The San Francisco call., 1904-11-27

i the grocery store. MY,
how you young chaps come on. And
you? Alb Sarver's youngest, eh? Hasn't
seemed more than a week since 1 saw
you riding a stick horse and here you
ere big enough to make love to the
girls.
Don't make love to EN-? Go on
with you. I'll bet your heart has been
wrung and hung out to dry more than
once. When I was about your age l
fell sick along about tobacco cutting
time and 1 didn't think 1 was ever
goin' TO get we'll. The cause of my
sickness was a young gal that came
into the neighborhOOd to visit her
uncle. l haven't time now to tell you
how beautiful l thought she was. I
didn't believe she belonged on the
ground ar adjust touched it now and
then TO accommodate the earth, you
know. She few down from a cloud
that the sun was shinin' on and didn't
care to go back. Recollect how aston
ished 1 was the first time 1 ever saw
her eat 1 thought she just naturally
sucked the honey out of the honey
suckle along with the hummin' birds,
and when 1 saw her worryin' with an
ear Of boiled corn big enough to scare
4 two-year-Old calf I went out and
leaned against the fence. But it didn't
hurt my love any. / thought she did
it just to show that she might possibly
b a human being. She didn't want
Us all to feel bad. One night groaned
so that mother came to me and wanted
tc put mustard plasters on me. She
lowed that mebby she might draw out
the Inflammation. She thought 1 had
somethin' the matter with my stomach
because ! had lost my appetite. I told
her that 1 had an Inflammation she
couldn't draw out with a yoke of steers.
Then she thought I ought to have an
emetic. I said that if she had one that e
would make me throw up my soul sheX
might fetch il along, but otherwise itX
would be as useless as saying NEW toX
a dead cat. Then she thought l must &
be crazy and came mighty nigh hittin g
the mark, tell you. |.
"A few days afterward. about the I
time 1 was at the height Of my fever,
met the girl in the road and she
smiled at me and 1 ran against a beech
tree, and if I didn't knock the bark off J
I'm the biggest liar in the world. When \
/ came to had my arm around a sheep
d walkin- across the woods pasture.
My, my, what time that was to
live. The sun had just riz for the first
time and they had just called up the
birds to give out the songs to them.
They want quite done settin' the stars
out in the sky, and they hadn't put
more than one coat OF whitewash on J
the moon. Music-it wasn't there till
she came, and the orchards bloomed as
she walked along down the lane. But
she didn't appear to know 1t, and
want to tell you that / marveled at
such ignorance.
Il didn't have the courage to go
straight to her. and one night at meet {
in, when was feastin' my soul with
merely lookin' at her. up walked fell
Ter and asked IL he might take her
home. i looked at him, quick like, ex-
pectin' TO see him drap dead, but he
didn't. Then waited for the lightenin'
to strike him, but II didn't. Then J
waited for her to kill him with look, J
but she didn't. She smiled and said
yes. Then ] sncaked outside and whet-
ted my knife on my boot. There wasn't {
power enough on earth to keep me
from bathin' my hands in his blood J
Mother saw that there was somethin' \
wrong with me and she came out and
asked me If I was sick. 1 told her
was a dyin, but before I bid farewell
TO the earth was goin' to cut a scoun-
drel into strips and feed him to the
dogs. But pap, he came and took the }
knife away from me and said If he
heard any more such talk he'd tan my !
hide till it was fitten for shoestrings. I
I don't know how / got home that
night, but after a long time I found (
myself a smotherin' in bed. There was