Part 3 (1/2)

I know, Texans have a reputation of being big liars It is true, all Texans are capable of lying, but they are not all liars They don't have to lie In Texas the truth is wild enough

If I a with a man from north of the Mason-Dixon line, I only have to tell the truth and he thinks I a Texas lie But if the man is from Oklahoma, I someti to hi

Some people think Texas is a state, but it's not Texas is a state of mind, an attitude, a broad open expanse of freedo you can never get just by living in Texas, you've got to be born in Texas

There are other happenings dating back to the Flint place Here are a couple which took place before my time I can only relate them to you as they were told to ot his first taste of chewing tobacco, but he liked it and he wanted another taste It was only a half- mile from our house over to Uncle Andrew's Now, Uncle Andreed tobacco and Frank knew it So, Frank found it easy to get Mama to let him walk over there to play with Ruth He also found it easy to ask Ruth if she knehere her dad kept his tobacco

She knew all right, and she found it easy to ”snitch” a chew for Frank She also had the forethought to h for both of them But, now that they had the tobacco in their possession, it wouldn't be s around the house with tobacco in their mouths

So, now Frank tells Aunt Mary he came over to see if Ruth could come over to his house and play Yes, Aunt Mary would allow her to go, which was a perfect set-up for five-year-old kids They could chew the tobacco all the way froot rid of it before they got there Who cares how long it ht take two little kids to walk a halftime

However, one little problem developed The tobacco didn't affect Frank at all, but before they got to Frank's house, Ruth was as sick as a horse

Naturally, they didn't dare tell why she was sick And she was sure she would feel better in a little while

Another little story ca to see after the baby of the family At this time Albert was the baby and I was about three years old She probably had to take care of me also, when I was a baby But on this particular day-the day of the snuff-Mao but had to stay in the house with Albert

This was one of the few tiht size, and here I a about it Susie had to tell ht have had to stay in the house with Susie and Albert And if I had been any larger, I arden

Anyway, Susie's brain was partly angry but mostly just idle, so the devil used it for his workshop

Grand above the kitchen door Susie had never been allowed to taste snuff, but she reasoned that itspecial, because Grandma ”dipped” it all the time

Many's the ti her a small hackberry limb for a tooth brush (It was really a snuff brush) She would take a hackberry twig about twice as big and twice as long as a wooden match and chew on one end until it ”frazzled” out into a bristle Then she would dip the damp bristle into her snuff, put it in herout one corner of her mouth

Now, this picture of contentment on Grandma's face as she dipped and worked, is what the devil showed to Susie when he told her she ought to cliet her some of that delicious brown snuff in the little tin box

She cliot up on the cabinet, only to find that she couldn't reach the snuff But she didn't give up She climbed back down and put a chair up on the cabinet Then she cliet onto the cabinet so she could get up in the top chair And by leaning way over, she could reach the snuffbox

Now, Susie didn't want to climb down to dip her snuff It would be too hard to have to climb all the way back up to put the snuff back on the shelf over the door So she just sat down in the upper chair and began dipping the snuff

That's about all the story At least that's all she reot down from the chairs and the cabinet She only reain consciousness, she was a litter

CHAPTER 3

AT THE EXUM FARM AFTER I WAS FIVE

We, the Will Johnsons, owned this first farht the Exuer and it fitted our needs better There were 332 acres in the place, and we paid 9,000 for it