The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1902-12-20
BLUE BALL LONG AGO !
NED GOT HIS FAVORITE TUNE (
II
By J. POLK RlCINE l.

By J. POLK Rl[INE

tan dead or wounded when the shooting
took place. all grnanng in the most OK
crlciHting pain hut how the brush would
crack when the get away come off.
.And this break away game that was
connected first in the old Blue Ball tuv-
! "rn. WAS caught up ut Ilktun. North
/ East. l"It Deposit and throughout the
| entire country.
! liut had started ont to tell Il difirrrn;
| story. til" title of which appears AT the
| opening above. hut these other little by
plays had gotten we'll into my way. and
| ! could not W"ll ret around them. and 50
| rlck"d them off for just what they
were good for.
| On" might the hoStrry was crowded
with the i"vial boys OF yorc. nearly all of
whom owned their thrifty farms. and
| not on" of them either intoxicated or
noisy. but all happy and hail bully boys
well met. WcSS. one of the sweetest VOL
| in>tS of the day had performed ON the
! eat quits. and the j%s had been kicked
of. and twrlv" O'clock was close up.
when Ned jumped out in the middle of
the bar room and shouted. 'play me- my
favorilr. W"Ss. ana | will show YOU
how I" dance.
"Ah." said mine host. Liz" will play
Won the Arkansas traveller if Won 20
nom" by the short cut Tonight. Nyd."
Il am going home MP coon" hollow.
md when get to the old worm fence,
will sit on the fence and invite Iigc to
play mo my fay"ritr, he knows just VIVA,
it i. for he has played it for IN" thouS-
amdS of times
Now Iigr had been Nets bosom cronry
n r.,- It,, l,,, h,1 /
several years at the epoch of which we
write. He too. was Il fiddler and he had
lived in coonir hollow. and was buried
RICH, near the fence i'll the forest.
mean tn" old worm fence on which Ned
WIS t" sit and listen to his favortr tune
he Arkansas Traveller.
Min" host Bailey. slipped away and
hrrkonvd Mess. the fiddler. and two or
three of the others of the most Jolly of
his patrons to follow. ANA soon he had
them c"rnrrrd ON the back porch Then
the four disappeared through the almost
imprnuirahlr darkness to near the worm
fence IN counir hollow before mentioned
Bailey returned to his guest inside. 1t
was Saturday night. and Ned had pur-
chased his next weeks provisions. and
low h" was passing over his darling
black jug 10 Bailey. to Il" filled with
good old holland gin.
YES indeed. Bailey" said Nrd. -! will
ask Li%r to play the Old Ar-kan-saw tray
"l"r rs soon rs | strike the fence" And
Ned gathered up his ba" and basket. and
rot forgetting the half gallon jug either
ant away he amhlcd for connir hollow,
just athwar the meadow below.
Tn" violiuisr of the night and his fun
tovin@ curlrg" were cruuch"I Just he.
yond the fence in the brlShwuol impHt-
irntly awaiting Ncd's arrival An, he
comes, and he is Soliloquizing aloud.
My goodness" said he, II wish had
not made that fool promise to Bailey. for
ii is as black as Il niggrr's pocket over
i'll that woods. and Ligc. might take a
foolish notion in his head and cut Il caper
tonight, Just because it is the blacklist
night in coonic hollow that ever was.
But pShaw, Ligc and | We're too friendly
in his life time for him to cut any such
Il capcr rs that on mo such Il night
rs this. He is up against the fence
now. and has set his things over on the
darkest side. ANA climbs onto the ton
rail. h" has retained the jug. for reason
best known to himself. The night WAS
intensely dark. Not the twinkle Of a star
or tn" faintr>t glimpse of the moou. like
the face Of - dear old friend. pierced
through the black clouds. 50 uuirt il
" :. 80 1,"thIy still, tIai Net ,oHll al
most hear the requiem dir.r that the
awful ~"Iomnty ana darkness wrr, wills.
perrin" l." the resting foliage of the dis
NAL forest. Ned tried to call to L.iga for
his favurt" tune. but every tim, he made
i la, L.
that his trembling jaws would not un-
hinge. and icy chills were chasing each
other up and down his spinal column.
Notwithstanding great beads of prrSpra-
ti"m were Iumling from his now wan
brow. II" finally uttered VERY small
Whisper but the poor little sign scarcely
reached his own ear. II was Xix" this
II will TAX" II Swig Of gin. then I'll bet
that can ask him" IL" did 50. All.
his courage is with him. Now hear him,
Sa-Sa-Say. l.i-Li-ligc. plc-plc-plcasc play
me my favortc. and | will jump right
down here and dance and make the fur
fly just rs | used to do for you up at the
Ball
"tlilnm. clinllum, thum, thum, and
away went the ArkanSaw Traveller. and
after two murder shouts. and one war
Whoop. away went Ned. And never be-
fore or since has the inky darkness been
50 hastily split into two parts as was
done on that night by Ned. from there
To yondcr log house on the hill side. Just
beyond the forest
Right across Ncd'S pathway was stand
ing one of Bailcy'S old crumply horned
COWS, peacefully chewing her cud, but
after Ned had passed, the COW was paw
ing the black atmosphere above her nav
over in the whortle berry bushes by the
wayside. Nor did Ned have the time to
stop and help the poor old quadruped
hunt her cud, and up to this writing, it
is not known as to whether old soaky
ever did find it again or not Another
obstruction was lying in Ncd'S front lust
ut the other side of the forest. it was a
worm fence between Ned's lot and the
woods through which he was 50 man
fully hurrying, and up to this night Ned
had invariably climbed this barrier, but
this time he did not know it was there.