Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-09-26
JIM RIGGINs-co-oPERAToR
When He Got What He Wanted He
Was Ready to Quit.

When He Got What He Wanted He
Was Ready to Quit.
Now" said Uncle Cornpatch, relight-
ing his pipe. ats this way with Jim
higgins an that stump puller: had
a patch Of stumpy land, bout ten acres,
guess. John Smith had about as
much: o" Man Barksdale had twenty
acres an more, an Jim higgins had
stumps all over his place, thick in some
fields and just a few in others.
$50 proposes to Smith and the OF
Man that we go in together an buy US
a stump puller an clean the land off
SOS we could work it with some salts
faction. They fell right in, an after
figgerin' awhile we come to an agree
ment OF Man Barksdale's stump crop
was figgered at half the cost o. the ma
chine, an mine an Smiths at quarter
apiece. We wus all to help In the work,
an stand our share Of repairin' and 80.
on, II there wus any to do. We agreed
to pull my stumps first, an then Smith
wus to have an equal number Of days
work an the OF Man twice as many.
The man runnin' ahead us to pay the
company for extra time. an when we
sold the machine we wus goin' to di-
vide up accordin' to what we'd put in.
THAT looked to me like 1t wus about
as fair as we could git things, an II
wus certain to pay US all. Well, jist as
we's gittin' ready to order the puller.
Jim higgins come in one day an tod
him about 1t. An you're the man to
buy that stump puller when we git
done with it, says I.
"T amt able says he: I wisht /
could go in with the rest of ye now
Il looked at Jim an felt sorry for
him. He's a hard worker, ans allus
had hard time. All right says l;
I'm willin'. How many acres o. stumps
you got, fust and last?
"Jim figgered awhile an said he'd
about ten or 1even acres.
"'More'n that says I, when you go
chasin' round to pull 'em; but I'm will
lin to count 'em at ten acres, II you
want hand in this. Got the money to
pay fer fifth of this machine?'
"T can git It, says he.
"'Well.' says I, you chase yo'self
over to Smiths an the or Mans an
see what they say. Tell 'em I'm will
lin
Jim come by that evenin' an said 1t
wus all right OF Man Barksdale had
kinder objected at fust, but finally come
around all right. An Jim wus shore
tickled over the notion of gittin' rid of
his stumps.
Il sent the order off fer the machine
next mornin', an in couple Of hours
here comes Jim. Uncle Cornpatch,'
says he, blieve 1t 'ud be better fer
me to jist wait an pay you all fer pull
lin my stumps when you git done. Itll
be so late when you're all through that
I can't git more'n half o. mine out next
winter, an amt got the money TO
spare jist now, anyway
"All right, Jim,' says 1, Any way
suits me. but Smith an the or Mans
countin' on you now A.
"Tll go see 'em,' he says.
II thought 1t wus settled till the ma
chine come, an Smith an the or Man
come over to pay their part. Jim hadn't
gone to them at ali, an they wus ex-
pectin him to take an interest, jist
like he'd said.
"I didn't want to be tied up with
Jim,' said the OF Man, but he's SO anx-
ious I told him all right. He's like a
flea you never know where he'll be
next
Next day Jim came along an 1
put it up to him. He'd seen the pull
ler an wus in a stumpplin' notion
again.
"'Sure, I'll pay you," he said. I
got the money right here. An he
had, fer a wonder.
THAT evenin' he come back. I've
jist been a-thinkin' about it. says he,
that it 'ud be good thing to begin
down in the pastur' field O. mine. If
all you fellers pull yo'r stumps fust 1
won't get none o. mine out before
spring an I've got 'em everywhere
WALL there'd been nothin' said to
Jim as to when we'd tackle his stumps;
the rest Of us had agreed on ours an
he seemed to take 1t fer granted that
he'd come last, an so did the rest
of US. We all feel lot surer uf Jim
when we git him where he can't wig
gle out. I'd gone to all the trouble in
the matter, an felt it was fair to be-
gin at my place, fer the machine wus
there an everything ready to begin.
But I looked over Jim's farm an
couldn't blame him fer wantin' one
little cleared place. I'm a-goin' to
plow that Of pastur' field as soon as
I can git at it, he says, an the
stumps ought to be pulled before it's
plowed. When we've done it up, the
rest of mine can wait till you all git
through, cept I would like to have
that bunch back uf the barn yanked
out
"'Go an see what Smith an or
Man says about It, says I. If they're
willin' 1 am, an we'll finish up yo'r
job the fust thing
Smiths allus easy an he said to
go ahead, an of course, the or Man
had no right to object, cause he was
comm last any way.
$50 we went over an worked, off
an on, fer a whole month pullin'
stumps out Of Jim's field; an when
we quit you wouldn't a-knowed the
Of place. I never saw Jim so up in
spirits an he nearly worked his fool
self to death. Well, we finished one
evenin' an loaded up the puller to
take 1t over to my place. When we
got out in the road an up on a hill
where we could see nearly all over
Jim's place, we all stopped an looked
back, an I think we all felt good. I
know I did.
"'Golly!' said Jim, don't she look
fine? I wish I could go to plowin'