The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-05-08
81 Can Count
Fifteen"


his life in living 1t down. Children
oro ,anoht TO be shy of him and ole
women have been known TO 1orbld mn
the premises, lest by his mere presence
hc MIGHT addle all the goose eggs ant
oonr oil the milk. 1t makes no differ
nncc what the boy may say; learning
from his mouth takes the sound OF
idiouc argon, and any intellectual
quality on his part is attributed 10
trick of the evil one. There, toE IN
stance. was Sam Tucker. In the log
school house he had never been ac-
cusrd of being dull. lie had mastered
his arithmetic and successfully thumbca
his Caesar, and studied the EnYlish
uoets till he rccilcd them in his sleep,
but the blight fell upon hlm. Ills
nature was dreamy and inventive
10 him the sound OF the slcet lailinS
on the dry leaves WAS the sweetest Oh
music. One night he awoke ana
heard the slcct rattIny against the
window. out of bed he bounded, ana
drcssin., himself in his brown Jeans,
went TO the woods near the house ana
sat down upon log. Shortly after
ward his mother gong to his room to
zee that he had cover enough, discover
ed that he was gone and spread the
alarm. The old man went out and
shouted the name of his son. After a
time there came weak answer. The
old man wen, into the woods and
found Sam sitting on the log.
"Why, what on earth are you doing
here tins time of night all BY yourself
a.settin' on a log in the slceip'
That's why am here, on account
of the Sicet, want to here the
music
Mus!cr'
Yes, SIT; its beautiful
Wen, YOU come un back to the
house ol you'll hear some music that
may not sound So beautiful, hut it will
be II good bit lOudcr'
The next day, in the presence of a
ncighbor womaii, the boys mother
casually referred to the fact that her
son had gone out into the dark to hear
the slcet fall, and the woman went
home and said that it had been dis
covered that sam Tucker was Il half
wit. Then she related what had hap
,,ouol ,,l L,r IN. L,,j ,..;l ,,,, h,
WAS no doubt OF ii. The news spread
and il vast long before sam found
that people avoided him in the road
one old women w,h , Lol., .'n,,
which sh, was ,o,,;u,< :, :. .,,r. -
,v,honor for , fave v,rl, nf l,..h
coiorcd calico, backed her horse up
into - cnrnor nr ,h,. f,uro ,nI ,rini;
ont. :. i:n an o,vo,. h,f,, ,., .,,'n.
these her, .i,,. ~ ,rh, ,nj,,,,,r
good old ma, who t,nII, f,,n,iJnI ,;'
wav ,hrnn,h ~" h,,I., -, ,1'' ',Il ''l>
said tina, he wa. sorr,, ,n hn,r ,I,n, ,hn
voun, f.II,u,s ,,;,l ,,,,l WV
bpl th,, hr ,IidnI h.l'.r, ,h,,|, ,3h" ,,''2, "H ,
cvn,, -. on,, nar,Io,Ian n ','''. ""o'''
For a time Snm,s ro,h.r w,s fnr,,m.
but gradually ne hr,,n ,n hn,;.v.u No.,
there was sGmr,h;n,, ,rrr,,, .;,I 49,
bov, Aoains, hone and .y.u a',,;,'',
cony,c,iuu su,,,iri,u ,,,,ln.Il, ,,,I.,y
a ,rlliur ,nrn,l Th1 ''','",S I,'n", 'h"M'S '','
urayrI anh wnn, Im, NV ~, n'',''r' ,
But he ,ouldn', ,m,h an ,hn ;,,,'' i,",''
His new ch,r,r,.r I,n.,,'' Wv ,;,,'' .''''''
n,nrnn,,,. :, "e,'''' '"tSoihc ,
he came home hc,r;nr ,hn ," 'nn,'''', 1',''.
physical encounter rmnl,y No '"n naa,'I ~,
to resent the ribcs or ,hr how, nnU
hopefully looked forward +, ,hn ,;',, w
when ne NIGH, leave home and put n,
distas,rful j1fn hoh;nJ hi, ''"' p"' ,'''
he was at home win his hnnl.s hn,;,o W. H"o
lon. since uu,, srhnnI vhnn ''I:; i:;,,'; 49,:
daughter Of the woman whn h,h .,>r':, wna2
the repor, cam. ,n ,ho l,m.', :" ~ 'i' :, : "S
row sown mnar v '''u ''"''Se |" Dor
Como ~ v ,'", w. I''''' was "ohe
,hronoh lhc ,,,,nr '''''''' n" sue '''pe'
" no. ms, y.,r,., -
MOTHER ;, niyn,o y"n' " "''''' |" see y""
:. VA, ''''"'''
after . wbi,. p,'' y, '"' Nnc Il De back
Sin " ,''i' "n''''
,orol ,> ,, ""' '''''"l"F"u9 ana she en-
,ha' .," ta, .''c room ana sat down. I" What's
onr;o,,' on"; "o"A yon We Y"'?' she asked,
:. q 'I"' y, ~ " Nl'o" o" lhc bent Of his mind.
II Tells about great invcnuons.n
Docs it9 They told me you didn't
'e"u '',I, ahy'hlng hut chlld books.'
"Ihcy told you lie"
hut 10 you understand what you
'caoI
~ ! dldn'L wouldn't read it,"
" ny, you don't seem to have lost
your mlha. Can You count?"