Cleveland County herald., 1919-01-02


 Jabez Lincoln and his wife, or Ben and Mary HumphrieS, or "Mr. and Mrs. Horace Dunkelberg." These were the people of whom she talked when the peighbors came in and when she was not talking of the Bayneses. I observed that she always said 'Mr. and Mrs. Horace Dunkelberg." They were the conversational ornaments of our home. 'As Mrs. Horace Dunkelberg says" or, ''as I said to Mr. Horace Dunkelberg," !" were phrases calculated to establish our social standing. I supposed that the world was peopled by Joneses, Lin coins, Humphries and Dunkelbergs, but mostly by Dunkelbergs. These lat ter were very rich people who lived in Canton village.
 know, now, how dearly Aunt Deel loved her brother and me. must have been a great trial to that woman of forty unused to the pranks of chil- dren and the tender offices of a moth CT. Naturally 1 turned from her to my Uncle Peabody as refuge and a help in time of trouble, with increasing fondness. He had no knitting or sew ing to do and when Uncle Peabody sat in the house he gave all his time to me and we weathered many a storm together as we sat silently in his fa- vorite corner, of an evening, when always went to sleep in his arms.
 I was seven years old when Uncle Peabody gave me the watermelon seeds. put one of them in my mouth and bit it.
 "tt appears to me there's an awful Uncle Peabody. 'You ain't no busi- ness eatin' a melon seed"
 "Why?" was my query.
 "'Cause it was made to put in the ground. Didn't you know it was aliye"
 "Alive!" I exclaimed.
 Alive" said he. ''Ill show ye."
 He put a number of the seeds in the ground and covered them, and said that part of the garden should be mine. I watched it every day and by and by two vines came up. One sickened and died in dry weather. Un- cle Peabody said that I must water the other every day. I did it faith fully and the vine throve.
 It was hard work, I thought, to go down into the garden, night and morn. ing, with my little pail full of water but uncle said that I should get my pay when the melon was ripe. I haG also to keep the wood-box full an( feed the chickens. They were odious tasks. When I asked Aunt Deel wha I should get for doing them she an swered quickly:
 "Nospanks and bread and butter ayes!'H
 When I asked what were "nospanks' she told me that they were part o. the wages of good child. l was better paid for my care of the water melon vine, for it's growth was mea sured with a string every day and kept me interested. One morning I found five blossoms on it. I picked one and carried it to Aunt Deel. Another destroyed in the tragedy of catching a bumblebee which had crawled into it's cup. In due time three small mel ons appeared. When they were as big as baseball picked two of them One I tasted and threw away as ran to the pump for relief. The other I hurled at a dog on my way to school.
 So that last melon on the vine had my undivided affection. It grew in size and reputation, and soon l learned that a reputation is about the worst thing that a watermelon can acquire while it is on the vine. I in- vited everybody that came to the house to go and see my watermelon. They looked it over and said pleas ant things about it. When l was 8 boy people used to treat children and watermelons with a like solicitude. Both were a subject for jests and produced similar reactions in the hu- man countenance.
 !. At last Uncle Peabody agreed with me that it was about time to pick the melon. I decided to pick 1t immediate ly after meeting on Sunday, so that could give 1t to my aunt and uncle at dinner-time. When we got home I ran for the garden. My feet and those of our friends and neighbors had literally worn path to the mel on. In eager haste l got my little wheelbarrow and ran with 1t to the end of that path. There I found nothing but broken vines! The melon had vanished. I ran back to the house almost overcome by feeling of alarm, for had thought long of that hour of pride when should bring the melon and present it to my aunt and uncle.
 Uncle Peabody" I shouted. "my melon is gone."
 "Well, I van!" said he, somebody must "a stole it."
 "But it was my melon," said with trembling voice.
 "Yes, and I yum it's too bad! But, I Bart, you ain't learned yit that there are wicked people in the world who come and take what don't belong to