The Cairo bulletin., 1906-06-17
Reforming Of Jed Quimby
BY KENNETH HARRIS.

mot II they tied his legs grinne'
Sol Baker. N4U
"He must ha' been hittin' the shafts.
continued the storekeeper, regarding
the broken buggy whip, mournfuily
IL don't know why changed II TO
him. Because I'm too good-natured an
easy -goln' for my own good"
'That amt the reason" corrected
Washington Hancock. TITS becais'
you KANT afford 70 lose his trade il
the fnst place, an In the second YOU
won't lose nothn' by it. You'll make
a roar to the house that sold you then
whips an make EN- take 1t off the Dill
an then you'll sell 1t to somebody fei
quarter, bein' the tips broke on. You
amt got no kick, Rufe."
| Baker and Parsons sniggered.
AN yet" continued Hancock, there
amt no denyin' at the oil mans sort
er hard to please. He allus was more
or less that away. But he hain't as
bad as Jed Quimby afore he reformed
4 Jed would kick whether his legs was
tied or not. An he haas more luclnfhan
any man in the aoihty-good farm,
brick house, moneysffi the bank an a
right nice family. That was over In
| Saline-afore my folks moved here.
HE got a pension O. SIS month
I from the government on account o git
tim shot in the arm by a pistol he wis
| cleanin' the same week he was mus
tered in. That let him right out gin
an he didn't have to hire no substi-
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 1t.
Fifteen dollars . month was pretty
good, though" commented the store
keeper.
"Jed didn't think So" said Hancock.
"He ulster say, Look at Ginral Grant
an what they give him. He ulster wor-
ry about Grant every time he drawed
that s15. | worked for him week
oncet an blame if he was satisfied
with me"
"Shoo!" calculated Parsons. You're
a-foolin!"
"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 a row because there
wasn't no salt pork on the table. For
l. ho
crops of anybody around him, but If II
was corn he'd pity himself because 1t
wasn't wheat he'd raised an then II IL
was an extry good year the prices
wouldn't be as big as II 1t had been
bad year an he'd say that was jest like
his ornery luck.
II remember one year 1t was dry an
everything was Albumin up. They'd
been a-puttin' up p'titions for rain for
three Sundays hand runnin'. Jed had
In mighty nigh 200 acres O. corn,
bsides all the garden truck. Well. Jest |
when 1t looked like there'd be teeto-
tai failure, there come rama soak |
err. 1t opened up good an strong an
long enough to let the sun come out
an warm things up an after that 1t
nd start In ag'in. You could see the
corn grow and everything else hot
right up. seen Jed day or two after /
an he was goin' around with his face
irawed down like he'd bit inter green
That was a right good rain. |
says.
"'Plague take the rain says Jed.
I didn't know II was a-comin' an |
eft the buggy cushions out leanin'
against the barn an the dad burned
hings amt dry yet-sp'iled EN-, |
wonder!
Another time the insurance run out
IN his barn an he was two days with
tut any Insurance because he flggered
he company was achargin him too
Ugh rate. The third day he went
downtown an took out a policy in an
ther company an while he was down
own the barn ketched fire an burned
own to the ground. He jest done 1t In
lime. He took out the policy at two
'clock an the barn burned about
uarter to three. He collected all right
ut he was mad because the barr
idn't burn a week sooner SOS he
ould have collectei from the old com.
any afore his policy expired.
Folks used to say there ought TO be
Judgment on Jed. an sure enough il s
ONES at last II begun with the hoe
holera. Inside of week he didn't I
ave a shote to his name Then his ,
ows got some sort O. epizootic that {
leaned out the best part o. them an Q
ne branch flooded an drowned ont his l
hickens an the l7-year loeusses :Jol: !
ne crops an he got into a lawsuit over c
lme fool thing or ernuther an there !
as AZ of his peach trees got the vel {
rs an he broke his leg. That wasn't a
he half o. what happened, either. In I
NO years he had the farm nortgaged 4
n was scrabblin' to get bare Twin T
n the intrust out of It. That's what q
Ired Jed Quimby OF his sinful kickin' .
n unthankfulness for his mercies." |.
Cured him, did it?" asked the store S
eeper. q
We'll. yes.' replied Hancock. One 0
~ his boy Ellery found coal croppin' p