And hot, too; why, it got so allfired hot that
one day he tied his mule to a pen of popcorn
out behind the barn, and it got so hot that
the corn got to poppin' and flyin' 'round
that old mule's ears and he thought it wuz
snow and laid down and froze to death.
Wall, about that time old Jim Lawson
commenced to show signs of uneasiness, and
someone sed, "What is it, Jim?" and Jim
remarked, as he shifted his terbacker and cut
a sliver off from his wooden leg, "I wuz
a-thinkin' about a cold spell we had one
winter when we wuz a-livin' down Nantucket
way. It wuz hog killin' time, if I remember
right; anyhow, we had a kittle of
bilin' water sottin' on the fire, and we sot it
out doors to cool off a little, and that water
froze so durned quick that the ice wuz hot."

Ezra sed, "Guess its 'bout shettin' up
time."



Jim Lawson's Hoss Trade

SPEAKIN' of hoss tradin', now Jim Lawson was
calculated to be about the best hoss trader in
Punkin Centre. Yes, Jim he could sot up on a
fence, chew terbacker, whittle a stick, and