Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1899-12-15
JABE WON THE BELLE
YET HIS FACE WAS HoMELY ENOUGH
TO SCARE CHILDREN.

Ae Had Given Up All Hone of Ever
Getting a Wife Until lie Acciden.
tally Learned His Power, and Then
He Got Mighty Particulars.
Il reckon Jabe Hawkins was about
the ugliest man the Lord ever let live" /"
said Unele Ben as he meditatively
whetted his knife upon his boot leg.
1--WE knowed strangers to foller that
man around Cor half hour jest to gil
another look ut bis face an then &c
right of an take a drink o. licker.
Seemed to kind o. give 'em a relish fo1
1t. I've knowed fool women to scare
their children into spasms by threaten.
in to give 'em to Jabe, an they do say
he's been the cause o. more then one
runaway. He was jest pizen ugly, an
that's al they was to 1t. Ii was a durn
pity, too. because he was a mighty nice
man if you happened to meet him in
the dark. an he had money in the
bank at Maple Run an so acres O. as
fine bottom land as ever felt plow.
"Well, in spite o. him bein so blame
homely that he dassent look n woman
In the face, this yere cuss was always
wantin to git married, but. o course
they want no way to get at it. lie
advertised some in the city paper an
writ letters to lots O. women that way
but he was honest to the core, an when
the thing got along fur enough SOS
they might anything come O it he al.
ways sent his photograph, an that end
ed 1t.
"Oncet they was Il mighty likely
widow from way back east that got to
llkin Jabe purity well through his let
ter writin, an | must say he was
good hand at that, before he sent his
pickshur. After studyln over his line.
ments for a couple O. mouths she made
up her mind to come on anyhow, but
when she ackshully saw Jabe in the
flesh she backed out an married 81 Pc
ter. an she made him a mighty fine
wife. barrin the fact that she had a
20-year-old son that bobbed up after
the ceremony an turned out to be as
shiftless as it's possible fur a man to
git an live.
"Then Jabe gifts desperlt, an he up an
offers a hundred dollars reward to any
body as viii git him a pHrdner. But
that didn't amount TO much. Ole Dud
Harris lowed he'd make his oldest
girl, Mirandy, the one that had the
harelip, jlne him, an Jabe. KNOWN
his own Shortcomings, was satisfied to
git anybody most, but Mlrandy took
epileptic fits an died before the weddln
come of, an folks all aroun said 1t was
q judgment on Dud.
"Then jim Damn brung aroun his
half witted girl, an .Jabe studied
long while over It, thinkin mebby that
If they was goin TO be children come
with his ugllness they'd better be fools,
too. SOS they wouldn't realize It. The
girl seemed to take a fancy to Jabe
right away an wanted to kiss him, but
he changed his mind right of, properly
decidin that he couldn't stand anybody
that was as big fool as that.
"Thlngs was ths-a-way when there
was a hypnotizer come through Maple
Run an give a show, an he asked for
people to come up on the platform an
be hypnotized. Everybody most was
afraid to go till Jabe made the break,
sayin 1t didn't matter much what be-
come O. him nohow, an then five more
went up like they alluz do.
''Well. the mint this here hypnotist
took hold o. Jabe's head an tilted it
back TO git a good look in his eyes he
give funny little jump an says:
"I can't do nothln with you. Why,
man, you may not know it, but you
got more power than l have. If you
fix them fine blue eyes O your'n on
anybody, they just nachelly have to do
what you say
"Then he let Jabe go an made Wash
Dlfins fight bumblebees an preten' he
was a dog an do the most outlandish
things you ever heard of. gosh, II
was funny, an he made some O. the
others act up, too, but none so much as
ole Wash, an the next day he went
away.
But he made q mighty big change in
Jabe's life. Y'see up to this time Jabe
allus dropped his eyes every time he
zee a woman comm an the woman allus
looked the other way. But now Jabe
made up his mind to try it, an so he
looked, an all the women knowed
about 1t, so they looked, an they found
out that them eyes was mighty fine If
you looked at 'em so keen you couldn't
see the rest O. his face. They was
mostly scared. too, since they heard
as how Jabe was a hypnotizer If he
only wanted to be hathaway; but, O.
course, that only made 'em look all the
more.
''First off. Jabe didn't have the sand
to look at the best lookin girls, but only
the homely ones. an. II wasn't two
weeks till lie could o. had his choice o.
a dozen girls. You see, they got to
talkin to him an studyin them ewes. q