St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-06-06
COW IN THE GARDEN.
Arr Left Cato Open ana Now Be-
lieves in Eternal Vigilance.
Bill EutertaIns the Children-Ad-
vlses q Young Man to Read the
Prophet Mtcah-Cvncernln1
United States History.

| good animal IN held, but keep he
out of the garden" Late last nigh
as the girls upstairs were. going t.
bed and were closing the windo,
blinds they saw, in the dim moonlight
something moving along in the gar
den and sure enough it was cow
ou.. own cow-and she was not ia
away from the rows of English pea
that were in full bloom. The alarm
was given and my wife lighted the Ian
tern and with the girls made haste t.
expel the intruder. Everything wa
wet and of course was not allowed tt
go. All 1 could do was to hold tn,
lamp to the window and feel ashamed
that I was sick and no account in al
emergency like this. The cowboys i,
Texas never trotted around with NOR,
alacrity than did my wife and thes,
cowgirls after that COW. Keep he1
away from the peas,' cried materna
voice. And I echoed the speech Of
Patrick Henry who said: ut 10 il
vain to cry peas when there is NJ
peas" The old hussy ran by the gate
three times and took the grand round:
with half dozen calves visible and in
visible following her, but finally gave
it up and went out and was put up il
her den. Old Aunt Dolly is our mill
woman and declares she fastened dat
gate good" but the COW and the gar
den say she didn't. But the garden ha.
a gate too and remember now tina
| my wife told me in the morning before
it rained that might go out and cut
the asparagus for dinner and / did and
reckon l left the gate open. But "all's
well that ends WE'LL" and now there is
peace in the family and peas in the
garden.
Eternal vigilance is not only the
price of liberty, but it the protection
OF garden for almost every day the
little grandchildren come up to see me
and comfort me and now they want to
pick some Strawberries and pull up
some radishes and l say yes, OF
course, and they will leave the gate
open and it is my business to shut it
and they have an idea that I am Just
here for their plasure. They always
come hungry, for they know that
grandma has got some apples or cakes
hid away and grandpa will get them.
Even the little two-year- old boy
knows where the sideboard keys are
hung and which door has the good
things inside and he takes me by the
hand and leads me there. A biscuit
will do these children at home, but it
won't do here. We don't keep tavern
but our house is free and easy place
and the children of the town know it.
On Easter Saturday about $50 of them
gathered here to hunt the pretty eggs
and it was big frolic, and. the mothers
and aunts came with them, and it took
20 dozen eggs to go around, and every
little tot got some. They played
games in the grove and tennis in the
court, and we old people were happy
because the children were Almost
everybody, old and young, came to
salute me as I played patriarch in the
big chair on the veranda, and some
brought flowers and some brought
fruits and all brought smiles, and so
it is not SO bad to be old and sick after
all. Every mail brings me good let
tiers, kind letters from far away and
unknown friends, and they give me
comfort, and l answer all l can, but
must tell the school children once
again that I cannot write any more
compositions or essays or debates, and
they are wasting their time to ask me.
One young man wants my opinion on
the immortality of the soul, as though
l was Addison or preacher, and so
sent him postal card and referred
him to Prophet Micah, sixth chapter
and eighth verse. There is creed
enough for anybody's soul. Another
mother wants United States history
that is reliable and also biography
Of Gen. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson.
Write to DR.. j. William Jones, Rich
mond., Va, the grand chaplain of the
veterans, the historian of
the confederacy, the grandest man
now left, beacon light, a synonym of
wisdom and truth, and the gifted biog-
rapher of Lee and Jackson and Davis.
| rejoice that he has lived to give us
United States history that is beyond
the reach of criticism, and will, l hope,
be adopted by every school in the
south and be found in every household.
l rejoice that Alabama has passed a
bin for uniform text books, and trust
that the governor will appoint COM
mission that can't be bought. We
know that in some schools in Georgia
southern authors have been displaced
to make room for northern textbooks,
and it was done with money. A friend
writes me that our own Ma ury was so
to make room for a northern
work, and it took large money to do
it, and that it was not possible for
Georgia to pass bill for uniform text
books.
But there is life in the old land vet,
even though clerk in a bank can steal
a 100000 before he is found out, and
even though athletics are now the
most important thing of young
mans education. The race problem
seems to be assuaging down and our
president can take a month off to go
hunt bear and shoot lions. May the
good Lord help us and save us from
utter disgrace. Just think for mo-
ment of Adams or Jefferson or Mad
ison or Monroe or Van Buren, or Bu-
channan or Jackson hunting bear or
shooting ducks. The dignity of the
has departed. When will
it return?-Bill Arp, in Atlanta Con.
stitHion.
Baby Brakeman.
Mrs. Z.-Listen, George-tIe baby