St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-10-24

At last familiar figure was seen
TO descend from the high steps. "All
aboard!" shouted the conductor. sig.
mailing the engineer.
AS the engine began to gather mo-
mentum slowly, in puffy jerks, for the
upgrade run, there was spilled from
the second day coach an accumulation
OF females of assorted sizes, which
pied up in heap on the cindery path
beside the track, then rose, one by
one, and meekly tagged the steps of
Joseph Cunnill, capitalist.
The train crept out of sight around
the curve, but Saugers did not know
1t. The brass band was silent, and the
reception committee stood stock still,
and stared stupidity. The committee,
at last, regained its presence of mind,
! and stepped up to Old Joe, but Sau-
gers guest of honor was timfdly ma
king for the trail behind the station,
which was the short cut to the town.
isaac Pendleton stopped him. Here,
Joe, old fellow, you amt goin to give
us the cold shoulder, are you? What
you in such hurry for?"
Old Joe glanced nervously at the
! storekeeper, then at the unusual
crowd. His face turned ashen, he
clutched at his wrinkled throat You
amt goin' to make me swing for it,
air YEP he pleaded piteously.
The reception committee laughed
IFS fnrn66 bic
No, joe" Mr. Pendleton replied,
this isn't Judge Lynch's party, though
all the other prominent officials are
out to honor you Come on to the bus
and tell US all about it," But Joe
fell to trembling so that he could
scarcely stand
"Ask-ask her; she'll tell .ye,' he
stammered, pointing behip6 him. The
gaze of the crowd was transferred to
the aggregation of females, which pre-
sented a shrinking front to the pub
lie eye. The Oldest, of about 45 sum-
mers, unkempt and forlorn-eyed, gath
cred the youngest, aged two, to her
breast, grouped around her the re-
naming seven, ranging from Is down,
and cast her eyes on the ground in
frightened confusion. The old miner
braced himself, and turned bravely
toward the crowd. We'll, We see, Mr..
Pendleton," he said, keeping his eye
on the mild-faced storekeeper, lit was
somethin' like this l was prospect
in "a smile went the, rounds of the
croWd-"an' that night the mule died,
an l was peggin' along afoot, kinder
lonesome, an I come across, down the
creek, woman and eight kids what
their husband and father had died a
week before, and she'd been doin' odd
jobs round the diggin's and was clean
beat out an lonely-like Well, when
come along, she jest cried, she was
SO glad to see me, cause l looked like
her old dad, an the children called
me grandpap. An she was goin' to
pull up stakes an make tracks for the
poor farm. So seq: Come along
with me to the parsons, the one what
peddles his gospel talk through the
mimi country seq I, because there
didn't seem to be nothin' else to do,
seems how she didn't have no per-
tector. An l thought mebbe We
wouldn't be terrible put out, gentle.
men, if l used the rest of the money
to come back to Sauger's an set up
Nelly an the children"
The crowd was very quiet.
But what about your pile, Joe?"
asked Spandling after a moment
How much, and where did you make
the striker"
Striker" repeated Joe in bewilder-
ment. Il didn't make none this time,
less Mely's the strike"
A groan ran through the multitude,
disappointment was pictured on a
hundred faces, some looked fairly men
acfng. 1t was not often that Sauger's
bestirred itself as it had for this oc-
casion which had ended so absurdly
They would be a butt for the ridicule
of the whole county.
Suddenly, the hotel man stepped up
to the woman and spoke to her in a
low tone. Then he faced the crowd.
Boys, you're scarin' the poor crit
turs to death, with the tender feelin'
for Charley Mason glarin' out of your
eyes. The reception committee will
be responsible for the drawin' up of
a testimonial to that gentleman you
leave that to us. But we're a pack of |
fools, just the same, not to see that |
this is the biggest joke in California, |
bigger than the harnesses strike. If |
Old Joe didn't bring back nine times |
mere than We expected, then I'm |
crazy. Whoever Aeard of a claim that |
parned out such nuggets as these
here?' pointing to the eight young
women. 4 find,' he continued, that |
this estimable lady, Mrs Joseph Cum
mill, is a past master at the wash tub. |
What do you say to setting her up in
The Grubstake Laundry, and re-
questing that heather clothes-destroy-
er, Chin Lee, to seek another sheep
ranger
Sanger gave lusty roar Clark
had touched vulnerable spot. livery
man who wore a collar clutched its
ragged edges with one han asAnd
threw his hat in the air W the
other.
The bus was filed witt @lser's1
guests on its way to toYsF hafnil
ported band was not --- Ing
not equal to the s'Vzzs's- ID"
but Old Joe and hi s- her
progeny rode in stat the
Shasta house quit n to