The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-08-22
As said cloud in the queer. jerky
R~~.uI "a a.. -. -

II had a comical sound and some
one Uttered In spite Of the solemnity
Of the occasion.
Ibid you ever sec a convicted man
who thought he had had a fair trial?'
one lawyer asked another.
But Alpheus had had no Thought
of a fair trial when he spoke; he
would not have known . fair trial
from an unfair one.
His mind had gone far. far back to
the days OF his childhood. to the
little mud-chinkcd log cabin in the
clearing where he had lived with his
father and mother. He remembered
his thin, sickly mother. who worked
SO hard and had SO many aches and
pains, yet was nevertheless always
-kind-spoken." There were many
little mounds in q rude Enclosure
which, in q more civilized region
would have been considered none too
good to serve as "A pig pen, for OF all
the children she had borne, Alpheus
alone survived. His father, too, was
kind to him, and when he took his
cotton into town, in the autumn,
would bring Alpheus = stick OF
"striped candy"
But the mother died, and after
irving to "do for himself" Alpheus'
father brought home the widow Jor-
dan with her noisy, quarrelsome
brood of children. She took a dislike
to Alpheus at first sight. II was not
!Alpheus at first sight. 1t was not
.. - Ian AnrGa II~nfn
good looks, she would have thought
she had no occasion TO be jealous
of her sickly. faded predecessor, or
any of her belongings-but she de-
clared that the young ZEN wa jes'
|. too pizen ugly TO live; as ugly as a
yaller niger dog" AS she and all
, her were black-haired and
|, black-eyed, Alpheus' tow head was
naturally not admired by her. lie
|, skunk out of her sight as much as
possible, but she quickly appointed
him the drudge Of the family.
sMarv Belle" she would say. don't
? YOU sJile your skin over that IRE.
Alpheus has got to stir that pot
Z, Or. Here. you Alpheus, do you think
! I'm goin' TO let my Jim break ms
t back totin' them buckets q water
I from the springs
I Alpheus' father had at first trico
d fee.sly to protect him; but he was 8
vcak-minded man. easily reduced te
submission BY his l~cud-tongued wife
and though he might pity his son il
secret. he dared not raise his voic'
y TO defend him.
c The Jordans were all better looking
ana ouickerwitted than Alphens. ane
q they were not slow TO make h.sn fec
n this: tormenting him in various
ways.
.He amt none o. u kim" the.
would explain 10 visitors.
! Jim who was the nearest his age
= was especially malevolcnt in his de
:. vices for the discomtiting of Alplieu~
I. The only time Alpheus had venture
TO resent Jim's aggressions, .hs steI
:, mothers heavy fist had hammerc'
into him the wisdom of suffering 4
y silence. AS their mother made
~ drudge of him. so the young Jordan
. made him the butt of their clums
;, ridicule. 1t was Jim who gave hir
the name of 'Fiddleneck" by whic
he became known throughout tina
= pIny woods settlement. The rurs
' sense Of the appropriate was tickle
by the title. Don't it jes' hit Oh tia
!, long. red neck o. his'n'" ~clairne
= Abram Beechby. Jim shore is tn
I. fellow to give names that sticks
- Yet Alpheus was a good. harmle-
!. creature, who would have asked noti
- ina better than To live on kind
:. terms with his ste~p-relations. As y
- grew older the settlement had II
=. definite grievance against him; 81
:" when one is shy and awkward it
- easy to get the reputation OF bein
northumberland the second Mr.
/" White spared no words TO make
!, believed that her stepson was hal
=, to get along with"
" ii.
an Shortly after Alphcus reached ma
~ hood his father died. and the larg'
III part Of the little farm fell TO Ia
share. Mrs. White YVES indignant tn
4. the law gave her only q third, an
in fact. went into Mysteries when s.
A. learned thai the whole farm was IA
nv TO be hers.
=, "Oh. my po' paltry thirds."sl
calculated. with tears of wrath. =
this amt onjest, there never was Q
icsticc in the world. Here's me tina
NJ worked like a niger on this pla'
an done for that man year m 8
wear out. an wore myself out try.
to raise his brat fittin'-an' here |
,en put off with thirds 4,
~ But the law is law. Alpheus gla
IL gave up the cabin TO his 81.
mother. and built himself anotf
as far removed as possible from !
old one. He began to plant on
~ own account, and became NODES
successful. owing To his industry.
Of which did not endear him to I
Jordans.
lin had also reached mans esta
70 and in gala attire. profusely scent
No. with cinnamon draps," with
hen black. curly hair well oiled. ne >
a typical piny-woods lady-killer.