The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1906-06-14
Reforming of Jed Quimby
RY KENNETH HARRIS.

eaSy-goin' for my own good.
"That amt the reason" corrected
Washington Hancock. ITS because
you KANT afford 10 lose his trade IN
the fust place, an in the second you
won't lose nothin' by it. You II make
a roar to the house that sold you them
whips an make EN- take it OFF the bill,
an then you'll sell it to somebody fer
a quarter. bein' the tips broke off. You
amt got no kick, Rufe.'
Baker and Parsons staggered,
An vet" continued Hancock, there
ain't no denyin' at the OIL mans sort
err hard % please. He allus was more
or less mat away. But he haint as
bad as JED Quimby afore he reformed.
Jed would kick whether his legs was
tied or not. An he had more luck than
any man in the county-goOd farm,
brick house, money in the bank an a
right nice family. That was over in
Saline-afore my folks moved here
"He got a pension O SIS month
from the government on account o git
tin shot in the arm by pistol he Wus
cleanin' the same week he was mus
tered in. That let him right out gin
an he didn't have to hire no subsu-
tute, but he couldn't never hit the
backs of his hands together behind
him, after that wound, an he ulster cry
whenever he thought of it
Fifteen dollars Il month was pretty
good, though" commented the store
keeper.
led didn't think So" said Hancock
"He ulster say, Look at Ginrai Grant
an what they give him. He ulster wor.
~ about Grant every time he draWed
that SIS | worked for him week
oncet an blame if he was satisfied
with me"
"Shoo!" calculated Parsons. You're
a-fooin'.'
He was master hand to eat" said
Hancock, "only there wasn't nothin
that ever Jest suited him. I've seen
him set down to fried chicken an
mashed 'taters an fiXin's an lemon
pie. an then make row because there
wasn't no salt pork on the table For
some reason he allus got the biggest
crops of anybody around him, but # il
was corn he'd pity himself because II
wasn't wheat he'd raised an then If II
was an eXtry good year the prices
wouldn't be as big as If II had been a
bad year an he'd say that was jest Like
his ornery luck.
Il remember one year it was dry an
everything was Albumin up. They'd
been a-puttin' up p'titions for rain tor
three Sundays hand runnin'. Jed had
in mighty nigh 200 acres o corn,
bsides all the garden truck. Well, jest
when it looked like there'd be a teeto-
tai failure, there come rama soak
er. 1t opened up good an strong an
KEEP rainin' Now an then it nd quit
long enough to let the sun come out
an warm things up an after that II
'ud start in as ii. You could see the
corn grow and everything else hot
right up. seen Jed a day or two after
an he was goin' around with his face
drawed down like he'd bit inter green
persimmon.
THAT was a right good rain, |
says.
plague take the rain says Jed
4 didn't know 1t was a-comin' an. ]
left the buggy cushions out leanin
against the barn an the dad burned
things amt dry yet-sp'iled 'em, ]
wouldn't wOnder!
Another time the insurance run ont
on his barn an he was two days with
out any insurance because he fgSered
the company was a-Chargin' him toe
high a rate. The third day he went
downtown an took ont policy in an
other company an while he was down
town the barn ketched fire an burned
down to the ground. He jest done ii in
time. He took our the policy at two
O'Clock an the barn burned about a
quarter to three. He collected all right
but he was mad because the barn
didn't burn d week sooner SOS he
could have collecte from the old com
pany afore lis policy expired.
Folks used to Say there ought to be
a Judgment on Jed, an sure enough it
comes at last. 1t begun with the hog
cholera. Inside OF a week he didn't
have a shote to his name. Then his
cows got some sort o. epizootic that
cleaned out the best part o them an
the branch flooded an drowned out his
L. ;,I ~, 1 lp.Iggpl,
the crops an he got into a lawsuit over
some fool thing or ernuther an there
was AZ of his peach trees got the yell
lers an he broke his leg. That wasn't
the half O what happened, either. In
two years he had the farm mortgaged
an was scrabblin' to get a bare livin'
an the intrust out of it. That's what
cured Jed Quimby of his sinful kichin'
an unthankfulness for his mercies."
Cured him, did it," asked the store
keeper.
We'll, yes, replied Hancock. One
day his boy Ellery found coal croppin'
along the barren ridge by the branch
an he went an got some fellers to
S'iilt an lDoh DIT II an Nlt uDSllol was
Jed sold 80 acres at $1,000 an acre an
10 cents for every ton mined. He didn't
seem eXtry enthusiastic about It at
first, but Ellery KEEP a pesterin' him
after they closed the deal to say he
was satisfied, an then all Of student
he kind O reelized his luck an loos-
ened up for the fust time in his life
well saws led. stickin' ont his