The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1904-12-30

UAg corpse. mar was pile o dirt
hay in the stall. an | remember l jes
fell on II. face downward. an begun &
cry an beg the Lord to save me
WILLIAMS had a heart Ike a child's
He stood thar an watched an listeues
10 my ravin's of fear an regret till al
at once he begun tryin' to pacify rue
He told me I'D come clear; that IL wa;
In self defense; thai he had seed 1t al
an would go on the stand an testify
in my behalf. know now in fact,
knowed when heard him on the stand
that he was lynn TO save my neck,
but l wanted to escape the penalty an
couldn't "a stopped i'm. The fear o.
meetin' my God was awful wasn't
even jailed. Ii was in unsettled times
jest after the war. My folks was prom
inent. an public sympathy fer me.
young as | was, was high. The hard
est thing of all TO bear was the grief of
Hambright's mother IL looked like 1T
ud mighty nigh kill err He was her
youngest an pet Her other boys new.
er amounted TO anything an had gone
west an left 'er. Finally i come clear
in the eyes o. the world, but. as God
knows. not In nly own. That crime is
before me, wakin' or sleepin' I often
dream that never done it. an day
light gives that the lie. Seemed like
everything went into turned out mon
ey. an ] prospered, though | did all
could to alleviate suffering an help
the different churches. Mrs Ham
bright jest had little farm over in the
mountains that turned out a bare liy-
in, an sent friend to 'er to offer
her help. but she Indignantly refused
it. She'd come in town once in awhile,
but she'd never come nigh whar was
at. Then heard she was tryin' to git
a pension through congress. Her hus-
band had claimed to be a Union man,
an that he was forced into the Con
federate ranks, whar he fit an was |
killed, an somebody told 'er she was |
entitled to a pension. Old Trabue tuck |
up the claim an writ on about ii to |
an one day he happened
to tell me that he had had final de-
cision an that she couldn't git it an
that he hated to have to tell 'er the
Then ] got him TO pretend
to her that the pension was allowed
M paid the $50 a month. I've been
1oin' 1t fer twenty year now, an it
las kept 'er from sufferin', but I'm N
Mortal dread O. her findin out whar
he money comes from an sellin' her
,lace to repay it. She's still in good
lealth over thar in the mountains.
About once year, generally in the
all, she comes in town, but she shirks
neetin' me. Somehow always breathe
reef when she's gone out O. town.
The sight of 'er fetches it all back
vuss than anything else. I've tried to
md out what she thinks about it now,
ut she never mentions the subject to
soul. I've suffered the torments of
he damned. made a public confess
ion in meetin', as well as could, to
how my contrition without implicatin'
Iank Williams, but it didn't do a speck -.
good. All the members swarmed /.
ound me and patted me ON the back
a said | was nigh the throne, but !
le'r pats jest seemed to beat my guilt :
eeper in. l was afeard O. the slight =
st sound at night or my shadow in :
aytime an was always countin' on :,
elm tuck off by disease. One mOrnin',
Shawn, l noticed little red spot
1 my cheek an tuck It fer cancer ! h
was shore then that the Lord intend
to make me die a slow, loathsome 6
cath, an all at once felt weak at the :
ices an couldn't hardly stand. My !,
life come an found me. l didn't tell =,
r about my cancer, an she thought ),
was jest sick from some'n' I'd eat,
| when the doctor come was afeard a,
tell i'm about the sore place He
It some medicine, an made out like =,
tuck it, but l th'owed II away. After -
at I'd make a point to stop an talk
i'm every day to see eff he'd notice b.
Y face an speak of it. but he didn't. 70
re started up to his Office fifty times g.
backed out, jest beca'se couldn't
ar to be told that it was a cancer. <
,wsomever, one day, when 1t was II
ire infiamed than ever, went to his IN
ice--as weak as sick kitten, feelin' IN
It like man goin to the scaffold.
vent In an set down an waited fer E
to git through with somebody else 3
when he turned to me said, Doc. b
want you to take look at my face b
put on his specks an examined it; Ell
N he laughed an said: I'll bet dol h
you thought 1t was cancer. Folks b
vadays is more anxious to raise cam La
s AN they are good taters.' But lM
t itT axed i'm. NO. said he, 1t IN
MT nothin' O. the sort. Eff you'll
t rubin it every minute in the day ~
stop thinkin' about it, it'll go away
4 week l felt as light as feather
en- | left him, but 1t wasn't twenty
r hours fore I had some other all
Mt. II
was always loosin' fer the Lord II
show designs agin me. Fer one
lg, no children come to me m Mar II
an interpreted that as meanin' "