The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-07-08
By NJ. QUAD
Copyright. 1918. by Associated Lit-
erary Press. :

And he orter gin us fair deal II
the old woman and ME went over:"
Yes"
"But what I'm afraid OF is that he
won't"
! looked at him and wondered what
he meant, and after a minnie lie
went on:
"Sit down and he to home. and III
tell you a bit OF story. lfhappened
vars ago. You see. me md the old wo-
man, had both bin havln' chills and
farer, shakin' like scared rabbits one
day and Albumin up the next. and l
was almost too weak to lit an AZ
when n Teller named Abe Brockford
sot out to humillate mex He wasn't
dom any braggin' MS long astI was
able to be about, but when he heard
how porely was he squared of in
front OF the cabin one night and
shouted: ..,--.
Hello thar. inside! Am I maxim
a mistake In supposin' this to be the
residence of Bill HopeT
"'Yo' amt says as l crawls, to
the door In my weakness.
"'COme but like man and squar' of
at met says he.
81 told him Id been freezIn' and
burnin' and couldn't fight a rabbit, but
that only made him wuss
"'Bill Hope, II yO've'gOt any mercy
In yo'r heart come out yere and dance
around while ! pniverize yo'r bones-
ut hurt Inc mighty bad to be talked
to that way" said the old man, but
l was helpless about It. All could
do'was to shet the doah and fling my
self on the bed and cuss and weep.
The old woman tried to console me.
hut the Teller kept his mouth gOin' till
was purity nigh crazy. BY and by l
says to her:
do yo' reckon that II | prayed TO
the Lawd fur strength my prayer
would be answered.
"That's accordin',' sire answers.
What do yo' want, the strength fur:'
"'To 20 out and smash Abe Brock
ford
"'Then yo' won't git It. The Lawd
amt nixin' up in SIGH rows
but he might II yo' prayed too
"'But shan't do 1t. Wheu the crit
ter out thar gifts tired OF talkIn' he'll
go home
II lay quiet for half an hour. hut
Abe didn't go, and when the old wom-
an sees how bad was feelin' she
says:
'Blll, I'm wlllln' to try a sort OF ex-
pertinent. 1t amt right to bother the
Lnwd with our trubbles, and prayers
and iightin' don't 60 together, but I'm.
der the circumstances III do what /
kim b.
"All of sudden I begun to feel
stronger, and by the time the old wo-
man hud finished told her that | was
all right to go out an drive Abe into
the airth.
"'Retter not co. she says as she
looks trubbled.
"'Why not:'
'Bekase I'm not suah about II.
prayed hard nun. but l heven't got
the feelin' that yO' are gwine out to
whop anybody. Sorter feels to me
that y0'll git the worst OF It,
ut was pighty Gurus about my git
tin strong" unused Bill, "and to this
day can't make It out. Perhaps It
was all OWN to my madness. The old
woman hung on fur me not to go. but
put her aside and rushed out. II
was a darkish night, but saw Abe
standin' few feet away and sailed
fur him. was gwine to whop him
blind In two minits. but l hadn't
counted on startin' things. Fustly.
the crittcr had got tired and gone
home. and. secondly, n powerful big
bar had taken his place l knowed
II ms l grabbed his fur. hut Il was
then too late. He Jest hauled of with
his right paw and fetched me n swat
on the side Of the head that put me
ont OF 1t, and It was daylight befo'
come TO and found myself on the bed.
" nat hupptHeu' i dsheu OF tne
old woman.
'Experimentln',' she answers.
"'.is how
Prayln' 10 the Lawd to back yo'
to wallop Abe Brockford. Abe slip
ped out and a bar slipped in. and us
nigh MS ! kin make out Providence
didn't stand 10y yo' fur sbucks.'"
"And that's the reason you are In
doubt about going to the camp meet
Ing. IS it:' l nsked as he finished his
story.
1T ar, stranger" ...
But ! don't exactly see the point"
plain us mud. sab. Id go thar to
fight Satan. wouldn't II"
in way. yes"
"And s'pose the Lawd would slIr
him out on me and slip n half dozer
Wildcats in on me to take his placer