The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1914-10-05


friend ss s,s & 7a ss ~ o. S ssss
natured, garruious old Simon
Wheeler and inquired after my friends
friend. Leonidas w. Smiley. as re-
gquestcd to do, and hcreunto append
1.-THE result. / have lurking suspicion
that ELeonidas w. Smiley is a myth;
sthat:my friend never knew such a per.
5sonage, and that he only conjectured
that II I asked old Wheeler about him
1t would remind him OF his infamous
Jim Smiley, and he. would go to; work
and bore me to death with some ex-
stasperating "reminiscences of him as long
and as tedious as it should be useless
to me. II that was the design 1t sue
3cecded. .... u-
lfS found Simon Wheeler doing com.
fortably by the barroom stove Of tho
gdilapidated tavern in the decayed min
ing camp of Angels, and noticed that
he was fat and baldheaded and had an
expression of winning gentleness and
simplicity upon his tranquil counte-
nance. He reused up and gave me
good day. I told him a. friend Of mine
had commissioned me to make some
inquiries about cherished companion
of his boyhood, named Leonidas w.
Smiley, Rev Leonidas w. Smiley,
young minister of the gospel. who he
had heard was Mt one time resident
of Angels Camp. added that IL Mr..
sYheeler could, tell me anything about
this Rev. Leonidas w. Smiley, l would
feel under many obligations to him.
9 Simon Wheeler backed me into a
4 Corner and blockaded me there with
his chair and then sat down and reeled
/! of the monotonous narrative which
follows this paragraph. !, He never
smiled. he, never .frowned, he never
changed his voice from the gentle8fow
4 ing key to. which he tuned his initial
sentence, he never betrayed the slight
est suspicion Of enthusiasm. but all
through the 1nterminable narrative
there rama vein of impressive earnest
ness and sincerity which. showed me
plainly that, SO far from his imagining
that there was, anything ridiculous or
funny about his story, he regarded, it
as a@really important matter and adj
( mircd its two heroes as men Of trans
/ cendent genius in flnesse. ! let him go
on in his own way and never inter-
rupted linn once.
"Rev. Leonidas W.-h'm-Rev. Lee
Well, there was q Teller here once by
the name Of Jim Smiley in the winter
lof 40, or maybe it was the spring of
80. I don't recollect exactly somehow,
though what makes me think it was
one or the other is because remember
the big flume warn't finished when he
first come to the camp. But anyway
: he was the curIousest man about, al
ways betting on anything that turned
up you ever see II he could get any
1 body to bet on the other side, and If
he couldn't he'd change sides. Any
way that suited the other side woulc
z suit him. Just SOS he got q bet, b
was satisfied, g4;s,.
3sBut still he was. lucky. uncommon
lucky. He most always ,comesout win"
ner.s 4 He was always ready and laying
for a chance. There couldn't be no
solitry thing mentioned but that fell
ler'd offer to bet on 1t and take airy
Z side you please. rs was just telling
you. II there was horse race you'd
find him flush or you'd find him busted
at the end OF it; If there was n dog
4 fight he'd bet on it; IL there was cat
fight he'd bet on it; II there was a
chicken fight he'd bet on it Why. If
there was two birds setting on fence
I he would bet you which one would fly
: first, or IL there was n camp meeting
he would be there regular to bet on
3Parson Walker, which he judged to be
4 the best exhorter about here, and SO
!. he was. too, and good man. q
IF he even see q straddle bug start
y to- go anywheres he would bet, You
how longit would take him to get to-
: to wherever he was going to. and IL
you took him. up,he would foller that
straddle bug. to Mexico but what he
4 would find !outswherc he was bound for
+ and howl long he was on tie road.
Lots of the boys here has seen that
Smiley and can tell you about him.
why. Il; never made no difference to
s him-he'd bet anything-the dangest
Teller. Rarson Walkers wife laid very
sick once for a good while. and it seem
ed rs IL they warn't going to save her.
\ But one morning he came in, and Smi-
Z ley up and asked him how she was.
@and he said she was considerable better.
thank the lord for his inf'nit mercy,
and coming on so smart that, with the
+ blessing of Providence. she'd get well
\ yet. And Smiley before he thought
asays, We'll. I'll resk $3.50 she don't
anyway.
.Ssrhish yer Smiley had a mare-thr