Show I 1 u ao P 1 11 la in the galaxy of 0 grocery stove llara ile davia davis easily occupied tho the soap box omine he ile us a eort sort of living refutation of the claim that truth Is mighty and will prevail ic in fact he ile teklah davis was a most marvelous and conscientious prevaricator none believed him capable of telling the truth hence DO no one expected him to peak speak aught but falsehood except on one occasion and even then repentance fol followed lomed quickly so graca gracefully fully tenaciously and pious ly did eilez davis lie ile that away back in the nebulous state of time bo be had been dubbed lying deacon davis the deacon portion of tho the ampil appellation ll 11 la was asa applied because oc of his strict atten attendance danco upon church services and the wonderful religious lies associated vi with ith his ecclesiastical wool gatherings of a night when and were playing hica him tricks and fashioning for h imaginings strange visions vi slone were little short of miracles as related to a news famished community next morning lhnn too hez occasionally acted as grave digger for the village dead this and lying being about as much as one able bodied man in a quiet rural community could be expected to attend to well ell cut after a time aa as heza lying became more chronic and his grave digging less pronounced the deacon joint in the cognomen of his na meas name kameas dropped and he approached the sunset of life with the short and un undesirable significance of lying davis aa As such was ho he known on a blustering winter night two days before 1902 as he shambled into the corner grocery and took his ac customer cus tomed place among the embers of the town strategy doard board iho accustomed accas tomed grin of quasi lex expectancy pec tancy tinged with a curl of dis daan d alln in which pity and jealousy were strangely mingled greeted his entry into the liars circle about thu the cavern eral bite off a alico slice of biaca plus plug and smacking his lips A suppressed titter rippled about the grocery stove at the prods admin catered in an evident effort to awaken the frequently dormant sense of 0 lying that half balf comatose had its home within the graying head of lying da vis but hisz refusing refus lne to accept the challenge merely shook hia his head sad ay 1 this aint no time to be tellin ilea lies boys here the ton liar cast hia his eyes meekly tou toward ard the soft pine pino flo door floor or and sighed I 1 taint no lime time V lough laugh an be gay with one 0 our best country residents dead 0 heart di disease seasel he lie paused in solemn mien his head low his hands clr carried ried between his knees wary glance were exchanged between th strategists none cared to make the sally died an hour ago snuffed out like tho the candle in a draught fell d ad upon the milk house floor resu resumed nied hez sally softly much affected chos dead blurted andrew shrader aiming for a knothole knot hole in the floor with a kernel of corn and missing it chos dead lying davis took a long deep breath and looking up suddenly demanded th matter with you f fellers dont yo ye know that hiram squires la Is no more it aint no subject for ter bokin er str stringing ingin ye know he a dead as well as I 1 do and a mighty sad christmas bo be for ter his hn poor wife and children left with a big farm on their bands hands and none on em ein able t take keer of it you dont mean to say that hiram squires Is dead hez interrupted horace grant editor of the weekly clarion who bad had entered at this juncture to get the copy for a christmas corst r ta jol N 1 A 1 NN Q 4 14 I 1 A mighty fine man wae was hirard squire squires oue ous stove that glowed and flushed as it if fretting and blushing for the out falsehoods that nightly held their rampant sway about its metal ides sides As bo he adjusted bis his coat tails carefully behind the soap box on an which bo be eat sat hez surveyed tho the group critically got a spade I 1 kin borrer tomorrow to morrow mornin bill addressing compton the grocer 1 I broke tb th handle of mine taday bryin up a hoss boss root I 1 coln inter gardenin inquired alt alf fiskin slyly nudging hank som ers alongside him ou on a sugar barrel cahnt bo be yeve had ro revelations 01 ol late hez are ye coln t turn tanner farmer ter a livin and give up via 1 I interjected roger craig taking a lab advertisement of tho the corner grocery died lesan aj hour ago replied the indomitable davis illy conce concealing aUng the gratification he felt at being interviewed by the intellectual bead head of tho the leading Yil tillage lage paper want feelen well fer ter a day or two although I 1 do believe he was in town yla tadry taday want ho he compton Comp tonT turning questioningly toward tho the grocer who wae was busily engaged in tying up a SO 60 cent package ot of light brown