The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-04-20
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
FRIDAY LUCK
By F. E. c. ROBBINS.


to start in on his new barn to-mor-
row." said Isaac Crosse, i~nterrupting
a protracted discussion of the tariff
question.
What, Friday" exclaimed Uncle
'Bijah Neal, rousing himself from
the doze, or perhaps reverie, in
which he had been indulging.
"And why not on Friday?" de-
handed young Abner Harmon, ready
enough to drop the tariff for some
other subject of controversy. Il
hope that you don't hold to the no
ton that Friday is an unlucky day."
81 haven't said that 1 did," replied
the old man, meekly.
That's one of those old supersti-
tons that sensible people outgrew
long ago." persisted Abner.
Gust what I told Mother Gleason
one Friday long before you were
born" said Uncle 'Bijah, his face
lighting up with the glow of remin-
iscence. II guess I shall never for
get that particular Friday, and the
kind of luck I had" he continued,
with a clearing of the throat that
the company assembled in Lufkin's
store had learned to recognize as the
of some simple tale of by
gone days.
my wife's mother was visiting us
at the time. Mother Gleason was an
excellent woman, and sensible in the
main, though I suppose she was hard
ly up to Abner's standard, for she
had her superstitions that she held to
like Gospel truth. I used to laugh at
her some, but all the time I had a
half-feeling that there was something
" In her notions. Most Of 'em weren't
new to me, anyway, for my aunt that
brought me up was as full of signs
herself as the Old Farmers Almanac.
"Well one morning my next neigh
Dor brought me a letter from the
postofice, and come to open it, it
was from the Widow Lincoln over to
Pottertown. She wrote that she was
thinking serious of selling her wood
kOl, duu IL i was q A1lo w SouO oFSh
and see her, maybe we could trade.
~ was a good deal pleased, for Id
been trying to dicker with Mis- Lin
coin for that wood-lot for more than
two years; but the widow was indie
pendently rich, for those parts, and
kind of crotchety, and I hadn't
seemed to make any Roadway.
$50; now I made up my mind not
TO let any grass grow under my feet;
and I told the women-folks that I
was going to hitch up and drive down
to Pooduck Centre and draw my
money out of the savings-bank, and
49, % over to Pottertown in the
ION and see If I couldn't close
de right up.
t Mother Gleason spoke up,
Q says, I guess you've forgot
at day of the week it Is, Abb
You wouldn't start in on any,
IS important as that on a Fri
lys she.
IT was kind of a wet blanket
at first, for I'd forgotten about
lg Friday; but in less than a
y mind was made up.
lat's just what I'm going to
no., 1 says. There's other folks
would like that wood-lot, and I'm not
going to risk losing the best chance
i've ever had to make some money on
account of an old superstition that no
sensible person really believes in I
says.
"I didn't mean to hurt Mother
Gleason's feelings, but You see I had
to put it pretty strong for the sake
of keeping my own courage up.
"'Well,' says she, terrible solemn,
4 only hope you won't regret it, and
1t kinder sounded as if she rather
hoped I would.
However, I harnessed up and
drove down to the Centre and drew
all my money put of the bank. 1t
was along early in the spring and
pretty hard travelling, and coming
back, old black Charlie slipped on a
patch of ice and went down on all
tours, barking his knees and break
ing one of the shafts. I patched it
: up and got home as best I could, and
I tried to make light OF it to the
women-folks; but when I let on that
I meant to foot it over to Pottertown
that afternoon, Mother Gleason she
warned me again.
You take my advice and give it
up for to-day says she. It's one of
the surest signs of i'll luck even to
dream of a black horse down, let
alone actually seeing one tumble on
a Friday says she.
But I wouldn't hear to her, and
after I'd tended to old Charles
knees and eaten a late dinner, 1
started off for Pottertown- a good
six miles.
after I'd gone a piece, I thought
Of a path through the woods that
would cut off quite a little of the dis
lance, and then I wished I had taken
my gun. OF course 1 wasn't really
afraid to 90 through the woods with
that money in my pocket, but I
thought that the gun would kind of
be company for me.
$50 1 went back and got 1t, but I
was most sorry I did so, for it gave
Mother Gleason a chance to expatiate