The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-03-14

Thar was a timk in my life when
thought / owned this hull Stait OF Ten.
nessee and was the biggest man in II.
said old Zeb White. as he was in a
STORYTELLING mood one evening. That
was a good many yrs ago. and jest
| befo' / got married. and perhaps it was
a powerful good thing that sunthin
happened to me when IL dld
j asked the old man a question in
tended to draw him out. and after a
! bit he continued:
Wall when l was young man |
hadn't no sense in my head: jest
wrestIe and jump and fight and yell
was a smarter man than the Governor.
When I was twenty-threc vars old
thar wasn't nuthin human IN this
stand up to me When ] had out,
! Jumped and outfit everything around
| we're. they brung men from as fur as
| fifty miles away. and | allus downed
EN-. Bimeby it got so that nobody dast
look ugly at me. and that made me as
, proud as peacock. i jest went slosh,
! in up and down the kentry. steppln
high and loaded for bar. and it 'peared
to me that ! was 1even feet high and
weighed a ton. One day I fell in love,
but that didn't settle me down any
wanted to show off to the gal. yo'
know. and so | continered my mad ca
reef
THE girl is the present Mrs. White;
take it, ] said. as he waited to NIL
his pipe anew.
Jest so. sah." he answered. land she
had mo- boss sense in her leetlc finger
than had in my hull body. She
knowed | was making fule o my
self. and she knowed it would take
didn't say much. one way or tother.
but jest waited till the sign cum right.
One day she went down to Spottsville.
and when she cum home she seq to me.
seq she:
'.Zeb. thar's gwine to be a circus
down at Spottsville tomorrer. and I
reckon I'd like to go. Will yo' promise
to behave yorself?'
AS to how" | asks.
As to raisin a fuss
IF nobody steps, on my heels thar
won't be any fuss.
she didn't say no mo till We wuss
on the road next forenoon. and then
she suddenly turns on me with:
"Zeb White. ar yo' a-hghtin man?
high and cracks my heels together.
"Hev yo' ever been licked since yo'
becum a tghter:''
Never and thar amt thing as
stands on legs as kin do it
II want to ask a great favor OF yo.
Zeb. she seq we walks along.
Thar's gwine to be an elephant at that
And what of IT,. What hev I got to
"Nuthin.' hope. but bein' he's big
ger II So VIZ, 1 uiul hnoN uut ~ st
mad and tackle him. Don't do it. Ieb
don't do it, fur my sake. So' are
heap of a fighter among men. but don't
make no mistake on that elephant. If
yo' tackle him he'll down yo' fur
suah.'
IF she hadn't spoken as she did Id
never thought of tacklin' the critter.
"a id Zeb. as he softly rubbed his knee,
but them words sorter stirred me up.
an | begun TO git mad. We didn't say
nuthin' mo- till we got to town. though
seen the elephant a-walkin' along the
street with the purceshun, an my wife
SEE to me, seq she:
"Zeb. he don't look to be very hefty
on the jump. an he can't wrassle, but
he pears to be an awful fighter"
"Shoo" seq l, but l don't reckon he
kin fight fur shucks."
Wall. keep away from him. He's
lookin' straight at you. an sizin yo
gifts hold of yo,' you'll go down with
smash
"Bimeby the parade was over. and
we went into the circus. I'd kept git
tin madden and madden all the time
and now l was ready to bust. The ele-
plant was chained up in the middle of
the tent. and l walked around him and
felt dangerous. The old woman was
watchin' me and purity soon she SEE:
''Mebbe he ar" says |, but that's got
nuthin' to do with it. The bigness of
a man don't count fur much in a fout.
| jest consider to reckon / kin make
that critter heller fur mercy in about
two minits,
But yo' won't try it? Yo' ar the
awfulest fightin' man on the face of this