Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1901-03-19

Nme 20 hain't got nothin' else to do
get a bucket of rain water an q chunk
Of CASTLE soap an clean up your har-
nesses. Quit gsmblin' excep' in moder-
alton an when the moon is right an
quit cussin'--not but that like to
hear you cuss when you're in good
voice an suthin' inspirin' happens. l
think you've got nacheral gift am it's
been cultivated some, but it never does
no good to cuss.
What was you sayin' TO them lead
oxen when they hawed out Of the trail
as you come along?" inquired the stock
tender, "You don't need to tell me be-
cause you wasn't more'n three miles
off, an could hear you"
II amt givin' you this on my own
Say-so. got it from man with side
whiskers that comes out from Iowa to
renovate his lungs, which was wore
some. He called me his friend the first
clatter out of the box, an he told me
that cussin' was vishus an didn't do no
good, and that there wuz a law agin it
in Iowa, besides it bein' wrong on gem
eral princerples. l guess he must ha'
kncwn what he was talkin' about. You
can't never tell what some Of these leg
islatures in the states arc likely to
spring on free people. studied over
IT heap, an conclood that a man
can jest as well az not talk United
States without trimmin's II he onOet
gets into the habit OF it. reckon he
could quit before il got too strong for
him il he found II was injurin his
health"
"Why don't you try it, then? p said
the stock tender.
81 thought you had some glimmerin's
of horse sense" answered the old bull
whacker. 81 hain't freightin' with To-
eemotive along standard-gauge
track; I'm directin' bulls, an have TO
give 'em their instructions in Language
they can understand along stretches
of gumbo. If l didn't have no regard
for the feelin's of dumb beasts might
make half time by sockin the buck
skin to 'em every jump in the road,
but l amt that kind of man, an
animal needs his hide to keep the flies
off,"
"If it wasn't for that you'd quit,
s'pose," said the stock tender.
"Mebbe l would an then again
mebbe l wouldn't" replied the old
bull whacker.
IL did oncet an 1 didn't enjoy it..
That was when l was ranchin' down
on Box Elder, an my sisters son
Dick come out to stay with me.
was onto the fac that there was a
pre-joodice aginst the use of vigorous
talk back in the east before / met
the man with the side whlskers, al
though had sorter forgot it. My
sister reminded me of it when she
wrote an said that she would worry
about the kid, because she knew that
we indulged in cOArseness out west
an she'd hate right smart to see
Dick get coarse. wrote back to her
an give myself a good character. an
il seemed like she took oOnsidera BILE
stock fn IL an impressed il on the
kid.
After awhile Dick come along an
' =
lookin' kid about 20, an he had ben
Studyin tooth butcherin' at Saint
Looey. He asst me about what
church privileges we had right off.
an / was grieved to inform him that
we wuz short an he wuz 4Fisved to
hear it. He wuz quiet kid an didn't
say much. Sometimes used to
think he had suthin' on his mind the
way he acted. We didn't get very
sosherble, he not havin' much to say
an me bein' the same way"
The stock tender snorted.
"Well, when | had anythin' TO say
most ginerally went away down
the gulch apiece an said it. wore
a trail there, | sure did. II it wuzn't
convenient to leave the shack when
things was goin' wrong I KEEP my
mouth shut an felt uncomfortable,
an things went along hathaway for
about a month, an the kid seemed
to be gettin' more uneasy all the
time, an I didn't press him hard to
stay when he talked about euttin'
his visit short.
"Finerly one eVcntn at supper
time he upset some hot coffee in his
lap, an after squirmin around a
spell an remarlSin' how il hurt him
he got up an went outdoors an
seen him streakin fer the barn. He
wuz gone about five minits, an when
he came back he looked as il he wuz
feelin' good. l didn't say nOthin',
but day or two after that he wuz
milkin' in the corral an a mean one
horned COW l had kicked him galley
west, with the milk on top OF him.
symperthized with him an said IL
wuz too bad, an he agreed with me
in his mild way. Then he said he be-
lieved he would go TO the house. :
81 follered him that time, havin'
my suspicious. an when / stopped at
the door an listened l found that
they hadn't ben misplaced no ways.
What you said awhile back, Henry,
wuz honey an merlasses to what
- L.