Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1886 — NEVADA HOSPITALITY. [ARTICLE]

NE VADA HOSPITALITY.

The Open-Handed Welcome Whleh Extended a J*roepector. 'flie man waiting in the yard was “the man of the house.” He had been; brought forth by the barking of the dogs and the wild-eyed reports of his children. It was with great surprise that he saw the apparition of the prospector and his donkey descending the slope of the mountain. The man who thus stood forth wore a pair of baggy butternut pantaloons, held up by a single knit woolen suspender, a Blue woolen shirt, and a tattered straw hat. His butternut-colored hair reached almost down to his shoulders, but his face was clean shaved. He was a man 45 or 50 years old, but still solid and sound as a nut. From the mornent when he had first Been the minor and donkey descending the side of the mountain this pioneer ranchman had watched every step and , movement with interest. When the miner finally arrived at the bars, tied up his donkey, let down a bar, entered the inclosure, and approached the House, the ranchman—with extended hand and a face that showed a smile in every square inch of it—advanced to meet him. Then his cheery voice rang out: “Stranger, howdy! Glad to see yer! Cum fur? So fur as that, hey? Wall, wall—blast me, stranger, howdy! Wall, wall—glad ter see yer, by jingo! Kin yer git to stay* all night—blast me! yer jist kin! hyar, John Thomas—John Thomas! John Thomas, my boy, let down the front bars and lead in the gentleman’s jackass. Take him round to the east o’ the pig-pen, whar the mernin’ sun’ll strike him, and throw an 'armful o’ fodder over the fence. Yas, stranger, you kin git to stay all night. John Thomas—ho, John Thomas! John Thomas, my son, give the stranger’s jackass a bucket o’ water. Hooks to me, stranger, like you’re one o’ them prospectin’ pilgrims, Yas ? Wall, I thought so blast me, I thought so! As fur as ever I see’d you up the hill I thought so. Blast me, yas! I sed to myself that you was- one o’ -them qirospectin’. pilgrims. Sairy Jaiie, wife! I say, Safry Jane, in the house thar! You kin cut the crook-necked squash—the stranger ’ll stay. John Thomas—John Thomas, boy; don’t yer hear yer daddy call? Yas? Wall, then, attend to business. Give the stranger’s jackass a bite o’ barley. Julia Ann, my girl, don’t stand starin,’; run and pull a mess o’ turnips. “Blast me, stranger, if I hain’t glad to see this section a gittin’ so populous! Come, we’ll walk inter the house. But fust—-John Thomas, boy! John Thomas, bring Tn all the stranger’s things ofiTn his jackass. Walk in—walk in. Take a seat in that 4 big split bottom cheer what stands by the corner of the hath. It’s the easiest cheer iri the house, ’ceptin’ that one with rockers’ onto it, that you see my ole mammy a settin’ in. Mammy, this is a prospectin’ person—an’heTl stay all night! She’ea leetle bit deaf, stranger. I had- her brought out this summer. She cum all the way from ole Missoury. Blast me, stranger, she jist sits in the chimney corner a? happy as a kitten all day long. Does a feller good to look at her, don’t it ? How old? Wall, stranger, her age liain’t alius been kept as reg’ler as it ought’r bin, but I reckon she’s nigh on . W*T- —

14 “Isay! Sairy Jane, are*you in the kitchen ? Yer are? Wall, I’m goin’ out to cut the head off’n a yellow--legged hen, so put on the pot and have some scaldin’ water ready. Git to stay all night ? Wall, stranger, yer couldn’t git to do nothin’elst if yer tried! Susie, child, get yer daddy his coat; then -jist take the stranger’s carpet-sack an ! put it under the bed out in the "bestroom. Yas, yas, Susie .child—l know that! But your gran’mammy kin sleep in the trundle bed ’long With you and Julia Ann and Amandy Ellen; yer mammy an’ me kin take little Jimmy and Mary. Louisa inter bed ’long with us, and George Alexander is big enough to go up inter the loft ’long o’ the boys. But afore yer go, child, jist git a coal p ! fire off’n the hath fur yer gran’mammy’s l>ipe: don’t yer see she’s a waitin’? “What, stranger! Yer kin spread yer blankets an’sleep on the floor? -No, stranger, yer jist can’t spread Ver blankets an’sleep on the floor! Wall, blast me! Spread his blankets and sleep on the floor ? Wall, by jingo! Stranger, there hain’t another house in thirty mile; an’ what does the. Bible say ’bout entertainin’ a stranger unawares ? Git to stay all night ? Wants to spread his blankets! Bless my soul, by jingo! Sairy Jane, wife, be partick’ler an’ peel a few pertaters to put in ’long with the chicken. Mammy’ll talk to yer, stranger, while I go fur the hen. You’ll find her fight peart yit, but yer got to talk loud like. Yer kin jist move yer cheer back from the hath if yer too warm. We’ve got ter keep a bit o’ fire a goin’ to take the chill off’n her, an- light her pipe. Mammy, the stranger’ll talk ter yer; he’ll stay all night. Yer might hev to yell a leetle bit louder’n that, stranger; yer bee she’s used, to my-voice. “John Thomas, my boy, run out now an’ ketch up Bull, Watch, Tige, and oldBose an’ tie ’em up; they might take to worry’n the stranger's jackass durin’ the night, but you kin let the four pups run loose. What ! old Bose under the bed? Git the broom and poke him out. He’s the consarnedest dog fur sleepuWundef beds that I ever "see! Amandy Ellen, girl; pick up a basket o’ chips and help your mammy while I go for tfiatTien. Sairy Jane, yer might dash a few dough dumplin’s inter the chicken among the pertaters es the stranger likes ’em. Asked if he could git to stay? Blast me! Sairy Jane, wife! Better bake a short-cake for supper!” —Nevada Letter. ,