The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1906-05-08
THE DOCTORS MELONS

the Fat. Il want : garden.r Rs1-
ishs. onions and lettuce had already
been enjoysd. and peas were sooa
coming On, the doctor giesfuly told
himself. but the spot Of ground toward
which neither he nor Malachi his
colored driver. could l0ok without
-dribblin' n de nouf ns Malachi ex-
pressed il. was q section given over 70
melons Not that they hooked promis-
ing yst. but Malachi and his wife.
Amelia. Who wzs The Doctors house
keeper. had used all the wisdom gained
from years Of experisnre and had
brought these y0ung vines 70 that
point where melon bugs lose interest
Soon blossoms began 10 APPEAR il
such abundance that Amelia's mRxhs-
mates gave out. and their son. John
Quincy Adams. was made TO counx
them
Lees in August ths SLEEK bodies Ct
the wafermelons began 10 Be quite
noticeable among the lusty leaves.
while close By the globes q the musk
melons. with the slices already plain
~ indicated. exhaIed At dusk = fra
grznce which made the sport hard .
pass Mighty Malachi and the doctor
and sometimes Amelia made the
rounds. thumring the wzternelcns-
sniH5ng al the muskmelCns. until one
Saturday night il was decided that to
MORROW the first oaes should BE picked
for the table.
After breakfast the family proceed
ed to the patch. doctor zhead- faoe
bszmfng and good viii toward men
in his heart: Malachi full Of quaint
hum0r. following al respectful dis
tance. carrying a buteher-knife. the
edge Of which he kept fur1ively test
ing: Amelia. splek and span As 70
apron. bringing up the rear with q
mammoth dishpan. for she was 70
have tire pleasure Of bearing the mel
ors into the houss But alas. the
vanity OF human wishes. Those mel
ons were nowhere 10 be found The
group gazed In speechlsss anazement
at FIRST. and Malachi and Amelia sank
iEsr gloom 50 profound that the doc
tor rallied and pointed ont several
more melons nearly As mature as
those they were mourning for. which
would Be ripe. he felt sure. before
one could say Jack Robinson"
But each time the Willy thief knew
also. and the repeated disappointment
began to tell upon this erstwhile hap
py family. Malachi began 70 look On
ths dark side OF life Amelia. 3 most
kindly, trusting soul. suspected gro
Gerry bOys and even her own friends
The doctor joked al first. but finally
swore roundly, and one night he
emerged from his once with sin
lister look, and when he reached the
beloved melon patch he did a very
strange thing In the dim light Of
the garden he sank On his knees and
handled each Of the fragrant globes
with apparent f0ndness. as II bidding
il a long farewell While he was al
his devotions he heard Malachi call
ing, and, scrambling 10 his feet. he
made his way hu-riedly 10 the house
Along toward morning he was called
up from sound repose by telephone
message from Mrs. Ogleby. Would
doctor kindly come at once7 Her son
Richard had been take1 violently iii.
While the doctor was deliberately
dressing the bell rang again, and he
learned that the mayors son, Ned
Villas, was acutely Ill.
The doctor and Malachi put in a
busy day. for this mysterious illness
seemed epidemic 1t was no respectel
Of persons, as 1t attacked those oi
high and low degree alike; but II
seemed limited to the youth OF ths
land Mayor Villas and several we'll
to-do men got . specialist 10 examine
the water. and another 10 see If AM
sewer gas could be detected: but q:
the sufferers rapidly grew better in
quiry teed down
Toward the end Of the siege Malaeh
came to DR.. Crackenthorpe and. re
moving his cap respectfully, sadll
said:
'ssiass' Craekenforp. reckon Is
on to 20, case dun found dis herr
in de melon patch thanding the rathei
shame-faced doctor a hypodermi
syringe), "an' l done noticed dat eacl
one o. dem big melons is got littl
places where its been punched Da
low-down niggah, Melia's boy, ap
mine. he's sick along O. the rest"
Don't worry. Malachi 1t was Onll
ipecac-~
II don't keer what kin Of cack !
was. case low he'll pull froo; he
too ornery to die. But when he's u
and ramptious again, Use gwine Ian
tine outen him.
~Oh, let him of. Malachil Hasn'
he been satisfactorily punished
"Satifacshusly punished" snortel
the frate old man. wal, reckol
mott who TUX keer desc here melon
from de fust7 Me an 'Melia- Nov
dis here pestiferous boys at dem me-
ons an me and 'Melia's had to tax
keer on him. How cum you call da
satifacshus2
The doctor wisely held his peace