McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1919-01-31
BUCK SNORT
Tells Of the Sorrowful Christmas
He Had.
Copyright 1919 {. s. Perkins

about the sadnest thing | ever went
through.
You all remember what | said about
our last years Christmas celebration,
when we went over, Sally and me, tc
see our married daughter Sfrony. her
that married lobe Wagner fifteen
years ago and has got twelve children,
and lives down the creek couple Of
miles from here. You know what
said about them children, and how
smart and healthy they was. Well,
there's one less now; the Lord had on.
| ly lent one of EN-, and he took back
the loan jest before Christmas, fel
His own Christmas gift; the sweetest
and smartest of all them fine young
uns, it seems to me: my little pet,
Nebuchadnezzar. He had jist turned
eight years old, and actually, that lit.
tie Teller was so smart that he had al
ready spelled down some purity near
grown people at a spellin match they
had over on Oxford. He shore didn't
take after me in that, as Sallie says.
We nicknamed him 'BuckY," and ole
Buck and Bucky was two of the best
friends you ever met in your life.
Why, he follered me around like he
was my shadder. and. nothing would
do, when he stayed all night, but he
must sleep with grandpap, with his
arms around my neck and his face
nestled in my beard.
This yere inhuenzy sickness come
a-fying around like chicken-hawk
after chickens, and it cotch lot of
people around here. About half Of
Tobe's family was down with it, but
they was jist about a-gittin over it
when little BuckY took down. He
cried fer his granpap. and | didn't
take my clothes off fer a week, asset
tin up with i'm, and | was with i'm till
the breath left his pore little body.
line a-goin on eighty years old, and
have seed many person die. We
can't have sunshine and happiness all
the time; all sunshine and no rain
would soon burn up the crops and hav-
10 no trouble at all would make us up
pity and biggitty in this bad ole
world. But must say that to see a
little child die like that. a-holding my
hand till the last gasp, his eyes fixed
on me till the lids fell in death. hurt
me worse than anything ever did, and
| cried like a baby myself. Thought
Of the cute little ways he had and the
things he said. Only a few days ago
he was a-runnin around my house a.
talkin about this here same infuenzy
and repeatin some silly rime he had
heard about it:
"a man had . hen, and her name was
Enza;
He opened the winder, and in flew
Enza."
O, but the nabers in Tennessee is
kind at times like this! They come in
and done all the homework; the men
chopped the wood and fed and water
ed The stock (Tobe has so head of Red
Duroc hogs; he got the start from
Miles lnman, and they're bully breed)
and the wimmen folks done all the
homework, fer both lobe an Sfrony
was all played out with sittin up and
grievin. It shore was pitiful to see
how the other children took on, and it
allus seemed to me that in big famil-
les each one is dearer than when
there's only a few. 0. how strange
it looks, to see everybody a-cryin and
takin on, and only the one a-lyin there
so still and smilin. Some day it will
be different. fer death is as natural as
life, and little Bucky was shorelY in a
better place, If we could only see it
that way. He was fixed nm fer the