John B. Patterson

“ Be honest is the only perfect man.
Upon an “Honest Man’s Fortune,”—John Fletcher.
John Fletcher, the renowned English dramatist, was born in Rye, Sussex, December 20 (?) , 1579 and died in London, August, 1625. A few of his famous plays are: “The Wild Goose Chase,” “The Loyal Subject,” “Monsieur Thomas,” “The Faithful Shepherdess,” “A Wife for a Month,” “Wit Without Money,” “The Chances,” “Bonduca,” “The Mad Lover,” and “Rule a Wife and Have a Wife.” His name has always been associated with that of Francis Beaumont, and together they wrote many plays ”

“ John Caldwell Calhoun, an illustrious American statesman, was born in Abbeville Dist., S. C., March 18, 1782, and died in Washington, March 31, 1850. His works include his famous treatise: “On the Constitution and Government of the United States,” and a “Discourse on Government.”
Though the people support the government the government should not support the people. ”

“ Her grandfather, Robert Patterson, fought through three wars, that of 1812, in which he was made captain at nineteen, the Mexican War, in which he was offered the chief command, but refused on account of his devoted friendship for General Scott, and the Civil War. For fifty years he was one of the notable hosts, of Philadelphia. Elizabeth Patterson of Baltimore, who married Jerome Bonaparte, was a distant cousin. General Patterson married Sara Engle, a Quakeress, whose father, when a boy, ran away from home and joined the Revolutionary Army. It is through this ancestor that Mrs. ”

“ In the worst of times, when the rain and wind fell desperately on us during the retreat, and all were, as I have already said, covered with mud and dirt, and drenched from head to foot, with nothing beautiful to be seen about us, this lovely youth, a diamond of the first water, the very quintessence of an exquisite, seemed on all occasions as if emerged from the limits of a bandbox. ”

“ Every morning just before nine, she punched the clock, which gave her a professional feeling; and hung her hat and jacket in locker 31, which seemed to her a better, a more self-respecting place for them to be than her small, untidy bedroom closet, all littered up with so many things—hers and Jim's.
Her mother, who kept house for them, was a good deal at loose ends, in Georgia's opinion. And it didn't seem quite the decent thing that a woman who had nothing else in the world to do should fail to keep a six-room flat in order. ”

“ Soup and gravy are distributed in profuse showers upon the sprawling gastronomes, who with open mouths engulf the savoury fluid, and ruefully glancing upwards, survey with wistful eyes the precious morsels, flying to and fro in mid air, to tantalize their hungry maws, rendering more keen the bitter misfortune which has thus so cruelly deprived them of cherished joys, now dissipated like the morning dew. ”

“ For an instant he would seem to know the person who was speaking to him; then he was away on the winds of delirium.
"His mind is too strong for him not to come out of this all right. It is only a question of time, isn't it?" insisted the father.
"There was a far greater capacity in him for suffering in that hellish fight than there was in Pete Leddy," said Dr. Patterson. "He had sensitiveness to impressions which was born in him, at the same time that a will of steel was born in him—the sensitiveness of the mother, perhaps, and the will of the ancestor. ”

“ Keep your hands up."
"Glad to—both ways," agreed the man, obeying instantly. "Satisfied now?"
"You can put 'em down," said Billy sliding his gun back into the holster as soon as the light fell on the man's face. "I thought you went up to Jacksboro to visit your uncle."
"I did," said John Dawson. "But I thought I'd drift back for the Cross T round-up. On my way south I stopped at Golden Bar."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I was looking for a gent name of Tuckleton. I saw where he was buried." ”

“ Eventually one side would prevail. Which it would be depended on the baby question. If she had enough of them tugging at her skirts she'd revert to type. He knew. He'd seen 'em come and go for thirty years. Persistent mothers don't aviate.
When little Al was a month old, shortly after midnight on the thirteenth of November—she will never forget the day—Georgia awoke suddenly as if a pistol had been shot off by her ear. The baby was wailing in a feeble little singsong. She looked at the clock. ”

