The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1902-10-11
SPRIGGINS' B0ARDER.

Tain't no place to brag on; an what them |
painter chaps calls a vistays u sumwnas
fnocked into cooked hat BY the stump
fence. an the co'ncrib, an tibet bari o
leecb I've in the corner-thet is, lookin' at
the vistay frum the stoop Still there il al
lus sumthin' to distarb the eye when .
pussun squints at natur'. ce .if1. |
"For instance, them scooped-ou
summary gals; them poked-out behind |
| summery galivanteresses with hose tibet are
| loud 'nuf to call the cows frum the pastur;
| them low-cut, cossetless sinners tibet palp'-
tate like grain dancin' in the hopper o. the
| erist mill. Yes, thurs allus sumthin to
| distarb shy man when he's peekin bout
| fur a shy at natur'-an' sees sumthin to
sorter shunt his vision off on the peek-a-boo
side track. But well just show the pore,
weak college student who SEE he's willin
| to take ND with a back chamber if ne can
on'y have front pew at the festai board.
Oh! he'll xit afront pew, an we'll soak
him fifteen per week, Ell, Hannay
Eve will do our best, Ezra. We wall
take him to our buzzum, an feed him
Ri, he bursts-if hel take the back cham
her an fork over his leetle fifteen per week.
When's he comm Z"
"Ip tine mornin'. I'm goin' to town srter
him bright an airly. Want anythin from
town."
"Guess we'd better git two or three pound
a. eut-loaf sugar an sum O. tibet innocent
coffee an half dozen o lemons an lew
bananas. Them city folks expect sumthin'
leetle extra; an oh, yes! don't fursi'
cocanut-' az s3s 8ie
eDummit! Them nuts comes high, pesky
high! Have to buy 'em by the piece. Don
mean 6lberts or pecans or-or sum last
, | Christmas mixed nuts tibet can be got cheap,
do you, Hannay! rasf
~I mean a cocanut It'll be on the shell,
lie as if | wuz thinkin' bout maxim
, cocanut cake all the time. His mouth Will
water arter a cocanut cake-which ne IL
never git.' . ~ s1x
"You suttinly wuz born fur seat in the
, senate. Hannay; you air the greatest prom
, ser tween here an Spikeville. Hell on'y
! banker arter what he'll never git. Ihet
. hack chamber viii jest please him. It'll do
: nm fur the vistay he'll miss when he sits IN
the aloarnin' on the sfoop rennainatins an
. takin' shy 1t natur' am pltnhin skeeters'
!. en-? Feed him, Hannay. Feed him full to
muzzle. III soak him fifteen per week. sure
! az nv names Ezra Spriggins, dern me!
: The summer boarder who came acktron
+ town with Ezra Spriggins was a very com
: panionable young man, with pale lace ano
thin legs. Study had well-nlgh cut MN
' down to the bone and made ply wrec'
Il of once fine specimen of manhood-so ~
! said as he fell to at dinner time ana scooPe'
: four eggs. three slices of salt pork swimming
!. in fat, half dried-apple pie, most OF TN
e cheese. quarter loaf of bread, two helping
| rnc of innocent Gomez
Then he sighed and said he would go up I
that sweet. uuist little chamber overioof
inc the hillside and work on that poem o
n h;s' The publishers were simply houndin
Y An. life ont Of him for fear the poem woul
not be ready for the autumn issue OF tn
great magazine of thought and mental Gu
Z tnre. After he went up the old bent star
wav to his back chamber, Ezra leaned owe
the table and said softly to his beamin
II wife:
III "Ezra. tibet pore creetur' is pullet.
III "An' sichs 4 fine ap 'tite." s.f,
MI (which IN 'pease-yes, III 'pease tn
Ill ap'tite: lest you leave me lone fur the
II Goodness! Did he find fault when you TO
i him it wuz fifteen per week
~ .On,y looked at me as If ne wuz tire
= He shuck his ,rattlers bout in his peck
an said easily arter axed him if i w
49,. 'sseen. Financial affairs of the sort
never triAe with Feed him, Hanna,
Feed him good an stiff! Keep him a-goi
a. the festal board, an maybe We can ke
him uo;n' fur four months Thet mea
n;uh on to. or a little over, countin an OF
week two hundred an forty dollars. Cos
ri lift thet end o. the cow stable up VII
;tb1onss. III git anew breedin' shoat-
FHAn'> what'n ct, E4a?Y HUG,
ssThet bumbazine gown an black
/ with 4 flower garden al over it'd
met" e
And they kept the studious young m
oo;nc-so far as the festal board was C
cerned. He was good feeder, a fine talk
. nice, pleasant young man, easy to
: a1ona with. Nota mufmur ever came III
h;s' lius about the broken vista, as view
from the front stoopin the glosmins. !
chorus OF frogs never disturbed him--lf Il
ia he never mentioned it. 1t vas never
hot. Il never rained too much, the an
slwsys satisfactory to him, he never foc
fault with the BUTTER the eggs the peer
n or anything that was placed before nm.
ioafed under the trees or walked IN
! voodland--but YVES always on hama a.
times. Once, only once, ne mentio'
financial affairs to Spriggins !,
II s-..papa is in Europe, and will have to d
line to his banker where to forward
cheek for FIVE thousand. Papa y 90 n
He will be 80 pleased with his boys pe
in the autumn issue.
just before four months lapsed-one
moonlight night form crswled from
window Of the Spriggins' house. Llgi
"A qliding over the shed beneath, the Il
leaped to the handy hillside and dlsappea
among the shadows.
The boarder didn't come down to
ss festsl board. Ezra Sprigsins called
called again No response. Ihen ne
upstairs. Then he came down: Inen
and Hannah said something Inars
III Horace Seymour Keller, IN y. = =. Inns inns
&E IndoIenk slaves Of Wasan.