Evening journal., 1902-12-04
JABE WON THE
BELLE AFTER ALL
Yet His Face Was SO HomelJ
That 1t Scared the
Children


said Uncle Ben as he meditatively
whetted his knife upon his boot leg
1--WE knowed strangers to foller that
man around for half hour jest to git
another look at his face an then 90
right off an take a drink o. Ticker
Seemed to kind o. give 'em relish for
H. I've knowed fool women to scare
their children into spasms by threaten
in to give 'em to Jabe, an they do say
he's been the cause O more than one
runaway. lie was jest plzen ugly, an
that's all they was TO It. II was a durn
pity, too, because he was a mighty nice
man II yon happened to meet him IN
the dark, an he had money in the
bank mt Maple Run an so acres O as
fine bottom land as ever felt plow.
"Well, IN spite o. him bein so blame
homely that he dassent look a woman
In the face, this yere cuss was always
wantin to git married, but o. course,
they want no way to get ct 1t. lie
advertised some in the city paper an
writ letters to lots o. women that way.
but he was honest to the core an when
the thing got along fur enough SOS
they might anything come o it he al
ways sent his photograph, an that end
ed It,
"Oncet they was a mighty likely
widow from way back east that got to
lil.in Jabe purity well through his let
ter wrltin. an | must say he was
good hand at that. before he sent his
pictshur. After studyin over his line
ments for couple o. months she made
up her mind 70 come on anyhow, but
when she ackshully saw Jabe in the
flesh she backed out an married 81 Pc
ter. an she made him n mighty fne
wife, barrin the fact that she had
2O-yenr-old son that bobbed up after
the ceremony an turned out to be as
shlftess as it's possible fur a man to
git an live.
"Thon Jabe gifts desperlt, an he up an
offers a hundred dollars reward TO any
body as win git him a pardner. But
that didn't amount TO much. Ole Dud
Harris lowed he'd make his oldest
girl, Mirandy, the one that had the
harelip, jine him, an Jabe KNOWN
his own Shortcomings, was satisfied to
git anybody most. but Mirandy took
epileptic fits an died before the weddin
come of. an folks all aroun said 1t was
judgment on Dud.
"Then Jim Damn brung aroun his
half witted girl, an Jabe studied n
long while over It, th,nkln mebby that
II they was goin TO be children come
with his uglness they'd better be fools,
too, SOS they wouldn't realize It. The
girl seemed to take fancy to Jabe
right away an wanted to kiss him. but
he changed his mind right OFF, properly
decldin that he couldn't stand anybody
that was as big fool as that.
Things was this-a-way when there
was a hypnotizer come through Maple
Run an give q show. an he asked for
people to come up on the platform an
be hypnotized. Everybody most was
afraid 70 60 tin Jabe made the break,
sayin II didn't matter much what be-
come o. him nohow. an then flve more
went up like they alluz do
"well, the mint this here hypnotist
took hold o. Jabe's head an tilted II
back TO git a good look in his eyes he
give n funny little jump an says:
"1 can't do nothin with you. Why
man, you may not know 1t, but you
got more power than / have II YOU
fix them fine blue eyes o. your'n or
anybody, they just nachelly have TO dc
, what you say
"rhen he let Jabe go an made Vast
Dinins fight bumblebees an preten' h'
was dog an do the most outlandisl
, things you ever heard Of. ] gosh, 4
, was funny, an he made some O. thu
, others act up, too, but none so much az
! ! ole Wash, an the next day he wen
=. away.
"But he made mighty big change il
( Jabe's life. Y'see up to this time Jab
allus dropped his eyes every time h
see a woman comm, an thewoman allu
!, looked the other way. But now Jab
y made up his mind to try it, an so b
T looked, an all the women knowe'
: about Il, so they looked, an they founl
y ont that them eyes was mighty fine
" you looked ut 'em so keen you couldn'
see the rest o. his face. They wa
mostly scared, too, since they hear
as how Jabe was a hypnotizer II h
h only wanted to be hathaway; but, {
II course, that only made 'em look all tn
Is n ore.
y "Flrst or. Jabe didn't have the san
IS to look at the best loollin girls, but onl
d the homely ones, an Il wasn't tw
n weeks till he could o. had his choice (
It dozen girls. You see, they got
d tallSin TO him an studyin them eyes I
{ hlss'n, an fust thing they knowed the
ie was hankerin after 'em. But Jabe sc
d partlc'lar. They was time when he
N been ticlzled to death to have any gil
'r that wore dresses keep comp'ny wit
III him. but he KEEP raisin his idees ever
IL day till dn'ly he sot his mind on winni
x Hetty Allen, that was the blamedei
or purtiest girl in the whole country a
had dozen fine loolSin fellers wit
: good horses an buggies an some Ian
tryin 10 court her. an blame if he didn
q git her. An the funniest part of it a
Is that there amt no purifier youn
~ uns anywhere than them seven chi
Ie dren o Jabe's. An they all got blt
n pvcc nvarv ono Of fom an thp rest