The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1919-07-19
With All
My Worldly Goods
~
BY s. 3. HACKLEY
By s. 3. HACKLEY


/ (Copyright, 1919, by the Mcclure News
paper Syndicate.)
The snow fell, heavy, continuous
/ the February afternoon was as OAR
( as the soul Of Bluebeard, but is was II
more S0mber than the spirits OF tn
| two young women who occupied, Re
! spectlyely, the hyacinth-perfumed SIT
ting room and the yaniIla-Scente'
kitchen of David and ElOise Holdings
worth's bungalow.
/ David and El0iSe were gone to thel
work as newspaper editor and cit,
| librarian. Theresa. David'S daiht!
young sister, cr0cheted and Wept al
| ternateIy, and Ishta Matilda Gumm
Swart hands expressed the feeling O
her suffering soul in the lOng-con
tinued beating that made her egg
kisses things TO call forth StOmachlt
peanS.
"Thump do love me-" Isnty muir
INJURED; but dat lump O taller inside
his skull is dat money-craZy Is feered
he's gWine ask dat yaller Anna tc
marry him, whilst he's daZZelt wild dc
accounts she givin' him O de PUNK
she makes! Oh, Lawd, eff jest had
some property Thump could see now
Greed for gain was the dynamic
force of the soul Of the Wid0Wefed
teamSter, Thumpus Cleaves. He
owned his home and q bit Of ground
at its rear; he kept hens, fed them
from garbage scraps (this was in the
good old days" when the American
garbage can was not lean and ill-fa-
v0red D-and sold eggs at 80 cents the
dozen all winter. In the afternoons
he did janitOr work, and at odd times
tOiled at anything that brought him
money.
Two weeks before, however, outside
of property, Ishty Matildy had appar-
emily been all In all to Thump, but
now she believed he had his "eye on"
Anna Justice, maid in the fashion
able High Street school, permanent
position with wages largely In excess
of Ishty's.
Money, too, was making Theresa
miserable. Two years before, Great
Aunt Theresa Cass Bossier had sue
ceeded in getting payment from the
government for a parcel Of land
Great-Uncle John had sold in Civil war
times. There was $4,000 Of 1t, and
Great-Aunt Theresa had died month
ago and left Theresa every penny of
It.
Only two persons outside Of her fam
lily, in the town In which she lived
with her brother, had as yet heard of
her Inheritance and one was Ishty Ma
Tidy. The other was Park Collins,
whose property, outside Of his slen-
der law practice, was less than moth
ing.
Tessie had told him, She had
wanted to hear his joyous exclamation
over her good fortune; but wanting to
hear had been all. Park had con-
graduated her with oil indignity, then
had gone home and hadn't been back
since. But Theresa loved him until
the stars in the evening sky were not
stars at all, but his blue eyes.
When she finally wiped her eyes and
went out to the kitchen, Ishty sat with
newspaper pr0pped in front of her.
\ "Lawd, why couldn't dis fool niggah
been white jes' fuh dis occasion?"
She heard her mutter. Then the news
paper fell to the floor, and Ishty wept
aloud. EFF l was jest white now |
could git de man | wants"
Il am white thought Theresa, "and
cannot get the man | want"
lShty mopped her eyes with her
skirt tail and pointed to the paper's
irst page. You kin read good-read
la"
Leap Year Opportunity! Don't Be |
Shy, Girls-Pop the Question Now"
an the headlines Of the article. "That
free Marriage License Offered Yester.
lay Still Awaits One Who Makes First
PROPOSAL. More Offers Are Made! Min
ster Jones and Justice Will Make No
'harge for Tying the Knot"
Beneath these lines were the mate.
1al offers to The first bride who
the question. The photop-
apher offered to make free one dozen
Wedding photos. and to frame lin
umed oak or imitation mahogany1 the
marriage certiticate the horse and
lule dealer offered a free mule (aoe
OF toldl; the coal man ton of coal
actual weight; the furniture man, q
ed Guaranteed frSt-hand).
"Ef was white woman I'd 90 ont
nd tell dem folks I'd deposed mar
lage and been accepted by de man
ives" commenced Ishty. EFF Thump
Ould jest see had IA whole lot a
lings fun housekeepin'. he'd run af.
ar me like hound after de meat
'aggin. but / amt! oh, Miss Tessie
jes' knows Anna Justice'll git him y"
Possessions! Oh possessions! The
asa resolved that if she could not he
Apply because Of them she would soc
lat lShty was not unhappy because ;
[ a lack of them. !
'lshty'-she touched the shaking