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Show A fii!,ill. Corpse. ';Xon that corpse (said the undertaker, under-taker, patting the folded hand.- of deceased approvingly) was a brick every way you took him hu was a brick. lie was so real accommodating, and so modest-like and simple in his last moments. Friends wanted metallic burial-ease nothinu' else would do. couldn't rot it. There warn't going to be time anybody could see that. Corpte said never mind, shake him up some kind of a box he could stretch out in comfortably, he warn't particular particu-lar about the general style of it. Said he went more 011 room than style, any way, in a last final container. Friends wanted a silver door-plate on the corhu, signifying who he was and where lie was from. Now you knon a fellow couldn't roust out such a gaily thing as that in a little eoutitry town like this. What did corpse say? Corpse said, whitewash his old canoe and dob his address and general destination desti-nation on to it with a black ing-orush and stencil-plate, along with a verse of sonic likely hymn or other, and p'int hiiu for the tomb, and mark him C. 0. IX, and just let him skip along. lit warn't distressed any more than you be on the contrary just as carm and collected as a henrse-horse; said he judged that wher' he was going to, a body would find it considerable better bet-ter to attract attention by a picturesque moral character than a natty bnrial-case bnrial-case with a swell door-plate on it. Splendid man, he wns. I'd druther do for a corpse like that 'n any I've tackled in seven year. There's some satisfaction in buryin' a man like that. Yon feel that what you're doing is appreciated. ap-preciated. Lord bless you, so's he got planted before he sp'iled, he was perfectly per-fectly satisfied; said his relations meant well, yitrl'ectly well, hut all them preparations pre-parations was bound to dplay the thin mure or lor . and he didn't wish to be kept layin' round. You never see such a clear head as what he had and so carm and so cool. Ju.-t a bank of brains that is what lr was. Perfectly Perfect-ly awful. Tt was a ripping distance from one end of that man's head to t'other. I Iften and over again lie's had the brain fever a-raging in one place, and the rest of the piie didn't know anything about it didn't affect it any more than an Injun insurrection in Arizona affects the Atlantic States. Well, the relations they wanted a big funeral, but corpse said he was down on flummery didn't want any procession till the hearse full of mourners and get out a stern line and tow him behind. He '(' the most down on style of any remains I ever struck. A beautiful, simple-minded creature it was what he was. you can depend upon that. He w.is just set on lurin; things the way he wanted them, and he took a solid comfort in laying his little plans. He had lne measure him and take a whole raft of directions: then he had a minister stand up behind a lonf box with a table-cloth over it and rea 1 his funeral sermon, spying ''Angcon'. anpeore! at the good places, and unking hiui scratch out every bit of brag alut him. and all the hil'alutin : and then he made them trot out the choir so's he could help them pick out the tunes for the. occasion, and he go: them to s-.ns '"Fop i r,x:s the We:iM?l.' because ho d always liked that tunc hen he was downhenned. and solemn music ma le him sad: and when they sung that with tears in thf'.r eyes, because they all loved him . and his r- laiions gr.ev-ing gr.ev-ing around, he just laid there as hat'py as a lug. and vying to heat tirm;. and showing all ox. r how he en-ioxe en-ioxe 1 it : and proscntiv b,- cot worked up an leiiitei. and tn. t t join in. tor mind you he was p' t:y proud of his abilities in the si 1 .r. line . but the tirst time he opened nis mouth and was inst going to spre-id himself, hi breath t'Vk a walk. I never a man .nuilVd out m -.widen. Ah, ii was a great loss it was a powerful loss to this poor little one-horse town. Well, well. well. I hain't got time to be palavering pa-lavering along kere got to nail on the lid and mosey along with him. and if you 11 just give me a lift we ll kc-et him into the hearse and meander alomr. Relations bound to have it so they don't pay no attention to dyinir injunctions, minute a corpse gone: but if I bad my way, if I didn't respect his last wishes and tow him behind be-hind the hearse. 1 U be cuss'd. I consider con-sider that whatever a corpse wants done for his comfort is a little enough matter, mat-ter, and a man hain't got no right to deeeix'e him or take advantage of him and whatever a corpse trusts me to do, I'm a-going to do, you know, even if it's to stuff him and paint him yaller and keep him for a keepsake yon hear me .' " He cracked his whip and went lumbering lum-bering away with his ancient ruin of a hearse, and T continued my walk with a valuable lesson learned that a healthy and wholesome cheerfulness is not nece.-sarily impossible to any occupation. occu-pation. The lesson is likely tn be lasting, last-ing, for it will take many months 10 obliterate the memory of the remarks and circumstances that impressed it. ,7ov Sji'niahd Jjoi'dff. |