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JAMES ELVERSON,
Publisher.
VoL. IX.
N.W. corner NINTH
and SPRUCE Sts.
A=) =
[ e T T e O
e e R T e
NS
e %‘m‘
<y
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1888, by Jamss Erveusow, fn the Office of the Lidrarian of Congress, at Washiagton, D, C.]
PHILADELPHIA,
JULY 14, 1888,
TER.\ls:{”’m PER ANNUM,
No. 33.
IN ADVANCE.
The Hicksons and the Dunlaps,
BY TUM P. MORGAN.
A spirit of profound laziness seemed per-
vading all things that Indian summer after-
noon. The breeze scarcely stirred the slender
rock-weeds along the slope of the draw. Seen
through the rising heat, the row of seraggy
cedars along the top of Coyole Bluff seemed
wavering in a staggering reel against the
sky. Highin the air above the head of the
draw a buzzard circled, with scarcely a per-
ceptible movement of his broad wings.
From his seat on the topmost pole, where
the red-oak threw a gratefal shade on a sec-
tion of the ‘“jack-post’” fence, small, sturdy
and white-headed Josh Iickson gravely re-
garded the Indian summer scene with unap-
preciative eyes. Ie gazed solemnly at the
slow-sailing buzzard, aud spoke as delibe-
rately as if delivering a most weighty~opin-
ion.
“Sumpin’ ‘dead over yon, I reckon,” he
said, half aloud. . *“Some’er’s nigh the head
uv the draw, by the way the buzzard circles.
"~ Jack-rabbit, mebbe, or a kiote. Don’t reckon
- pap’d keer much if hit was one o’ them
Dunlaps a-lyin’ over thar, with the buzzard
aimin’ to pick his bones! Oh, they’re a bad
lot, them Dunlaps is!”” he added, with an
emphatic shake of his head.
Possibly the disappearance of a certain
“trot-line,”” dear to the lad’s heart, and now
supposed to be in the possession of the Dun- |
laps, had something to do with his prejudice
against those persons.
The four small log-houses on the opposite
side of Big-Spring Hollow were the resi-
dences of the hated Dunlaps. Not a move-
ment was to be seen about any of them.
-On the side of the hollow where little Josh
roosted on the fence were four dwellings as
unpretending as those opposite. These shel-
tered the Hicksons.
-Numerous signs of life were visible here.
On a bench, in the shade of the cabin that
little Josh called home, reclined the lad’s
t?ther, termed *“Old Josh,” by way of dis-
tinguishing him from his offspring. = By the
next cabin sat little Josh’s grandfather, com-
monly spoken of as * Old Man Ilickson.””
He was peacefully tilted back in a splint-
bottomed chair, watching the smoke curl up
from his wire-bound cob pipe.
From another cabin came the wail of a
baby, and in the shade of a hackberry tree,
by the fourth, a half-grown girl alternately
braided the light locks of her smaller sister
and l_flcked away a frolicsome pup of mon-
grel lineage, o
w “Wall,” remarkeq little Josh, reflectively,
: ‘wonder what makes’em so quiet over yon?
‘t(fia.use Sam an’ Eli an® Ole Man Dunlap took
: eir folks for a-visit over in the next county
Stno Sl:gn thel:e ortn’t to be sumpin’ stirrin’
3 Abe s.” Hain’t seen a move there for—two
- days, Ireckon. Dunno what to think. Reckon
T'll sight around a little,”
thDown the path that crossed the draw at
e botton of the hollow he strolled, and on
E?s;ilhe cabins, whistling at the full power
! s lungs the popular border melody of
“%‘l}yb(}oodwin.f'
Nobody at b, ”
‘If they \zas, e
keep ’em frum
in’,”
n philosophized Josh.
nuthl.n’ short uv chains could
lookin’ to see who was pass-
«
Still whistling, he paused before Abe Dun-
lap’s pole fence.
“Gone, shore !” he muttered.
come that door open 2’
Ile threw a stone so deftly that it entered
at the open door. No commotion followed.
Little Josh crept through the pole fence, and
tip-toed almost noiselessly toward the house.
Just as his outstretched hand touched the
door-post there came from the interior of the
cabin a sound that sent the boy almost flying
to the pole fence, where he paused, half way
through.
IIe considered himself a matcli in point of
speed for any Dunlap, large or small, and so
felt reasonably safe, no matter what hap-
pened. Still, the sound that had startled
him, though but a feeble groan, had fright-
ened him wofully. .
Old Man IHickson was full of tales of
ghosts—*“ ha’nts,”” he called them—and little
Josh was by no means certain that several of
“But how
them were pot+ensconced in Abe Dunlap’s
cabin.
Presently, as no sound was audible, he
crept toward the cabin, listening intently as
he went. Ifalf-way across the lot, he
“LITTLE JOSH TIPTOED ALMOST NOISELESSLY
TOWARD THE HOUSE.”
paused. Then, summoning all his courage,
he tiptoed to the door. DPeering fearfully
within, his staring eyes discerned a figure
stretched on a quilt on the floor. It uttered
a feeble moan of *“Water, water!”
The boy retreated rapidly to the fence,
where lhe paused. OIld Man Ilickson had
never told of a “ha’nt” that called for wa-
ter, and at the thought little Josh’s courage
revived wonderfully.
“Somebody sick,” he said, presently.
“Didn’t look like Abe though. Too red and
puffy. Wall, I’ll see what’s the matter an’
kinder look around for my trot-line at the
same time.” And he returned to the cabin,
his heart beating a lively tattoo the while.
Upon closer examination the figure on the
floor proved to be Abe Dunlap. His face
was red and swollen, and he seemed burning
with fever. On the bed lay his wife, weakly
tossing and moaning in delirium. Beyond
her, on the same couch,
lay a girl of seven or
eight, with her face to
the wall as if sleeping.
“Water, water!” Abe
moaned.
SHOUTED A
HOLLOW.”
Grasping a bucket, little Josh ran down
the slope to the Big Spring.
_“Them Dunlaps is a ornery lot,”” he mut-
tered, returning. ‘“But 1 reckon I kin do
this much for ’em now they’re sick.””
Abe drank of the cool spring water with
feverish eagerness, till Josh wrenched the
cup away from him, with the remark :
“JOSH DUG A SMALL GRAVE, WHILE PREACHER ASHBURN
BRIEF BURIAL SERVICE ACROSS THE
“Must ’low to drink Big Spring dry!
Three cups is enough at one time.”
The moaning woman on the bed too drank
eagerly. The boy did not wake the child.
“Wonder what they’ve got, anyhow 2"’ he
mused. *““’Tain’t ager, nur—""
His mother’s voice came floating across
the “draw :
“Oh, Josh! oh, Josh! Oh-h-h-h, Joshi**
As he gave the sick man another drink,
he said, close to his ear:
“Got to go now.”
to partially grasp his meaning.
“Go whur?”” he muttered.
““IHome, o’ course.”
“Ilome ?”” Abe said, slowly.
“Who air you?”
“Josh Hickson,” answered
the lad.
The name seemed to arouses
the sick man a trifle.
“Tickson !” he muttered. “What you
doin’ yere? Tryin’ to steal sumpin’? Git
out o’—""
e strove to rise, but could scarcely raise
his head.
*Take another drink,” Josh said, unmind-
ful of the impotent wrath of the other, “I
haf to go to supper.”
