Lukin Lore
From the Memoirs of Marion Wright
Often times an occasion arose when we needed something from the store and there was no money. If the need was urgent, an article of exchange had to be found. The first resource to check was the egg basket, if there were no eggs, we decided whether or not we could spare old hens. All country stores had a little chicken house to keep the chickens in until the produce man made his weekly pickup. Uncle Sam Moore ran a country store, and they always stayed open until bedtime. What else was there to do in those days in Lukin?
One night, Roy Corrie came to the store in a fine jovial mood with a sack in his hand. Uncle Sam was busy, so Roy said, “Uncle Sam, I’ve got a sack of chickens here; you’re busy; do you want me to weigh them?”
With the go-ahead from Uncle Sam, the sack was laid on the platform scales and a nearby loafer verified the weight. Then Roy said, “It’s a bad night and I’ve got my coat on, so I’ll just go dump them in the hen house for you.”
Uncle Sam paid Roy for the hens and business went on as usual---until Uncle Sam went out the next morning to feed and water the chickens. There were half dozen big housecats in the hen house!
A few quick recollections brought the sinking realization that Roy had “barnswaggled” Uncle Sam into buying a sack of cats!
