Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1900-11-08
BOOTS CHANGED HIS CAREER
A Southerner Whose Success in Life Hinged
ON ais Substantlal Footgear.

| on His Substantial Footgear.
| Talk about your two good suits o.
clothes" said the son of well-knowr
| Confederate army officer. I'm my
young days shoes. one pair. was the
badge of the plutocrat. l came OF a
large family, eight sons, and whe1
things were going particularly vel
one OF us had a pair Of shoes. | was
the youngest. SO that 1t never was l.
| Now, you would be surprised to know
I the effect, mental, moral and physical
that shoes have on a man. / consider
that my career, aye, and my chaPac-
ter, hinge upon the possession Of a
| pair. When I went to school in Vir-
| Einia thirty years ago, of course I was
strong for my age, but phlegmatic
and would put up with a lot rather
than get into a fight.
My particular enemy in the school
was an impudent and conceited boy.
| somewhat older than myself. He was
the SON Of our family doctor, An only
son, and the proud possessor Of q pair
Of shoes. shoes Of the old country
| type. with thick soles adorned with
plenty OF steel. You see we were not
| utterly poverty stricken. We had
q family doctor. You couldn't expect
q Southern gentleman to be able to
stand for a family doctor and shoes
| Tor his family at one and the same
time. My enemy was forever tor
nenting me, but I endured ie
silently for a long time. At last one
day my patience would endure 1t no
longer. / fell upon him and a sangui-
nary conflict ensued. We fought for
an hour or more. We fought Like
Windmills in a hurricane. 1t is true
we did not often hit one another. We
! were usually too close or too far of.
but we smote everything in sight,
| trees, walls and particularly the air.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee were not
q marker to us. We managed to
blacken each others eyes and bleed
each others noses, chiefly through the
contact of our heads.
Finally, however, my enemy be-
thought him of his superior arma-
; ment. He drew back and delivered up
on my unfortunate bare shanks a kick
of cruel force and precision. can
feel to-day the impact of that mass OF
leather and steel. 1t was agony. l
surrendered Internationally. Now
began a period Of the most heartrend-
Ing humiliation and misery. Wherev-
er l went that wretched shod youth
followed. l was his slave. l ran his
errands. He thwarted me in all nv
undertakings. He stood on his steel
and leather between me and the small
est taste of enjoyment
There was a girl, sweet little
blue-eyed thing of twelve summers.
my first love who was to me as all
the world, including the village candy
store. With her 1 would commune I'M
der the trees near the village school.
With her l would wax gallant and
eloquent Yankees I would slay by
the score, rather than that a hair OF
her head should be disturbed. 1 wish
I'D her to believe me Paul Jones and
Stonewall Jackson in embryo, only
with spice of wickedness.
II believe l should have succeeded
but for that horrid boy with his shoes.
One day when l was holding forth to
my lady love in an especially lofty
strain, the wretch came saunter1ng
past. AS he took in the situation, his
Eyes lighted up with malicious JOY.
He made straight for me.
"'Get out he said in tones OF per-
.mptory conteptm. I want to talk to
Della
For a moment, as the spirit OF
Jackson and Jones burnt bright in my
breast, was for giving battle. But he
merely raised his foot and 1 saw the
dash of steel beneath the leather. The
A. la 7
ID one last despairing glance on Della,
who was laughing and skunk away.
The horror of those shoes was upon
me and my knees knocked together.
But I swore vengeance. and all
things come to the man who knows
how to wait. That winter my father
carried through successfully u Piece
Ct business. Result, the whole family
was shod. My own footgear was es-
pecially magnificent. No shoes, mind
you, but boots, with stout leather
reaching even unto the knee. Homer
was all right when he made the we'll
grieved Achaeans the victors. Mine
enemy and l met. He was vanquished
from the start. I think he turned
pale when his eye fell upon my leath-
er-clad shanks. He would have de-
clined combat. But burning with the
wrongs I had suffered I fell upon him
without giving him time to retreat
The battle was short and fierce.
scorred to use my feet, but was now
proof against his mulish onslaught. /
took his kicks without feeling them
and smote him with my fists. Finally
[ got him down and choked him until
I was weary. But as he arose, hum
BILE, bruised and trembling, I deliber-
ately landed my armed feet on each
Of his shins, and with howl Of agony
he turned to fee. l delivered one
more kick, the most satisfactory of
all, On Natures appointed kicking
place.
my fame reached Delia's ears, and
she was all smiles when she received
me. She had understood. she said, all
along and her heart had h1od for mo