The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1917-07-13
What Became Of
George Deeriing
BY F. A. Mitchell


looked up and saw a young man COM
ing. Resting ON her hoe, she looked
at him intentN
Morning" he said dofiing his hat
when he reached her
Morning" responded the girl
Can You tell me where the Deerlng
family have gone tor They lived half
a mile down the road on this side"
Il remember TINT there was family
living thereabout when l was little
girl. but ! don't know what has be.
come of them,
Putting In beetsY' hooking down at
drill.
''No; lettuce"
/ TEyerybodys gardening this year"
Yes, We've got TO garden or starye..
Prices OF provisions are productive
There was a brief silence. The girl
continued to loosen the soil with her
hoe, then took up a rake and smoothed
the ground from stones and tufts OF
grass, The young man showed no
sign Of moving on
$50 You can't tell me where the Deer.
ing family have moved tor be said
presently
NO, CANT. 'fli
wasn't there a son. Georger'
"George1 GeorgeT repeated the
girl, as II trying to recall the person
mentioned.
I've been told he wDs the worst boy
in the county. No apple tree was safe
from him, and as for u watermelon
| patch. they say he would carry on a
melon as big as small barrel under
each arm"
III he was Ike that the county Is
well rid OF him." the girl suggested
"He was about eighteen when he
left here, and i've been told that the
night before he went he made love TO
one OF the girls OF the place asking
her TO be his wife and telling her all
sorts Of yarns about how be was go
ing To put her into big house and
dress her up fine, end all that The
next day he disappeared and never
turned M again"
There are lots OF men like that IN
the world"
"Going to put In any potatoesr'
Reckon not Seed potatoes cost 30
much that l question II II would pay
II certainly wouldn't II the price OF
potatoes gets back to reasonable fig
ure.' .,.ie- tss7sys a.-t--
You say you don't remember George
Deeringy'
"If he was any such fellow as you
have described don't want TO reinem-
Der him"
She started another Drip The mal
took up fork and opened the ground
for her, When he bad done 80 and
removed some OF the earth with the
hoe he said: e-,4..,,s .-.t
'-Thatll be easter for you"
She thanked him and resuned her
work.
there" he asked, pointing 10 tree
some fifty yards distant
"Of course do
I'm going over to look at t."
She made no comment and he saun-
tered over to the troc, under which
was rustic bench. He glanced medl
tatiyely at the bench, but proceeded to
the trunk Of the tree and looked at
some letters that had been made by
carving the bark II had grown to
gether so as TO give them an appear
ance OF having grown there naturally
WORT you please come hereY' no
called to the girl
She dropped n truwel and advanced
toward him When she reached him
pointing to the letters on the tree
! trunk. no asked
Whose initlals are thoser'
The upper onesY
YES"
'.'Those are mine" ~
"And those beneathY
u can't see them
i This was true; her eyet were dimmed
with moisture.
These letters" continued the yoang
man, stand for Eva Butterfleld and
George Deerlng | know George very
well. He's faulty chap and no mis-.
take, but there are palliating circum-
stances in his case. Sit down here and
I'll tell you something about him"
He led her to the bench, where they
sat down side by side. Then he con
tinued:
George struck bad luck from the
start He didn't write to Eva because
he had nothing cheerful to write. AT
least he didn't send her letter. He
wrote one or two, but ON reading them
over they appeared to him so hopeless
that he tore them up. Several years
later the prospect before him mended
and he said, II make some money
I'll write to Eva. He did make u
little money, which gave him some
thing to work with to make more, but
when he sat down to write TO Eva II
occurred to him that he had treated
her unpardonably. The only hope fol-
him was TO go 30 her and tell her so
and maybe she would forgive him.
About that time a chance was of
fered him to get in on the ground fiooi
of big operation, and he concluded
to wait awhile. If the scheme turned
out well he might make good the stupid
| hoo.t ~, bod rna1a tha pipbf no M ~ af