They wuz jes' sot oD gittin married. l reckoned on tn money Tom would have when he come O aga quite pile thet his father lef' him, an. I thought Marthy likely ez not wouldn't never be able t do no better. So l in couraged tn young folks, ez I thought wuz right, everything considered.
 Well, one afternoon toward evenin, when I wuz hoein, deown in tn corner lot, thet boy he comes t me an sez, sez be: It ain't no use O talkin, sez he. 'Marthy an got t get married. Meow, I want t ask favor O yew.' He ser thet t' me, sez he. What is it?' sez l An then he goes on an sez, sez he: I've got lot O money comin t me when I'm 21-thet'll be in 'beout two year but right meow I can't afford t git mar ried 'ithout yer help. What l want ysw ' do is t len me $500 fur thet length O time. Well, that want out O tn question, an had my Marthy's future t heart, so I sez, At what in terust:' An be sez, Ten per cent
 That settled it I let him have tn money, an 'ithout further ado it wuz fixed thet he an Marthy 'ud git married in tn spring. Then in March she took sick 'ith tn typhoid, an tn date had t be postponed She wuz 'beout well when word wuz brought t' Ter thet Tom wuz lyin ith tn fever too. She got out O bed in less'n three days an went down an nussed thet boy fur more'n a week, but 'twan't no use. He up an died long 'beout tn ninth day. Arter tn funeral I begun t think 'beout thet co. ] didn't say nothin t th' folks rt ies' went deown t tn ceounty sect - seen th' probate jedge. He tol' me tn money be collected from th' estate So wuz aout, an sence then ain't tux DO risks with what little cash I've laid by. I believe thet young reprobate knowed he wuz goin t die when he borrowed tn money an thet be dallied long 'ith Marthy jes' t negotiate tn loan easier. What become O. her? Oh, she pined leetle fur 'beout tew weeks, an then we sent her t teown t visit Susan's sister. In 'beout three months she wuz iDgaged t a sewin machine agent an married him afore th' year wuz sout.
 But thet's tn reasos- I've sorter guy up speckylation. An if yew'll take th' trouble t go over tn country talkin t th' representative American farmers yew'll find they's others thet's been done jes' ez bad ez wuz "-Detroit Free Press