The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-14

mud and then came rap on the
door that made us shudder, for we
could think of nothing else that would
brave such weather but "dun !; ana
newspaper men, of those days at least.
will remember, that a dun was the
most unwelcome visitor that an editor
| had to receive. But we opened the
door to find, instead of collector,
Captain Woodson and his friend
"Jim,o both of whom began to say, as
! they entered the office: each one try
ing, seemingly, to get ahead or the
other:
Mrs Whitaker, 1 brought Jim
MRS. Whitaker, l brought Captain
Woodson down hereto get you to
take his name" Captain Woodson
said:-"to get you to take his name.
Jim said TO the Council of Friends
of Temperance at the very next meet
ing" they both said at the same mo-
! ment. 81 brought Jim to you because
he's beginning to love his drains TOO
| WE'LL" said Woodson-"I brought
Woodson to you because he's begin
ming to love his drains too Well, JIM
said in the same earnest tone OF
voice land l will join if Jim will,
said Woodson-"and l will join II
Woodson WILL" said JIM
| 1T was very evident that pom Oh
| them were eI1DdII aooCb, oi'N
their coming, as they did, was the re-
suit of a. conversation, down town, IN
which one had bantered the other TO
| ioin the temperance society, III TACT
| they stated as much before they le1t.
Both signed an application Tor lnehl
! bership, and both were duly initiated
! into the mysteries of the Order OF
| the Friends of Temperance at the
! next regular meeting; after which Dolh
made rousing temperance speeches, IN
! which they pledged themselves to 90
all in their power to advance the cause
OF total abstinence.
Woodson went off, the next week, to
attend Nash court in the interest OF
| the News" and was not, therefore.
! at the next regular meeting OF tne
! Council; but Jim was there quite as
Jealous as ever but seemed to be dls-
Amounted in not meeting Woodson
AT the next meeting, however, both
were there and both made speeches
jim was inclined to be niue
facetous in his remarks, qulzZlng
Woodson as to where he went and
how he behaved himself down in Nash
county where, it was known that APP
pie brandy was as plentiful as 1T was
good" II would be glad" said Jim, "if
Brother Woodson would tell us how
he got along at the Nash court, and
especially whether or not he smelt
saw or tasted any Ola MASH pIdiluS
while he was down there"
Brother Woodson arose and said:
my Brother Jim is in IA joky mood,
and. / suppose he expects me to be
as Jolly in my manner, giving ac-
count of my recent visit to Nashville;
but / fear my talk will be a little dis
appointing on account of its sober
ness. l will answer positively two or
the brothers inquiries and say
neither saw nor tasted any apple
brandy while / was gone; but, as to
smelling / have to plead guilty. A
laugh followed but Brother Woodson
looked very solemn. zone evening,
continued Brother Woodson, after
had done a heavy days work, can
vassing for my paper Ga dozen or
more men having told me I'll see you
later,"), / saw man motionlng TO me
| in a sort of reckoning manner. My
heart leaped into my throat for l
| felt sure he was one of the III see
YOU later fellows, and / imagined
F, that I was right close up to another
| five dollar bill | was terribly excited
and he must have seen it; for as ap-
| preached him he held up his hand in
| u sort of warning way as II to quiet
F., me down. and said in a kind of stage
whisper: "Follow mel" Then /
thought I'd struck a bonanza; that my
| friend whom | was following had,
somehow or other, gotten all the II
| sec YOU later fellows together, and IN
/ a second my expected five dollars had
/ grown to be twenty-five dollars--all
crisp greenbackS. On my friend went,
around the corner, through an alley,
and into the back door of a bedroom.
| I never was so excited in all my life.
| ] had already, in my mind. added
| twenty-five dollars to my collections,
and was feeling good over the welcome
plaudit that awaited me at the office
al home, when / counted out one
| hundred dollars. The back door was
opened and my friend fell upon his
knees beside the bed. Then he ducked
his head and went under. GOLD,
thought /. He's gone under there al
ter his old stocking leg that contains
| the yellow boys, and / was trying to
imagine how / would feel with five
dollar gold coins in my pocket. /
heard sort of grating noise on the
floor and the thought flashed upon
me, he's got a box of specie under
/ there. He began to back. My heart
! almost stood still. Half of him could
| be seen and the grating of the heavy
box could be heard every time he
/ backed. The suspense was awful. L
don't think / could have stood it
minute longer At last he twisted his
head from under the bed and gave
| me wink that contained a volume of
meaning as big as Webster's Diction
airy, yet still keeping his hands out of
sight. | thought I'd faint but, at last
+, out came a three gallon jug with a
/, corn cob stopper, sticking up two or
! three inches He grabbed that corn
cob, gave it twist and pulled it out,
saying as he did SO: There's some
thing good; and you look like you need
something if fellow ever did. just
put your nose to the mouth of that
Jug" ] was too weak to stand, but
sat down in the doorway, as he push
j ed the jug to me- l got a Whit of it,
and, according to my recollection it
was all right. The man reached for
a tumbler on the table and fitting the
! Jug little, the stuff began to run say
| irg, "goodie. goode, goodie!' |
knew the crisis of my life had come.
! / shut my eyes and wouldn't look at
il. Pretending as if 1 heard some
| body call / said: "Sir, I'm comingv
and broke and ran. / didn't see that
man any more. No, | neither saw
nor tasted but if the VOWS of this So
ciety had not been on me, | guess |
would have tested the quality of the
contents of that jug"
Jim listened to WoodSOnS story,