Evening star., 1922-01-22
- HE OK is dressed and
hung" said Pliney Pickett
with the air of a man an
7 LIZ, h

"Oh! How much'd be dress?" asked
Scattergood Baines, moving in ms
especially reinforced armchair until
tS creaked it's protest.
Eight hunder and forty-three. ac-
0erding to Newt Patterson's scales.
(Which hain't never been knowed TO
err on the side of overweight" said
Acattergood dryly.
'The boys has got the oven hxed
Cor roastin' him, and the band gifts on
che mornin' train, failin accidents.
aad the decorations is up in the taown
aa!l. n now we kin git ready for a
week of stiddy rain"
"They's wuss things than rain.
said Scattergood, though at the min
nit i don't call to mind what they
Se.''
Deacon Pettybones north mowin'
ID turned into a base ball grounds,
and everybody in town is buyin' bunt-
80 to wrap their harnesses, and ket-
tleman's fetched in more'n five BUSH
els Of peanuts, and every young man
in taown'll be sick with the stum-
mick ache"
"Feelin' extry cheerful this mornin'.
hain't ye? Kind of more hopeful-like
than I call to mind SEEM you fer
some time
"Never knowed no big celebration
to come off like it was planned. or
thout somebody gittin' a leg busted.
or the big speaker fergittin' what day
tG was or suthin'. Seems like the hull
weight of this here falls right on to
me-"
''Responsibility said Scattergood.
with a twinkle in his eye, "is tur-
rible thing to bear up under. But
nothin' hain't happened yit. and folks
Is dependin' on you, Pliny, to sect
nothin' mars the party"
'Itll rain on to the pe-rade. and
the ball game'll bust UP in fight.
and pickpockets'll most likely git
wind OF sich big gatherin' and come
swarmin' in. Scattergood"-he low
cred his voice impressively-"it's ru-
mored Mavin Newton's a-comin' back
for this here old home week."
'Uh-Mavin Newton. I'm. Who up
and launched that rumor?"
"Everybody's a-talkin' it up. Folks
says he's sure to come, and then what
In tunketu we do? The sheriff's goin'
to be busy handlin' the crowds and
the traffic and sich, and he won't
have no time fer extry miscreants.
seems as though. Folks is a-comin'
from a. fur's Denver. and We don't
want NO town criminal brought to
justice In the middle of it all. Though
Mavin's father'd be glad to see his
son kstched. I calc'late."
"Hain't interviewed Matte Strong
as Regards her feelins, have ye?"
''I WONDER" said Pliny. with intense
interest. ''ff Mattie's ever heard from
, him. But she's that close-mouthed."
faint q common failin' here
abouts," said Scattergood. How long
siace Mavin run OFF,
Eight year, come November"
1.-The night before him and Matte
was goin' to be married.
"Uh-huh! Takin' with him that
there fund the Congo Church raised
fer a new organ. and it's took them
eisaS year to raise it over ag'in."
A Nd in the meantime" said Scat
tergood, IT calc'late the tunes
o. Ct the old organ has riz about as
pleasia' to heaven as If twas new
SeIsaks some. I'm told, but I figger
the squeaks gifts kind of filtered out.
az nothin' but the true meanin' of
tas tunes ever gifts up to Him." Scat
terSood jerked pudgy thumb sky
wars.
'More'n two hundred dollars, it was
-&ad Mav.n treasurer of the church.
Ola Man Newton he resigned as elder.
aa' hain't never set foot in church
from that day to this"
<.Sein' moved" said Scattergood,
'.nore by cantankerousness than
g-!et"
sI'.l venture that therell be more'n
Svs hundred old residents a-comin'
bacx." said Pliny, "and' where in
tuaket we're goin' to sleep 'em all
the committee don't know"
'Tn! G'bye Pliny." said Scatter
COED suddenly. And Pliny, recogniz-
ing the old hardware merchants GUS
tom4ry and inescapable dismissal, got
up OF the step and cut across dag
onaily to the post Office, where he
could air his Importance as a COM
nittssman before an assemblage as
ready to discuss the events Of the
v,ssk as he was himself.
It was a momentous occasion in the
life of Coldriyer--a gathering of
prodigals and wanderers under home
roofs, a week set aside for the return
Of sons and daughters and grandchil-
dren of Coldriver who had vertured
forth into the world to woo fortune
and to seek adventure. Preparations
hed been in the making for months.
and the village was resolved that it's
collateral relatives to the remotest
generation should be made aware that
Coldriver was not deficient in the
necessary "git up and git" to wear
dem its visitors to the last point of
exhaustion. Pliny Pickett, chairman
Of numerous committees and marshal
Of the parade. predicted itswould "lay
over" the centennial in Philadelphia.
The creased pig was to be greasier,
thu barbecued OK was to be larger.
the band was to be nosier, the
speeches were to be longer and more
tiresome, the firemen's races and the
ball games, and the fat mems race. and
the frog raoa. and the grand ball, with
its quadrilles and Virginia reels. and
'.Hulrs Victory" and Lady Washing
tons reel" and its portland fancy
were all to be just a little superior to
anything of the sort ever attempted in
the state. Numerous septuagenarians
were resorting to st. Jacobs oil and
surreptitiously prancing in the barn
to "soople" up their legs for the