The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1908-01-31
Being the
"reminiscences
Of a
Nature Fakir
8y
John Kendrick Bangs
1Copyright, by Joseph b. Bowles.J

tho misunderstanding for himself, and
having held the office through two
successiye administrations he resent
ed as an unWarranted presumption
auy effort on the part Of anybody else
to deprive him of what he had come
tn consider life job. 1t was easy,
tho, for me as an outsider to see that
there was some kind of an under
standing between him and 81 Wother-
SPOON which BODIED i'll for the captain,
unless the latter discovered the con-
sniracy in time, as indeed the result
showed when. the most redOubtable
fakir of my acquaintance went down
Ingloriously before the guns of the
enemy.
81 heerd last night" the postmaster
began, that Sam Busby's goin' to kill
that goat O his'n."
"Yes," said 81, 81 met Sam up at
Bill Withers ice cream s'loon yester-
day an he told me that keepin' a goat
an a boardin' house at the same time
was losin' proposition"
81 alters thought that goat was one
O the most pleasin' features O. life
I'D at Sans place." said the postmas-
ter. "He told me last year that he'd
made two dollars a week out of him
hirin' him out to the children"
"Yes, he did," said 81. But he's
been's cranky as all git out this year
Somebody taught him to butt, an last
week he got sort O crazy an when he
saw the cook comm up the back
stairs with a biler full O clam chow
der for the mealers' lunch, he banged
him square in the stummick, an sent
him., an the clam chowder, an the
biler clatterin' backwards down the
steps into the kitchen again. an they
had all they could do scrapin up
enough chowder to satisfy the board
ers."
They'd ought to KEEP him out o
the dinin' ROOM" said the postmaster.
"Dinin rooms amt no fit place fer
goats"
That's what they DONE" said 81.
IAN two days later he ambled into the
office an eat up the boarders' mail,
an then went out on the back piaZZy
an butted two old maids off the porch
into the lap of old Gen. Slatherberry,
who was lyin' asleep in a big arm
chair on the lawn"
"Scand'lus," laughed the postmas'
ter.
That's what Mrs. Gen. Slather-
berry remarked as she come along an
see the party tryin' to pull 'emselVes
said ST. They had a coun-
ell O. war that afternoon an Sam was
informed that onless he showed EN-
the dead body O. that goat before next
Satiddy night they'd all leave"
"Jumpin' beeswax. but that's hard
luck!" said the postmaster. After all
the keep he's give that goat to have
him turn out a dead loss!"
Keep" laughed ST. What We
talkin' about? He amt required no
keep. He's eat newspapers that no
body wanted. an been sort OF Twin
waste-baskit for Sans place all MS
life. l don't suppose Sans spent n
cents on his keep sence he got him.
An he amt agoin' to be no dead loss
neither" he went on lowering MS
voice to a whisper. Sam told me
there warn't no way out o KILN
him, but he's goin' to serve him up 10
them mealers for spring-lamb all
next week, an make door-mat outen
his hide an hat.rack OF his horns
Into the bargain"
well he'd ought to knowed better
than to have a goat around the place.
said the postmaster "Ye never can
count on EN-. Where they's VIM
men an children goats amt safe'
Now If he'd been a cantelope 1t might
have been different"
That's true enough" said 81, with
an uneasy glance at the captain
"They tell me them cantelopes has
very sweet disposition-tho l must
say I don't know much about EN-.
me neither" said the postmaster.
Fact is never see anybody that had
ever tried to make a pet out OF
when 1t comes down to real ex'
periences in life, you're the shyest
thing in New England joe" put IN
the captain at this point. Here I've
been Twin within a half mile o this
post office for goin' Oh 20 year, breed
In cantelopes season after season. an
yet you never knowed anythin about
'em!"
81 INDUCED In a coughing mt, but
The postmaster showed himself sur
prisingly meek under the captains
criticism.
Il don't pretend to know everythin,
captain, an as heretofore ! am willin
to learn" he said. ANY information
you may be willin' to give on the SUBJ
iect O cantelopes will be thankfully
received"
Let me see," said the captain re-
eectively stroking his beard. Il think
g must o been in 1886 tbst / first had