Eternity Swamp Read Free Page B

take.”
    “I’ve a patient nature, Mr. Lake. I’ve learned if there is something you simply must acquire, then patience is a necessity. I’ve all the time in the world. I can wait.”

The Investment
    “Well, let me tell you, ol’ Sam set out on how to go about ‘securing’ capital in short order. Sam wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was sneaky and crafty when he needed to be. He found out the Elberton Baptist Church’s Social Concerns Committee was looking out for Burris, in particular a woman by the name of Ouida Pearl Jackson.
    “Ol’ Sam joined the church and went to cozying up to Ouida like a cat in a kitchen at a fish fry. Every chance he got he accompanied her over to Burris’ and had a quick look around the place while she saw to the old man’s needs. Trouble was Sam couldn’t go around smashing walls and floorboards or digging up every foot of the place, even at night, folks would get suspicious.
    “Now, that fancy dressed feller from the woods might have been a patient man, but Sam wasn’t. He spent months waitin’ for Burris to kick off. Trouble was Burris wasn’t getting any worse and changing soiled bed sheets and clothes and feeding the old man grits and watching it dribble down his chin just about made Sam sick. In between work and snoopin’ about the Burris place Sam would spy on Sissy, watching all the eligible bachelors come and go and he began to fret his gal might get away.
    “On the twentieth of June, Sissy Winslow had her comin’ out party. Sam wasn’t invited, of course, but he knew about it and went to see who was attending. And, as he had feared every young and able buck within a three county area came sniffin’ around. One of ’em was sure to snatch her up before the old buzzard Burris died. Sam couldn’t chance another month. So, that night, he snuck off to Burris’ place and crept in quiet as a mouse, even though nobody could have heard him, he took a pillow and smothered the old man in his sleep. Everyone thought Burris had expired from the complications of the stroke.
    “The old farm Burris lived on wasn’t much to brag about, some sixty or so acres of weeds and old fields no one looked after. So Sam went to the bank to see what the old man owed. Turned out it wasn’t but a few hundred dollars. Sam had a steady job so he didn’t have trouble getting the loan. He bought the old place and set out a treasure huntin’.
    “He went to work at the prison during the day and then spent all night digging up the yard, tearing up floor boards, punching holes in the walls. He literally tore down the old house looking for gold, nearly worked himself to death.
    “Sam went back several times to the swamp seeking out the fancy dressed feller hoping he could tell him exactly where the gold was, but the feller was nowhere to be found and Sam worried he might never find the feller or the right location ever again.
    “Sam finally found the gold in the bottom of the well. He laughed himself sick when he found it. The next night he went back to the swamp looking for the feller. Realizing he never got that feller’s name he walked about shouting, “hey”, “hello”, and “Mister.” He sure felt foolish but what else was he to do?
    “Just when he was about to give up he spotted a familiar cypress stump. The same stump he and the fancy feller had sat on sippin’ cognac. He hadn’t sat down twenty seconds when he heard, “Mr. Lake, so good to see you again, I take it your endeavors have paid off?”
    “What?” asked Sam.
    “The feller clenched his jaw and gave Sam a queer look but then smiled and asked, “You have secured the necessary capital?”
    “Sam felt for some odd reason he needed to explain how he came about securing the funds. “Yes. I…I…had to…”
    “The fancy dressed feller put up his hand. “Explanations are completely unnecessary among business partners such as us.”
    “It was then Sam noticed all four fingers on the feller’s hand