augar sugar for a customer hiram squires yes be he was in early yesterday morning came to town with a load 0 ft hoga hogs stopped hereon bis his way bade from the depot to any a calico dress for standy mandy must a bin eighty sudden so heerd acquiesced lynnar da J A t imi fk vie surreptitiously r reaching for or a silver allver from the tall ot of a cod fish flab that protruded from a now near br box lie ile want feelen overly scrumptious crumpt lous though fer ter a week I 1 beerd his bartor say u so s o as I 1 curn by there jest now from speir tn up in dry run been complaining compla inin of a pain iu in his appendix and had a cold sweat an a bid bad dream vother night that want wan t gratifying In for ter it roan 0 his calibre aday he be vaas as by the milk house churn mer like fixin the crank er sor and all to onet ho he uttered a fafel tadi and fell tell right where he be stood pitched la in a heap and never knoeb a thing gasped once arter his wife ife cot got there and that was all A mighty fine min was hiram ciul as s blvd money and vegetables V I 1 th poor and always allowed that all bis his stoc stock k cc could u id e eat a t want a n t wasted boys here alez cleared his dry one I 1 ault an habitual us na of 0 adjective adjectives frequently sit le ant ot of blasphemy was forgotten forg ottea he ile waa was a good man and god rest him thia this waa was the ae sentiment ot of brotherly express expression lon voiced by those who bad known him best nearer and nearer they drew to the snug tarm farm residence where grief like alobe all tears was domiciled and where tho the black camel of adeata knelt at the sate gate in mute distress meanwhile boreas and J jack ack frost were ripping and I 1 biting at the noses and tho the toes of 0 thy the mourners mour nera hs they urged the on over the last mile of the wind dept eft ept way the turned in nt at the aide road that led to the farm home editor grant and tam am lly fly in tho the lead one by ono one they reined their horse horses into the farmyard and stopped the editor waa was preparing to leap to 0 ONO A 4 r ak av f JV W 4 it 1 4 el 1 gol durn yer blanket blank pic and throat with an effort boys it 11 bo be our turn next deep silence greeted the forecast you say about that there spade horace resumed hez kin vin I 1 borrer it lone long enough t f dig a grave fer ter hiram in th MOT mornin nin funerals day after ter from the house 2 armed with tho the spade lying davia davis shuffled out of the grocery fol lowd low d by the editor lent tent upon learning more of the details for hie his paper already being made up by the tore fore man that an early start might be secured for press day the weekly clarion was in the post acce by 10 next morning and sincere was tho the mourning mou ining for hiram StI fures tho the merchants possessed of that human buman sympathy always uppermost in a rural community laid aside their business prejudge ei and decided to attend the funeral in a body despite the fact that the evening of the day of the funeral was christmas eve and many trinkets trin keta tor for the christmas trees in the churches and homes were the et out dutifully toward the home of the dc deceased ceased six miles west on tho the pike road there were something more than a dozen vehicles in all and the procession was a solemn one As they rodo rode along through the crunching enow snow facing a biting december wind they spoke softly of the virtues of hiram squire even his hi the ground and grocer common compton had thrown the robes over the dash dashboard boar d to liberate his lags when there grobe froia froin behind tho the barn a series of blar ing 1 yells HI therel gol durn yer blank picture git inside that pen will ye whoop I 1 here you gol darn ignoramus no what th great horn spoons be ve a doln there spott here spot sic emi talio take deml ull 1111 III I 1 Soo soheyl eyll suddenly there burst into view from around the birn virn a contrary hog dashing at full shoed tor for the open followed by a scotch collie dog and yea it waal it was hiram squires himsel ft ilia ills face waa was red with exertion and rage one mitten wae was gone and be he breathed bard hard as bo he ewing into full fult pursuit behind the barking bogl then hie his eye caught tho the group of open mou choti spectator spectators the sleighs and thu the steaming horeis wal by hickry ho he shouted catch ing at hie his breath what no 0 o all you fellers tellers doln here there waa was a atop and eloquent 1 allence I for a brief interim during which editor horace grant graat looked sheepishly into the cyca eyes of grocer compton grocer compton shifted bla his gaze to ward the pure white enow snow and kept his hi peace 1 I reckon wed beat best go back V t town and aak ask lying davis eald said henry somers clambering into his vehicle Gida Gid apt pl lit |