“ A man's a fool to let it get away with him, and sometimes I figure I better watch out—not but what I can't control myself, y'understand." There was the slightest interrogation in his tone.
"Sure y'can, Jim; I know that. Still," dubiously, "like you say, a fellow ought to watch out. It'll land the K.O. on the stoutest lad in shoes, if he keeps a-fightin' it."
"It's for use and not abuse. Ain't I right?"
The bartender conspicuously helped himself to a swallow of lithia. "Yep, sure," he said. "D'you know, Jim, I'm kind of sorry you didn't go home to supper to-night." ”

“ What if, while he was there shilly-shallying at a summer resort, some other fellow was with her in Chicago at that very moment!
"What if"—a ridiculous way to put it. Wasn't it sure in the nature of things, that at that very moment some other man was with her?
He caught the 3:40. He would call on her that very evening and if indeed he didn't declare himself bluntly in so many words—hadn't he heard of numberless women who had been won at first sight!—he would at least intimate to her strongly, unmistakably, that she was the object of his respectful consideration and attention. ”

“ Unanimously, "The big fellow!"
Heads were thrown back and each ego there, except the bartender, received a charming little thrill.
The beer men wandered to the back of the saloon and dipped into a large pink hemisphere of cheese. The whisky men suppressed coughs. Jim tipped his head back about five degrees and inquired, "Is the big fellow coming 'round to-night?"
"He's due," replied Jack, wiping his bar dry again.
"How's things looking to you?"
"We—ell, there's always a lot of knockers about." ”

“ The whole extent of the vale of Bastan presents, on every side, the most beautiful scenery that can be imagined. The green and richly cultivated meadows, as contrasted with the naked and inaccessible heights by which they are surrounded, produce an effect that renders the appearance of the landscape at once impressive and delightful. ”

“ Their energies seem to be all reserved for this their chief delight, and, during those hours when all around are wrapped in sleep, these happy fair ones linger in the ball-room, until Aurora, peeping through the jalousies, reminds them that their charms may suffer by comparison with her rosy beams. ”

“ When she just turns white and don't speak——"
Jim privately opined that he understood Georgia's moods vastly better than Al ever would, and was in no need of instruction on this subject.
"You mean when she has one of her silences," he said, giving the thing its proper name.
"Yes, that's when you can't handle her. But now, she's begun to melt already. So to-morrow evening come for supper, and I bet my shirt you are all made up in thirty minutes."
Jim wrung his hand. "You're a thoroughbred, Al—and take this from me now, I've learned sense. If I get her back, I'll keep her. ”

“ In udder words, sah, he kin kill er deer but he ain't er good han' to raise co'n. Yes, sah, de nigger ken plow [Pg 212] all roun' de Ingin, an' de Ingin knowin' dis, ginally gins de niggah er good chance."
"You work with Mr. Patterson on shares, don't you?"
"Yes, sah; ha'f o' dis crap 'longs ter me. W'y, fo' I come yare dar wa'n't hardly nuthin' raised on dis place but weeds an' grass. I happened to meet Patterson in Fort Smif one time. He hearn me talk erbout farmin' an' den he made a dead set at me ter come home wid him."
"Are the people throughout this neighborhood very peaceable?" ”

“ She knocked at the door of big Al's room.
"Al," she cried, "Al, Al, Al—wake up."
"What—eh, oh, what?" came a sleepy voice.
"Telephone the doctor, quick, quick, quick, the baby is—Oh, hurry, Al."
She ran to the bathroom and put her hand in the running stream from the faucet. Tepid, only tepid. Would it never get warm? If God ever wanted anything more from her—in the way of belief or devotion—let Him make this water hot, now, on the instant. ”

“ For Al had observed Georgia's mysteries and evasions, her care before her mirror, her new hats and pretty ribbons, her day-long Sunday absences. Twice he had met her on the street, walking and chatting most gayly with some strange man. Besides his mother had plainly hinted that all might not be right.
"What do you think a fellow ought to do if a man's after his sister?" Al asked slowly. "This unwritten law thing don't seem to work any more except down South."
"You can't lay down no rule," said Moxey. "Depends on if you like your sister." ”

