Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1902-12-24
wALHALlA. SOUTH oARoLINA. DEC, "a. 1902

OF walton, was favorite place OF
resort for the children of Walton.
They liked to sit and watch the old
cobblsr cut out soles, stitch on
patches and drive pegs. 1t was a
matter of surprise to many in the
town that Darious could "stand it to
have 80 many children bothering
around" when he was at work, but
the cobbler was a man who loved
children, and he declared that they
did not "bother him the least mite.'
elf they do git troublesome 1 just
up and send 'em right home," Dari-
Gus would say, but no one could re-
member that he had ever yet sent a
child out of his shop, although it was
known that on several occasions he
had ordered men to leave because
they had used language such as he
would not allow used in his shop. The
mothers of Walton said that Darius
was "safe" man for their children to
be with. They meant by this that he
was man who never used rough or
profane language, and that, gentle
spirited as he was, he did not hesitate
to rebuke others when they used
such language in his presence. 1t
was known also that the old cobbler
never lost an opportunity of giving
the children good advice.
Old Darius was proud of the fact
that he was a"Sunday school soho.
lar" Nothing gave him greater
pride or a greater sense of gratitude
than the fact that he had not missed
Sunday at Sunday school for forty
years. When he told this fact he
always added
81 tell you pve got lot to be
thankful for. Ev'ry Sunday at Sun
day school for forty year hand-run-
MIN means good health an the pos
session of all my faculties. I tell
you Pve been blest beyond my
deserts"
The old cobbler lived in little
house of three rooms on a corner in
the center of the village. He used
the front room for his shop. One of
the back rooms was his bedroom and
the other was his kitchen and dining
room, and "gen'ral livin' room," as
he called it. He had been widower
for many years, and he had never had
children, therefore he lived alone i'm
his little house. The cleanliness of
his rooms and his ability as a cook
were matters of much comment
among the village people. There
were blooming plants in his white
curtained windows, and the floors
could not have been cleaner. Even
the workshop was as tidy as it could
well be, and there were blooming
plants in the two front windows.
One of the cobbler's favorite visit
ors was little Lacy Dryden, blue
eyed, sunny haired and sunny-faced
child of ten years. Lucy often
stopped to see old Darius on her way
home from school, and although the
cobbler tried not to hurt the feelings
of his other visitors by Showing
partiality," it was evident to many
of them that Lucy had place all her
own in one of the corners of his
heart. But there was room enough
for all of the others in his heart, and
no one was in tho least jealous of
Lucy.
The old cobbler had had the mis-
fortune to lose one of his legs when
he was In middle life, and for this
reason he had to walk with crutch
and cane when he walked at all.
For nearly thirty years he had
been Saving up" for the purpose of
buying himself wooden leg. He
had "saved up" the required sum
several times, and each time the i'm
perative need of some one even
poorer than himself was forced upon
him, and his generous and self-sacri-
ficing spirit had caused him TO re-
spond to that need with the money
he had so carefully and 80 slowly
saved for the artificial leg that was
20 "put him on his feet"
Once he had been so affected by a
powerful appeal for missions that he
had put all of his savings in the collec-
;tion for foreign missions, and he could
not be induced to receive back part
of the money.
"No, no." he had said. "Why, 1
would be better off without any legs
at all, and without any legs in the bar
gain, than them poor souls lost in
the darkness of SIM
At another time he had been to the
city twenty-five miles from Walton
and had had all the measurements
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