LISTER’S HOLLOW Chapter 4

 Dry Goods Store
courtesy photobucket.com

 

Little Sam had been away for a couple of months visiting some cousins but he had just returned in time for the planting.

Little Sam was the youngest in the Lister clan and as of yet hadn’t found a wife.  One of the reasons he visited so long was he were fond of one of the second cousins.  

He knew if he got married he would have to live at his father’s home or try to get some land from someone who couldn’t make it farming or move to into town.

Marshall the oldest brother and his family already lived there with dad, so it would be too crowded for him and a wife.

Since he didn’t have the money to buy a place it had to be one of the other options for getting married.  The most likely was to move to town and find a job there.  

The family decided to have a good day of picnicking and fishing before starting the plowing tomorrow.  As it happened the fish were slow to bite but finally they were hitting at anything you put on your hook.

When they had more than enough they stopped fishing and began the eating.

Cox their neighbor had an ice house built back into the hillside and each year several families would fill it with ice in the winter. It was decided they should have ice cream for desert so they went to the ice house and got enough ice for tea and making ice cream.

Some of the neighbors came over when they heard about the ice cream supper and it was a good finish to the day before the plowing began.  

All the plow horses were fat and the first day was hard on them.  The next day they were so sore it took a while before they could move with a good motion.

Little Sam prepared the garden spots for his pa’s place and then went over to Risen’s.  

The next day he worked with the women to plant the garden seeds and things was looking good for the summer and the next winter.

As the days and weeks went by little Sam decided to take a few days off and go see the girl he had been courting.

When he got there he was told she had married some feller with a good farm and some good stock.  He was very discouraged by that news. He thought here I have been working as hard as I could and am no better off than I have ever been.

Sam could see no better times by staying in the Hollow so he decided to go to live in the town.  After a while he realized he needed more schooling if he was to get ahead.  

He got a job working at the local ice house at night so he could go to school in the daytime.  He did this for two years until he had what was considered sufficient education.  He could do all the eighth grade work and a lot of the high school work.

His next best bet was to move to the big city where he got a job in a large store that sold all kinds of merchandise.  The boss took a liking to him and decided to teach him all about the business.  At first little Sam learned slowly but once he caught on he became a fast learner.

The boss had him work in every department until he understood how to run it and then moved him to another department.  After two years he was doing much of the buying which caused him to travel quite a bit.  His boss gave him a car and after a few mishaps he became a pretty good driver.

By this time Sam had met a lot of women in the store and his travels and one of them, a woman store clerk caught his eye and they were married.  He was now making a very good salary and they bought a nice house to live in.

Time had passed and it had been six years since he had been home so he loaded up his bride in the car and they headed to Lister’s Hollow for a visit.

    
When they drove up Marshall came out of the house with his gun and shouted; what do you want around here?  

Little Sam hollered back and said, “It’s me you durn fool, I’ve come to visit.”

Finally Natalie came out and said, “I hardly recognized you in those nice new clothes.”  She said, “Put that gun away, its little Sam your brother.”  As Marshall lowered his gun he said, “Well I’ll be, it is him.”

Then the rest of the family came out and met Sam’s new wife, Lydia.

Marshall’s boys were getting big and he sent one of them over to Risen’s place and told him that Sam and his wife were here on a visit.

Later Risen and Lucy with their two kids came over and greeted Sam and Lydia.

Risen said, “Lord if you ain’t all duded up.”  Sam laughed and said, “I have some dude clothes for all of you except for the young’ uns.  Lydia will get their sizes and we will send some clothes for them.”

Sam noticed that these last six years had made a difference in Ma and Pa for they had begun the pale some.  

 

After a day Sam said, “I have to get back to the city and it is a long drive.”

After a while they had said their goodbyes they were off.  

Lydia said, “It was a good visit and I liked your Ma, Lucy, and Natalie for they were real down home folks.”

She went on and said, “Did you see all of those kids?  If they keep on those places won’t support all of them and some will have to leave just like you did.”  

He said, “I think you are right and some how they had better get some education.”

To be Continued