“ Miss Patterson is on the side of the angels, but she makes her way to them through some nasty mire, calling spades spades with a vigour which seems to have prevented her from paying much attention to some beautiful and hopeful things which also have everyday names. ”

“ It is wonderful how soon the ardour of even the most ambitious hero is cooled by a bout of sea-sickness; the frame and spirit are paralysed, and all the energies of mind and body are lying prostrate, and he cares not a farthing for himself, or any human being. The worst of it is, no one has compassion on the wretched victim, and though he may seem absolutely in a dying state, the healthy and older hands only laugh or grin at his distress ”

“ Owen snorted. "You can if you've a mind to. Just settle it that you'll do your best and be satisfied with whatever turns up. Why can't you let Poole and Lyford do the worrying?"
"I suppose I can," said Patterson, humbly.
"I should hope you could! I tell you, man, you've got the goods! You have speed and good control and all the curves you need. If you give yourself half a chance they'll recognize it. If they don't, what do you care? There are other teams in the country, and this isn't the only year you're going to play. ”

“ Between the hours of feasting, the towns-people, of all ranks and ages, sallied from their dwellings; old and young, rich and poor, were on the pavé, from the child in leading strings, to the wrinkled hag of eighty, all afflicted with the mania. On a signal for a general ballet, and the music striking up, the crazy multitude, electrified in every limb, commenced an exhibition of gymnastics unequalled by the most skilful artist, sufficient to make even an anchorite grin and stare. ”

“ You used to think that yourself once, Georgia."
She waited for him to continue, fearing what he would say next, and he said it. "But if you're through with me, I guess the only friend I've got left after all is whiskey. He put me to the bad all right, but he won't go back on me now I'm there. Whatever else you can say about him, he's faithful. He's always got a smile for you when you're blue, and he'll stick to you clear through to the finish."
Yes, that was Jim of old, word for word and motive for motive, who thought the proper remedy for disappointment was drunkenness. ”

“ It is at once acknowledged, that the light which Christ shed on our relations to God, and to our brethren of mankind, is so much clearer than that of the Old Testament that we see our duties more plainly, and are more inexcusable for neglecting them, than those who had not the benefit of Christ's teaching. And no objection can be raised against God for not sending his Son sooner, or for not giving more light to the world before his coming, unless it can be shown that he is debtor to mankind, and that they were making a good use of the light he gave them. ”

“ His eyes were rather swinish in recovery from debauch. His teeth were bad and the gap which had come under the cut lip was not a scar of honor. She hoped he wouldn't speak—but of course he did.
"Hello, Georgia."
"Hello," she answered mechanically.
"What you been doing?"
What a stupid question. What did he suppose she had been doing? For when a husband doesn't suit, he doesn't suit at all—his very attempts at peacemaking become an offense in him.
"Working," she said curtly and passed on to their bedroom. ”

“ Patterson readily made friends whose attachment was strong. Her social success was easy, and she quickly gained a place of high regard among the most reserved. Her immediate conquest of strangers was through her indefinable charm which among the ruggeder qualities of both men and women came like the gentle graciousness of a Southerner. Society in New England cities has been remarked for a certain brusqueness, a downrightness which often ruffles the stranger. ”

“ Connor, third flat.
Mrs. Talbot could not be brought to lowering caste by taking a roomer until Georgia explained about her debt to Mason. This veered the older woman's mind violently about, and she began immediately to figure if it wouldn't be possible to squeeze in two persons instead of one—which proposition Georgia promptly vetoed.
Jim acquiesced gloomily in the loss of the front room. He didn't see why paying Stevens' interest at six per cent wouldn't satisfy the nicest sense of honor. Six per cent was a good investment for anybody. Lord knows he wished someone was paying it to him. ”

“ That the proceeding in the United States Court at Ard more to sell the lands was merely ancillary to the main guardianship matter at Durant, in the Central district, and therefore should have been transferred to Bryan, not to Carter, county. (2) That the Arkansas seven-year statute of limitations-section 4471, Mansfield's Digest-did not commence to run against William M. Patterson and in favor of Joines when the latter took possession, since no interest passed to him; the court proceedings and the guardian's deed being wholly insufficient to give even color of title. ”