Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1919-04-04

/ fear that company would come and
find her unrrepared-Alma Jones or
i Jabez Lincoln and his wife, or Ben and
MARY HUMPHREYS, or ""lir. and Mrs.
Horace Dunkelberg." These were the
people of whom she talked when the
neighbors came in and when she was
not talking Of the Bayneses. 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 / said to Mr.. Horace Dunkelberg,"
were phrases calculated to establish
/. our social standing. supposed that
the world was peopled by Joneses, Lin
coins, HUMPHREYS and Dunkelbergs.
but mostly by Dunkelbergs. These lat
ter We're very rich people who lived in
Canton village.
know, now, how dearly Aunt Deel
loved her brother and me. Unjust have
been a great trial to that woman of
forty unused to the pranks of chill
.dren and the tender offices of moth
err. Naturally 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
lime and we weathered many storm
4 together as we sat silently in his ia
vorite corner, of ain evening. when l
\ always went to sleep in his arms.
Il / was seven years old when Uncle
Peabody gave me fthes watermelon
seeds put one of them In my mouth
land bit II. ~ " fta'f AssseA
/. 1T appears to me there's an awful
draft BLOWN down your throat,'' said
Uncle Peabody. ''You amt no busi-
ness eatin' a melon seed"
"Why" was my query.
cause 1t was made to put in the
ground. Didn't you know 1t was aliveY r
"Alivel" ! exclaimed.
"Alive," said he. 'Tll show ye."
Il He put number of the seeds in
Ethe ground and covered them, and
said that part Of the garden should
be mine. Watched 1t every day and
Eby and by two vines came up. One
Esickened and died in dry weather. On
Gle Peabody said that / must water
the other every day. did it faith
fully and the vine throye.
It was hard work, Thought, to 60
down Into the garden, night and morn
ing, with my little pail full of water,
but uncle said that should get my
pay when the melon was ripe. had
also to keep the wood-box full and
feed the chickens. They were odious
tasks. When asked Aunt Deel what
should get for doing them she an
| swered quickly:
i "Nospanks and bread and butter
ayes!"
i When asked what were "nospanks"
she told me that they were part of
the wages of a good child. I was
better paid for my care Of the water
melon vine, for its growth was mea-
sured with string every day and kept
me interested. One morning found
FIVE blossoms on 1t. picked one and
carried it to Aunt Deel. Another 1
destroyed in the tragedy of catching
a bumblebee which had crawTed into
its cup. In due time three small mel
i 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 dog on my way to
school.
e SO that last melon on the vine had
my undivided affection. 1t grew in
size and reputation, and soon
learned that a reputation is about the
worst thing that a watermelon can
acquire while it is on the vine. in
: vited everybody that came to the
house to go and see my watermelon.
They looked it over and said pleas
ant things about 1t. When I was a
! boy people used to treat children and
watermelons with like solicitude
! Both were a subject for jests and
! produced similar reactions in the hui
I man countenance.
3 At last Uncle Peabody agreed with
4 me that it was about time to pick the
, melon. I.decided to. pick it immediate
sa ly after meeting on Sunday. so that
NJ 1 could give it to my aunt and uncle
III at dinner-time. When we got home
ell 1 ran for the garden. My feet and
those of our friends and neighbors
bad literally worn path to the mel.
{ on. In eager haste / got my little
A wheelbarrow and ran with it to the
E end of that path. There found
Y nothing but broken vines The melon
4 had vanished. ran back to the
= house almost overcome by feeling
y of alarm, for 1 had thought long Of
1 that hour of pride when I should
d bring the melon and present it to my
b aunt and uncle.
d "Uncie Peabody" I shouted. my
Q melon.fs gone"
q ''Well. vanI" said lie, somebody