(*Buckhorn is about 5 miles southwest of Walcott, AR)
When I grew up and became a man, I also became a Baptist. When I read in the Bible that Christ came to John in the wilderness to be Baptized in the river of Jordan, that he went down into the water and came up straight out of the water, then I wanted to follow my Christ in Baptism! THE SPEECH MAKER Another humorous episode happened while I was in school at old *Buckhorn. Of course, it wasn't very humorous to me at the time. When I was in school, such boys as Lonso Holmes, Dave Fielder, and old Uncle Jack Fielder's brother, and my brother, Willie, would get me out and teach me a dirty speech to tell the class. Every Friday afternoon we had to spell and give our speeches. I was just a little boy. They would prompt me good, so that when my turn came, my teacher would call me and tell the whole school that "Fratus has a good speech to recite." I would walk around and cut loose with my speech. Well, I would get mad and give the whole gang and the teacher a cussing, but the more I cussed, the more they would laugh! I well remember the first day in school. My brother, Willie, took me with him. When the teacher called us in for books that morning, I took a seat by Willie. The teacher came around asking our age. He ask Willie how old he was and Willie told him that he was sixteen. Then he ask me how old I was and I snapped out that I was sixteen too. Well, I knew something was wrong! Everyone in the school was laughing their heads off. I got mad and gave the whole bunch a piece of my mind, the teacher, too. I never got a scolding from my teacher, for I furnished them a good show. I cannot imagine sending a child to school, and not telling him anything about how to act, or how old he is. When this all took place, the late George Light, 19 |