The Forrest City times., 1899-06-02

Nelther spoke for moment or two
ana 1t was the widow who broke the :; I.
renee. AS David had conjectured. sh.
was interested at last, and sat lean;n~
forward with her hands clasned in her
lap.
Well" she exclaimed, "ain't We goin'
on! What did ne say to YEP"
Certnly, certn'ly," responded Da-
wa, III tell We nears en- remember.
an L en- remember putty near. As |
told we, felt twitch at nv hair. an
he SAID; What be you thinkin' about.
sonny" looked up at him, an looked
away quick. I Dunno / says, diggin'
my big toe into the dust; an then. /
dunno how l got the spunk to. for |
was shyer'n rat, guess was thinkin'
bout mendin' that fence up in the ten
acre lot s much S anythin',' says.
"'Ain't you goin' to the cirkis, he
says.
4 amt got no money to go to cir
kisses, l says, rubin the dusty toes o.
| one foot over t'other, nor nothin' else.
/ says.
David nodded in reminiscent sym.
pathy, and rubbed his bald poll with
the back of his hand.
"Waal," INTERCEPTED the widow.
"Wa'al," said David, resuming, .he
| says to me: Would you like to go to
the cirds" and with that it occurred
TO me that l did want to go to that
| cirkis more'n anythin' ever wanted to
before-nor since, it seems to me. But
l tell ye the truth, l was so far I'm
eSpectin' to go t / really hadn't
| knowed | wanted to. l looked at him
an then down again, an began ten
| derin' up a stun-bruise on one heel
| agin the other instep, an all says was,
| bein so dum'd shy: 1 dunno / says.
| But guess he seen in my face what my
feelin's was, fer he kind O. laughed an
pulled out half dollar an says: ID
you think you could git a couple O.
tickits in that crowd? If you kin, ]
think I'll go myself, but 1 don't want
to git my boots all dust, he says.
| allowed l ed try; an l guess them
bare feet o. mine tore up the dust some
gettin' over to the wagin. Wa'al, / had
| another scare gettin' the tickits, fer
| fear some one that knowed me ID see
me with a half dollar, an think ]
must "a stole the money. But I got
| 'em an carried 'em back to him. He
got off about rod or so an stopped an
| looked back. Amt you comin'?' he
says.
Be | goin' with your says.
why not" he says, ''nless you'd
ruther go alone an he put his finger
an thumb into his vest pocket. Waal
ma am, / looked at him minute. with
his shiny hat an boots, an fine clo'es.
an gold pin, an thought of my ragged
ole shirt, an cotton pants, an old chip
hat with the brim most gone, an my
tin pail an all. Il amt fit to- / says
ready to cry-an'-wa'al he Jest
laughed an says: Nonsense he says,
come along. a man needn't be ashamed
of his workin clo'es,' he says, an I'm
dumd if he didn't take holt of my
hand, an in we went that way to.
gether.
Il amt goin' to go over the hull
show" proceeded David, well S l re-
, member it. The didn't nothin' git away
from me that afternoon, an once
come near to stickin' piece O ginger
bread into my ear stead o my mouth.
] had my ten-cent piece that Billy p.
give me, but he wouldn't let me buy
man come along he says: Air we hun
CRY, Dave?' I'D told him my nancy,
Air we hungry Wa'al, l was CROWN
boy, an / was hungry putty much all
the time. He bought two big squares
an gin me one.
hull programmy-gingerbread, lemon
ade-pink lemonade, an he took some
o that-popcorn, peanuts, pep'mint
candy, cin'mun candy-scat my -!
an he payin' fer ev'rythin'-I thought
he was jest made o money! An re-
member how we talked about all the
doin's; the ridin', an jumpin', an sum-
mersetin', an ALTER he'd got all the
shyniss out of me for the time-an'
once l looked up at him, an he looked
down at me with that curious look in
his eyes an put his hand on my shout
der. Wa'al, now, L tell ye, l had a
queer, crinkly feelin' go up an down
my back, an like to up an cried.
"Wa'al, the cirkis fn'ly come to an
end, an the crowd hustled to git out
IS if they was afraid the tent'd come
down on 'em. l got kind O. mixed up
in 'em, an somebody tried to git my
tin pail, or | thought he did, an the
upshot was that lost sight o Billy p
and couldn't make out to ketch o
glimpse of him nowhere. An then ]
kind o. come down to earth, kerchung!
1t was five o'clock, an / had better'n
four miles to walk-mostly up hill
an if / knowed anything bout the old
man, an thought did, had the all
fredest liclxin' ahead of me t I'd ever
got, an that was sayin' good deal.
But, boy S l was, had grit enough to
allow twas wuth it, an off | put"
did he lick yer much?" inquired
Mrs. Cullom, anxiously.
"Wa'al," replied David, "he done his