The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-04-16
JIM WATERS, FAITH.
Old Man ersenhut Relates a Poker
Story.

queer things to a man that's IN the
habit O takin' notice" remarked old
man Greenhut, as he lighted
fresh cigar and put his
feet on the window sill, "but
reckon the most mysteriousest
thing they is. is the way the lame an
the lazy gets took care Of by an all
wise an induitable Providence. Pears
ike the ravens that carried victuals to
the Teller on a rock, in the good book,
was Workin' overtime when they did it,
but faint nothin' to what they has to
do a-takin care o. some O. the surplus
population OF Arkansas City"
IL WAS easy TO see that the old man
was angry. He had just Clipped in -
toward paying the rent OF one of his
best customers, who was laid up with
a broken arm. but he had explained
that II was against his principles. and
he had done II with the distinct pro-
vlso that she should not be called on TO
do anything further. After smoking a
while, however, he began to chuckle.
Minds ne" he said, 20 Jim Waters,
an the Wy he ulster pull out o the
most almighty predicaments a man
ever got into. Pears like he were al
ways just on the ragged edge o. disas-
ter with nothin' between him an the
poorhouse 'ceptin' the good nature O
SIM Bellows, that kept the nearest gro
Gerry TO where Waters lived, an Sim
ulster get pretty well wore out I'm time
to time Waters ulster say, The Lord
VIII provide, for he were a most I'M
common pious man, an 'twarn't no use
| 10 tell him might "a done if he'd had
/ his own money to play on.
I used to reason with him, some
/ times, for he were a man that might
/ ha' been a valuable citizen If he'd had
money. He were a spender I'm Spend
| erville as long as IL lasted. Play with
| your own money I'd tell him, AN
/ then What you win'll be your own. But
/ he'd say, How can I play with my own
money when I hadn't got none?' Pear
/ ed like ne hadn't no proper ambition,
! nor good sense, an 'twan' nobody S
/ business TO take care Of him special,
more particular because he were
mighty useful when the time come that
/ his pecOOliar talent were needed. But
nothin' ever 'peared TO disturb Jim.
/ He'd set as calm as alligator waitin'
/ for a shoat or a niger baby to come
along, an when things looked the very
! worst, all you'd hear Jim say was,
The Lord viii provide The Baptist
| preacher up to the north end OF town
used 10 say it were beautiful example
of faith rewarded to see how Jim aFays
/ seemed to get took care Of when the
wust come to the wust, but there was
/ some of us that called IL nothin' but
dumb luck.
Jim used to drink some. I do'no
but what twas more than was RELY
good for him, though he couldn't hard
Isl help it SEEM afehOw his line o bust
ness took him into continual tempta-
ton. He knowed his best holt was
poker, an just naturally he spent the
| most of his time in here. waitin til
tthere'd be sOmepin' doin'. like the halt
an the blind used TO wait round the
pond in Sloan for some good Samar-
itan to come an stir up the water as
the good book tells about. Well o
course, theEe'd be times when he'd gel
asked, like anybody that gets round 9
saloon a good bit. an he waTnt never
slow about sayin' yes. He were a tol
bic good customer that way, an
never grudged hin. the even wher
things was at the worst, an if he tells
the truth, it cert'nly does look If i
were a case o. faith bein' rewarded, like
the preachers say it is.
Everybody knows that the flood o.
SO were the most Tip-rOarln est IOoc
that anybody seen anywhere. There
didn't seem to be nothin' left o thf
state of Arkansas, this side o Little
Rock, but a wicked waste o water
| 'Peared like Arkansas City itself weft
likely TO secede, an float down 70 th'
delta, or maybe out into the gulI, an
as for the country above here, nobody
seen nOthin' of il but the tops o th'
trees for some weeks.
Feared Jim an his wife had gon'
up the road a bit to live In house he
uncle had died and left her. It wer'
about ffty-fve mile I'm here an abou
eight miles I'm the railroad, but Il Wer'
/ a house. an there was few chickens
an pigs an sich. and Miss Water
lowed they cd be sure o somepin' :
eat all the time. an that We're more
she were accustomed to, so she jus
took Jim by the neck an went u
there.
Jim didn't like it much. There wer'
game enough around, but ne hadh ~
gun of his own, nor no neieRpors
borry any from, an anyway thG sam som
ne thought more of was entirely lackln
/ for he hadn't nobody TO play it with
an he were settlin' down INTO sVl
: o. disapp'fnted quiet melancholy. Whei
the flood come an give him plenty I
think about for d spell
Pears like the house were IN a Sof
. o. hOner piece o. ground win toi aoi
high ground all round il. so when IN
I flood bust through I'm the St Franci
valley 10 the north of EN-, II SWoope
/, down sudden, an just washed III
house away in the night. jim an NJ
wife was sound asleep an lhey me-
walked up till towards mornlh. we
r there come a sort o JOLT, an d Jal. al
! the room kind O canted up 10 one Slo'
, so's't Jim rolled out o bed on 20 IN
+ go. an bavi,,i started rOllin', jus
= roIIed right on till he landed in aoou
, two feet o. water in the Tar corner
@Just naturally it didn't take hiI
' long to get IN. an findin' ms WlIe wa
awake. too, he spattered over 10 -
T door an looked out. II were EoO
q deal of a surprise 20 him. IOr "iie
he looked he didn't see n0thln Ou
+ water an some tall trees, an none
a the trees was at all famiilar- -
y Course. he didn't know tneh v llei
b he was. but they found OUT. a.
s they'd fioated down more me nm al,
! in the night. an the mouse Hau -. ~
/, lodged in a big cottonwood tree / sIoo
= b, Itself nigh about three mile Sou'
s al the railroad. AS il happened' the
+, hadn't no neighh0Ts at al IN ms ne
r place. an not havin' nobody 20 lnqull
u from. ne had a good many suSS7'
comm about What had happened
- 'Twa'n't what had happened tAl
interested him. though. SO mucn
.e what was goin' to happen. Ihey n ,i'al..l
y much Of anything to eat IN me nous nous
but there was q couple o young pune
y that used 10 roost on the kitchen ma ~
= an there was a little coIhhieai ~
Miss Waters scored mp NJ W ne
had got spilled so they mace OUT =
three or four davz. eatin' things RAJ
,carsa thev hadn't no fire, but ths
there come a time when there wa 7
3 nothin' but furniture 10 eat; an the
r. want no way O. gettin' nowhere 70 9
no more. so things sure did LOOK Olac
Miss Waters she were ciean OUT