The farmer and mechanic., 1906-05-29

story WAS Il representative In tn
legislature from an eastern county
.. father gave me q pig and tot,
. +. / would raise it / might hav,
...tager / could sell it for. when i
... killed. / nursed it wcll-fed i
-.... times a day, and. as 4 consc
....cc. it grew rapidly, becoming il
..a months quite Il hog, and bi
.... coming Of killing time / had a.
...4 a hog as my father had in hi.
.u When my father killed his hogs
poe was killed, also. ana It weighed
..u istO hundred pounds And wher
-..-g carried his pork to Winning
.. lu sell, | went along with my hog
.,.t.Ic the hogs had been disposed OF
walked around the market to see
.at was going on, for that was my
... visit To Wilmington, and among
..urr things which attracted my at
...rEou in the market, were two or
..r.. booths in which ! saw stacks of
anger cakes. The sight Of those call cs
..a'c my mouth water, and ! there
.I then decided that / would invest
utt of my pork money, at least,
. ,Ilcs for | had never, in my life
H.I ass many cakes, at one time as |
t.IId cat. AS | stood about the mar
..f my appearance attracted the at
t,.HIiun of a whole parcel Of boys who
identity were amused at my appear
.urr. Ny clothes were Of home
Spun Jeans, and they did not fit as
nu.l as if II tailor had made them: on
t..r contrary, as | remember now, they
uJisl have been made purposely not to
ul I|ut. they were my best clothes,
aud. out at my home. in the country. l
MAS proud of them. The boys lost
uo Time in giving expression to their
opinions of my baCk-WOOdS appear
..0rr Hello. country" | heard one
aE=. "Look at them britchcs," an
either cried out. "Who made your
-hgcs"'' 'What did that hat cost?'
mo showed Won the X<9V q town ~
"Whu'S your name. grcenY?' and
like questions came from every quar-
ter. accompanied by loud laughing
uutil | was almost fit to cry.
About that time my father made his
aIrarancc. saying he had sold my
hog for ten dollars and gave me the
money. at the sight Of which the boys
gui"tcd down and drew off a little
Ways.
looked at my money-tWo five dol
lar hilIS-thcn | looked at the cakes.
4 Woman in a cake booth, who was
Watching me said in n very mothCrly
sort of a way. "COmC here sonny and
have cake / felt very much elated
by her notice of me. and especially
#Js | pleased at the gift of a cake
While | was eating it she asked my
name and where lived; and when /
told her she said she came from that
county and she rcckoned that she was
Kin to me, that she was kin to all the
people of my name. The boys were
t1ndEG near enough to see and hear
what was going on, and | thought the
N"man'S Kindness to me and the in
tarr+t she was taking in me were rails
inG me in their estimation. Presently
! asked how she sold her cakes. She
said. "A cent n piece for the small
ones. and five cents for the larger
eues." I asked her what she would
take for all she had. She counted and
turned and piled them up as she
counted. then looking up, as If she
were calculating for a minute or
be- worth six dollars, the way cakes
sell. but. as long as it's you, and you
came from my old county and we
must be a. little kin, you can have
them. honey. for five dolars.'
thought that was very nice in her
to make q reduction of a dollar; be
Sides she had drawn me very close to
her. calling III" "honey' without a
m"m"nt's hesitation [ told her I'd take
tbem-alI she had. \ bushel? Yes, |
two or three of them. So. out went
"no of my five dollar bills. No sooner
had the trade been made than here |
came the boys, and they were. every
one uf them, more or less kin to me- |
and all their fathers and mothers they
said, came from my county, and they !
were mighty glad to know me: and |
every one of them declared it was not /
IA" mat guycd me a little while before; |
aU of them offered to help me carry !
HN cakes to the wagon that stood Just /
outside the market. And they did. but |
hN the time the transfer had been
made their pockets were crammed |
with cakes and some of them, not sat
i>U"d with StuflinG their pockets had |
stuffed the breasts of their Jackets full. !
didnt do anything that day but |
'tt ginger cakes. NV father said | was
fool for spending so much for cakes.
hut. kept on eating all the same, until
W" reached home late that night, and
didn't stop until | went to bed, be
t".ru midnight and day When I
#"j<" i'm the morning | was the sickest
H#E i'm The county. Ny father said |
was fouudercd. and it was no matter
is mn. They had to send for Il doc
."" aud when he came and they tOld
#H Iao cake story. he said he might
Is" ahI" to- save me. but it was doubt
90. ! was sick. for certain. and l be
". II would have killed me if any
""N had shown me a ginger cake.
. doctor finally relieved me, and
". b." charged five dollars for his
.~t'. So there went my other five
"..F bill the remainder of my hog
..""'. haVC never eaten Il ginger
.. since. and | can't bear one III
E .I-ht. Yes. my ginger cakes cost
.+* '.n dollars. Spent five to get sick.
.h| five to get well. That's the way
".> h"- money went.
" H'N ! became q man and had
~.".'" money by growing peanuts ana
things for market ] frequently
."' '' Wilmington. Those boys VINO
" me and then helped to cat my
were mon. and | became ac-
''."d With them; and many were
hearty Iaughs We had over my
'rip 10 Wilmington and the gin
rIt" affair"
""'.t know how I hapnened to re
.."N hat story for il has been at
"fN years since | heard the
l"an relate it sitting in front of
''IhHrough House. But these
'"'.-s viii come to the surface
."d then, and in the absence OF
'"''- else. they serve for rem
''f the time heard that story
. . man who came from Nash set
r " n" vicinity of Raleigh. Untl
------ Lecame of ago and fully |