The Boy with the U.S. Census | Page 3

to, follow an idee backed up by a
rifle-barrel because we have to, but there's not many men hyeh that
won' do anythin' yo' ask if yo' jes' ask the right way."
"But there are always some that give trouble," Hamilton protested,
trying to defend his position.
The old Kentuckian slowly shook his head from side to side.
"If yo' don' win out by courtesy," he said, "it's jes' because yo' haven'
been courteous enough, because yo' haven' taken yo' man jes' right.
Thar isn't any such thing as bein' too gracious. An' anyway, a
census-taker with any other idee up hyeh would be runnin' chances
right along."
"You mean they would shoot him up?" asked Hamilton.
"I think if he threatened some folks up hyeh an' in the gullies thar might
be trouble."
"But the fact that he represented the government would insure him
from harm, I should think."
"I don't think much of that insurance idee," the old man said. "I can't
remember that it helped the revenue men sech a great deal. The only
insurance I ever had was a quick ear, an' even now, I c'n hear a twig
snap near a quarter of a mile away. An' that used to be good insurance
in the ol' days when, if yo' weren't gunnin' for somebody, thar was
somebody gunnin' fo' you."

"But there's no one 'gunning' for you now, is there, Uncle Eli?" asked
the boy amusedly.
"I haven't b'n lookin' out especially," the Kentuckian responded, with
an answering slow smile, "an' I reckon sometimes that I might jes' as
well leave the ol' rifle in the house when I go out."
"But you never do," put in Hamilton quickly.
"I reckon that's jes' a feelin'," rejoined the mountaineer, "jes' one o'
these habits that yo' hate to give up. I'd sort o' be lost without it now,
after all these years. Thar's no one to worry about, anyway, savin' Jake
Howkle, an' I don' believe he's hankerin' for blood-lettin'."
"Jake? Oh, never," Hamilton replied with assurance; "why, he's only
about my age."
"That's only partly why," the old man said, "not only because he's your
age, but because he's b'n at school. Shootin' an' schoolin' don' seem to
hit it off. I reckon thar would have b'n a sight less trouble in the
mount'ns if thar had b'n mo' schools."
"There are plenty of schools in the mountains now, aren't there?" asked
Hamilton. "It must be very different here, Uncle Eli, from what it was
when you were a boy."
"Thar has been quite a change, an' the change is comin' faster now. But
thar's still a lot o' folk who a'nt altered a bit sence the war. You city
people call us slow-movin' up hyeh, an' as long as thar's any o' the ol'
spirit abroad thar's a chance o' trouble. If yo' really are goin' in for this
census-takin', I'd keep clar o' the mount'ns."
"You really would?" queried the boy thoughtfully.
"An' what's more," continued his Uncle, "I would jes' as soon that yo'
didn' have anythin' to do with it near hyeh. I don' want to see any little
differences between families, such as census-takin' is likely to
provoke."

[Illustration: TAKING THE CENSUS IN OLD KENTUCKY: Typical
conditions of an enumerator's work in the mountain districts.
(_Courtesy of Art Manufacturing Co., Amelia, O._)]
"Why, Uncle Eli!" cried Hamilton in amazement, "you talk as though
the days of the feuds were not over."
"Are yo' sure they're all over?" the Kentuckian said.
"I had supposed so," the boy replied. "I thought the Kentucky 'killings'
had stopped ten or fifteen years ago."
"It's a little queer yo' sh'd bring that up today," the old man said, "for I
was jes' readin' in the paper some figures on that very thing. Yo' like
figures, this will jes' suit you. Where was it now?" he continued,
rustling the paper; then, a moment later, "Oh, yes, I have it."
"'During the terms of the last three Kentucky governors,'" he read,
"'over thirteen hundred criminals have been pardoned, five hundred of
them being for murder or manslaughter.' It says fu'ther on," the old man
added, "that pardonin' is jes' as frequent now as it ever was. I don'
believe it is, myself, but if thar is such a lot o' pardonin' goin' on for
shootin', thar must have been a powerful lot o' shootin'."
"But that's for all the State," objected the boy, "not for the mountains
only. That must be for crimes in the cities and all sorts of things. You
can't make the feuds responsible for those."
"Not altogether," the mountaineer agreed, "the real ol'-time feud is
peterin' out, an' it's mainly due to the schoolin'. The young folks ain't
ready fo' revenge now, an' that sort