Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 February 1891 — Er Bully Sawt er Wife. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Er Bully Sawt er Wife.

“Whut yer all er doin’ er settin’ yere like buzzards on er dead pine?” asked a young sunburned countryman as he approached five men sitting in a row on the gallery of an Arkansas store. “We ain’t er doin’ nuthin’ an’ we wanter nuther feller fu,r ter he’p us. Air yer lookin’ fur er job?” replied one. “Naw,” said the young fellow, “I ain’t. I got much ez I kin ten’ ter now. Es I

’uz marri’d like yer all, I dunno whut I’d do.” “Yer er lookin’ fur er wife?” some one asked. “Not yit. I hain’t got fixed fur ter take keer uv one yit. I jist knows though ’at hit’s er bully thing fur ter have er wife, es she’s er good one. Whut put all this yere in mer head wuz whut happen vistiddy. Yer all knows Dick Lewis an’ ’is wife. She b’lieves Dick’s ther buliiest feller ever wuz. Dick he got drunk yistiddy at Stringville, an’ ’e walked roun’ sw’arin’ ’at he could whup any man whut wo’ ha’r. Er laung, keen, hon-gry-lookin’ feller sum ther mount’ins come er laung. He had wil’ eyes like er varmint an’er huntin’ shirt outsider ’is pants ’ith fringe on hit. Dick seed ’im an’ made er lunge fur ’im an’ s’s’e, ‘Yo’ time’s come. I’m er go’n’ter eat yer plum’ up.’ ’En he lit inter ther feller. Some how hit wuz n’ like Dick s’posed hit would be. Ther feller clum’ up an’ come down on Dick. They ketched injun hug an’ wallop! erg’in ther groun’ they come. Hit wuz rough twell both uv ’em wuz tired out. They laid still er minit ’en Dick grabbed fur ’is th’oat an’ run ’is thum’ in ther feller’s mouth. Ther feller jist had stren’th lef’ fur ter shet down on hit, an’ ’e did. Dick hollered an’ done hit quick. Ez 1 rid home I passed Dick’s house. ’ls wife seed me an’ s’she: ‘Whar’s Dick?’ ST, Tn town'’ an’ I tol’ her er bout ther fight. ’Etn black eyes er her’n jist snapped an’ popped twell I got ter wher Dick hollered. ’En she jist ’gin ter cry, slapped her han’s over her eyes an’ screeched, ‘Ei Dick hollered, he wuz drunk.’ Now, es that ain’t er bully sawt er wife whut is? Huh?” Hugh Blake Williams.