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4encer gill Village
Spindrift, N. O.
6,eptember 28, 1938
I. L. U.
NINA BOON
They live right on the rim of Heppy Hollow. Their
smell three-room house looks out over e strip of woods
in which pre located ell hogpens belonging to residents
of Happy Hollow. Happy Hollow is thpt part of the
apencer uill Villrge which rembles greduelly over three
streets, down into e valley -space covered by green,
sheds -giving trees. The day in late September when I
went to see Nine Boone, I rent past the little velley,
followed the up -grade, dusty ropd eround a bend and
stopped in front of Nine's house.
The front of the house perched up on tall, skinny,
brick pillars which grve its rerr end the appeerence
of hiving been dumped on the ground. Up under the
front of the house Nina has stored nn old trunk and p
brokem..down chair. Ninu has no room inside for storing
any article not in use. She tries Fe best she may to
provide living -space for her six children, herself,
tn husband.
I heard the heavy treed of tn old sewing meohine
come to sn abrupt halt pe I walked up on the porch.
Tiny feet scurried over the rough floor, and when Nine
Orme to the door three of her smell children were at
her heels.
Come on in if you on push your wry through this
crowd of little omits she said and mailed. I thought
Es I looked et her how climes it was for t siddleeeged
women to here so many children who were still bebies.
For everythine• about her face led me to believe elle
must be sore than fort,efive. Her light brown heir
wee drewn smoothly beck from her wrinkled forebeed„
end her hoe tapered off into en emsoirted chin. Two
ueoeyed front teeth added ege to Rinele smile but
could not dim its expression of humor, petienoe, end
fortitude.
ater offering me s ob1tr, Nine hed art down end
tl,ken in her lep her twoeyerreold beby. The other
two emr11 ones stood (dose to her ohtir. The three
next in rge stood tround the tenth, tod over in the
third cheir in the room set Norr, the oldest child.
by they ere ell girls, I observed presently.
es, six Firle„ end the lit 1_ one thrt died
Wre t girl too, d Nine rid.
"You171 hrve your htnde full rrrin six children,'"
I eid, thinking whet r fortum-te thing for in thee
her ohil6ebetring tied tertee. comperptively lrte tnd
ttot it w,,e now over.
41 we tryin, to melte Rork r little print to wear
to school, !ate /old.
The child don't bete no clothes
stall."
*What grade Fre you in, Nora?* I esked.
'eventhio" sore replied.
*jhese elveys done well in school,* Nine veld.
*She's not smite thirteen yet. ahe come elong exactly
one year if ter me end Jim wEs married. e wee born
ox my nineteenth birthday."
iven after I bed added nineteen end thirteen it
leret three times it wee herd for me to believe thet
Rine wee only thirty-two. Woven children in thirteen
yeFrE ;,nd she we only thirty. -two. I wee wondering if
the -oone femily was yet complete when Wine spid, *lity
Me Asti thirteen children.*
The children were very ouiet in the room es they
stood and looked it me. 6ome of them had bright red
hair end the others hid brown heir like their mother.
All of them had bright bluP eyes. They wore patched
clothes, all of them, but they were dirty only with that
day's jilt. Their pitched clothes had been cleen when
the dri begin. The four-year old hid a rust -colored
pFteh shc,ped like r atchet on her faded yellow print.
It sprerld ludicrously across her little stomach as
she stood with ner hinds behind her beck end looked
et me out of solemn, beautiful eyes.
The children looked first rt Nine end then at
me is ine told me r few things ebout her life.
Nine wee born in folk County on her fether's well
mountein ferm. She went es ler es the sixth grede in
the country school neer her home. There wee alweys
work to do and plenty of field work too. On two '1:undays
e month she sent with her femily to the oounity °hurt%
end other then thet there wrs very little divereion in
her life. It ,re et church tht She met Jim when she
wre sixteen rnd he rep eighteen. Jim who lied spent
ell of his life at F cotton mill wee visiting his uncle
neer t: nOr. home. When she WEA3 eighteen end Jim twenty
they lurriod Nod Vine roved with Jim to the mill.
Eleven yerrr rgo they moved to Spencer mill. For the
pest eight yeerr they hvve lived In the little house
on the rim of Heppy Hollow.
"Lut itdon't teem like re cm live here much
loner,* lane s,td. "'"'hen the children strrt growin'
ue they won't b- room enough for tll of 'ee in one
room. Jim'a spoke for !mother house when one gets
empty. There's, only on rerson why Ile hrte to lerve
down here. It' e ruch good greet& for my cow, end
without r co r we couldn't feed the children. 'n:e've
kept r cow ell elong ene it's been e blessinl. The
gerden end the cow kept is pin' this pest summer when
the mill wrs shut down for five weeks. ;e never got
behind with anything but the inearemoo. he got 47.b4
maesploymemt money during that tine and we neves could
understand why he didn't get Lore. He wt in to
Rutherfordton every week for awhile but he never got
but that one cheek.
°I went to Po's this summer and attuned ell I could.
That helps out a lot when wages is low. It's still over
there but we hope to go after it tomorrow if he can
borrow his brother's oar. Once winter sets in we ain't
likely to get over there. Then, they nay be sommithim,
*ler on the place that will do to can if we get it
before the frost damages it."
Nina stopped talking, and the ohildraa, restless
after standing so still began to whisper among them.
selves. The fourslesxm.old *lapped soros* the room and
leaned against her sister's chair. "I wish I had a
dress like yournos she said to Nora.
*Maybe Nana can makn you one out of the soros,*
lora said and smiled :3 the child.
*Are you gonna weer it to school tomorrow?* the
child asked.
"She'll want to save it to wear to Sunday aohool
first,* Nine, said. *Sbe don't never miss a Sunday,*
she oontinned, tuning to me. *She says she wants to
be a church worker if ihe eta get moo& education.
Like beta' a home missionary,* she explained.
With attention focused ma her, ore's transparent
skin turned rosy pink. She played oonfusedly with the
fingers of the four.year old. Presently she bed over
come her embarrassment enough to eels *We've got c
awful pretty ohnich.6
I told her that I had seen theichuroh thet morning
while walking over the mill village end I bed observed
pfrtioularly the pretty shrubbery eround it.
*1 think it's prettier inside then outcidev° she
said.
All the children except lior End the beby rtn out
on the wsal -roDroh LAICI left feeling of emptiness in
the bere-looking room. There rere the three °heirs,
the 014 machine, t rickety table, Enid s bed.
P.,ometimee I've wished it war eo I could get
job, and Jiis seys he wouldn't runt me to lepve the
children if I oould,* flint avid. *He don't think
nobody would teke the sea* ore of 'em thet I to.
But it's sll we can do to live on ;13 r, week. Joss.
times he don't make that muoh. Ae SF'S when they get
older Paki Mar. of Ism start to school he don't 7.efs how
he on a*nage unless weges go up.
*Jia thinks if any slen cen get better wtges for
the poor man Hoomevolt con. He says they ain't much
Roosevelt can do by hisself though. But you don't
know how much good it does Jim to feel that somebody
ie tryin, to help us even if he don't get nothin' done.
He's *rid to me more than once, 'Nino, that's e man with
e heart big enough to want to help us that's never had
such of r chenoe.'
"Jim wants ell the children to go through high
ophool but I don't know whether we oen keep 'elm in
school thrt long or not.'
"It is r problem to eend six children through
school I said.
Aft egberressed expression pessod euiokly *cross
Nine's fun,. At that moment the beby wiggled down
from her lap end ran out on the porch to join the
other children. It wee then for the first time that
I sew Nine wee with child.