The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1907-11-21

~ sides, dc ole CnriSAlioS
ain what, hit ulster be-"
So said black julie, as she sat dip
ping the gravy from the corners of a biz
pan and pouring it back over the roasting
turkey that she had drawn from the stove
oven to see how IL - citing along.
Thanks give dey calls hit" she
continued. II members mighty well dc
fus time we-all had dish yer new Chris
mus. Hit wuz right after de ~waugh-de
very mex falI-when Marse Jeems brung
yo' ma to be de mistiss of de ole Ovahton
place.
mo- she ain v dat yit. Doan seem
lax she ever gwinter, elder. OATS cause
she so good. l alters is he'll out dat good
Miss en- gentPniss gwinter do monst Gus
heap to'ads keepin' people poorly, wen
dey's bawn'd dat way. En- Ise seed 1t mex
de homeless sorter people look lax dere
wuz angels in dey eyes, sorter winkin' en-
tvyinken good-nachered at yer"
1t was In a cabin on the Overton plan
tation, in middle Tennessee. beside the
banks OF Duck river. and on the edge OF
the great field of a famous battle of the
Civil war. There were places in the logs
where boys had dug with their jack
knives to get at the minnie balls that had
strayed that way. The chimney OF the
cabin-that is to say, several feet of 1t
at the top-was of brick, and looked much
newer than the stone part, at the base.
That top part had been carried away
by a shot from n of Thomas guns dur
ing the fight, and, several years after
ward. 1t had been repaired with brick.
II was on Thanksgiving morning that
Aunt julie was talking n Blasting" the
turkey and on a stool near by the ancient
nanny sat a ~fair-haired girl of seventeen
whose eyes were so darkly brown that
they were nearly black. The eyes twinkled
with pleasure, though her look was one
of deep interest, too, as she listened and
watched.
She was the one daughter of "Marse
John Jeems Ovation" though she a a
brother who was all Overton, and this
Lee Overton was older, by q year or two,
han his sister Zen He had inherited all
the instincts of his Southern father, and
she had received a division of father and
mother, the latter having been a Chicago
girl of New England ancestry.
"Yo' brother Lee, he monstrous lax 20
pa wen ee was size err Lee, en- / lay he
ain tuck no ris' wen he hit dish yer old
turk right spans in de haid wild he rifle"
From the open door Lee Overton sprang
in, and, laughing, said:
But l didn't hit 1t, Nanny julie. Twas
Zena did it. She can outsoot me any
day in the week"
"G'long way. You ain come heah tellin
me Miss Zena ben out dar shootin' tur-
keys?"
"Yes, n what's more, I don't believe
that a man among 'em ali would have got
one IL Zena hadn't missed a lot of them
just to give these poor folks a chance for
a Thanksgiving turkey"
WHO sot up dem turkeys?" queried the
old black lame.
why, did, of course" replied
Miss Zena, al / knew she intended the
turkeys should go to the poor fellows who
were shooting for them, except this one
and / know she intended that for YOU"
"Yes'em, but yo' ma ain don sot up nc
IL H-- a. - .lAA f--
NO." interjected Lee Overton. "Of
course, she didn't set 'em up to be shot
for, but / thought 1t would be more sun
that way, so / worked that part of the
affair, and / knew Zena would get one for
you and any of the other fellows that
couldn't shoot well enough. So they were
Just as fairly divided and mother is one
the wiser, while we had a lot of fun. Be-
sides, that vas the only way I could make
Zena do her best shooting when occasion
demanded"
90, oo!" CALCULATED Aunt julie. Use
mighty glad yo' ma doan n bout dis"
Blu she will know said Miss Zena,
Il am going to tell her. Brother drew me
into II in self-defense, Or"
Something just the same to you." said
Lee. WELL, that will be all right. I've
had the fun and your conscience is clear.
Mother will frown a little. of course, and
then they say II was like father. That
settles everything for me-"
Use thankful, anyhow" Aunt julie put
In. En- dish yeah's er Thanks-give-u m
turkey. En- dat minds me whut / gwinter
say Sedown dar in de cheer. young mar
ster, whilst / tole you whut 1 wuz jis
gwinter tell yo' sistah,"
Is this e war story" ungraciously the
young scapegrace asked.
'Brotheri Ain't you ashamed?"
mo. sub. dish yer ain no waugh story.
Hits sense de waugh"
"Ali right, Nanny julie. I was only
Joking. Go on"
"Ez I wuz sayin': Wen yo' pa come
back frum up yander, whar he wuz pris'-
ner, hit seems lax he waz mo- pris'-
ner den he wuz at Camp Dugem-er SOM
pen. Whut yo' call dat placer He jes'
pintedly KEEP de railroad hot FUN heal up
aorf, tell one day he comes back fatchin'
20 ma En- one day-she ain ben heah
mo- den a mont, neider-wen she com
mence talkin' to yo' pa bout keepin'
hanks give-um. En- yo' pa, he I'D en-
say, 'Wut's we got to be thankful fur
Ain de souf all broke up? Ain we done
subjected to de Yankees? Ain d. planta-
ton all toe to pieces? Look at dem auaw-
tabs, all shot loost. Look at dat stock,
all runnee of. % ct dat great big
t~annon-ball hole thoo de ell err de house
whut l jis' done got patch, 'kase you is
comm EN- he runs on lax dat. till !
thought he was 'stracted.
len 20 ma up en- say, she 01d: I'm
YOU earn think er nuthin' tall to be
hankfui furY
Muffin tall he say.
Den she tuck him by de arm. she lid
en- she led him ovah to dat great long,
full lengthf lookin- glass, she did. an willie
he's arm an peepin out lax a pic'sher In
yo' got muffin to be thankful fur3'
dar at err, en- he low: well, ! do reckin
ny yuther man on dis footstool.' EN- he kiss
Laws bress yo' sweet life! Cose Use
yuther people In Tenn Use got yo'.
say; 7 wuz'n meanin' me. You is in de gil
n heself loose, he did. FUN dat on. En- T
de plantation FUN dat day TO dis. Wen you
re, den you. Miss Zena-he jes' go vile, he
II ovah de nei~ghborhood. En- sense Use b,
ten yo' ma. dey sens Thanks-give-um d
wild II. Thank de La wd."