The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1922-04-28
What difference does that maker

| What difference does that maker
1 asked
1T may make a heap o. difference.
Looks TO me like somebody-Buddy
Fuller, r Jim Haggerty, the section
| boss, r some of 'em down yonder d
begin a-wonderin', after a spell, what
in tarnation all this here blastin' and
rifie-poppin' up on old Cinnabar is a
/ pfntin' at and come and see"
DO you think the racket Will carry
that far?"
1T sure will. One night afore Trio
pia had gone as dead as she is now, a
| bunch O cowpunch's got into an argy-
ment at Blue-nose Bfll's place and we
| heard the crackin' and poppin' up
/ here-Jeanie and me-Iike 1t was just
over yonder in Greaser gulch."
"Well?" said I, eff your nephew or
any of the others hear it, what them"
AS I asked the question one Of the
lOw-aimed shots tore through the side
of the building, struck the iron frame
of the hoist f1attened itself and
dropped into the old mans lap. Pick
ing up the hot bit of lead to dandle
it from hand TO hand he went on much
as if picking up bullets that were fred
at him had been his daily recreation.
Curiosity killed the cat, Stanine,
son. You let some one O. the folks
down yonder in 'Tropia say, BY gol-
l wonder what all that shootins forT
and the next thing you know, some
body'H be moggin' up here to find out"
Along about dusk some member of
the besieging party tried TO make re
connaissance. / happened to be keeping
the lookout on the cabin side of our
fortress and saw a man lodging among
the pines back of the house. When
reported to Daddy he took a snap shot
at the place l pointed out to him and
there was wild yell and a stir in the
young pines as though a hog were gal
Looping through them.
Just to let 'em know that we're
still alive and kickin'," said the old
man, with another Of his quavery
chuckles. Il reckon maybe that's
what they was Amin to find out"
Possibly it was. At all events, the
rifle fire stopped with the coming of
darkness, and as we faced our second
night of defense we had plenty of time
to sit around and think and speculate |
upon what the outcome was going to |
be.
Taking it all in all, it was the fan
tastic humOr of the thing that hit me |
hardest. Six short weeks earlier peo- |
pie at home had been calling me all |
the hard names that fall to the lot of |
the idle ne'er-do-wen a young chap /
with enough Inheritance money to keep |
In,
to buy gas for his car-though that |
last asked for a good bit on the rising
cost of gasoline-and not enough to
make life, or anything connected there
With, very much worth while.
Also these same people were saying
behind my back, of course, but there
were always plenty of them to repeat
the saying to my face-that 1 was
good stock gone to seed, would never
amount to a hill OF beans in anything
that asked for initiative or resource
fitness, or primitive rough stuff of any
sort; that I was due to go on dolIing
myself up and playing skittles to the
end Of the chapter-which would prob
abby stage itself in an asylum for the
feebIe-minded. Also, again, at that
same time. which was six weeks-or
six thousand years-ago, l was en-
gagged to Lisette; with mighty little
prospect Of marrying her, to be sure,
)ut with no thought of marrying any
body else.
And now I looked around at /:
he shadowy walls of the grim old Gin
labar shaft-house, looming darkly and 1
still dripping, tick, tack, from their
mud bath; felt my sog- ]