A Hat for Jeb Feckles
Copyright 2008 Roland Millington, All Rights Reserved
He was six foot three, and stood two inches taller.
The name was Jeb Feckles, and he was borned in a holler
Down ‘bouts Poplar Bluff ‘sourrah, they say.
And into our bunkhouse he walked one day.
Jeb was a quiet feller, peculiar and mild,
He had the brawn of six men but the smile of a child
Jes got candy from his Sunday school marm.
Feckles wudn’t much on doing no one harm.
It was fitty-eight, and we coulda used the hands
So Feckles was sorely ‘ppreciated by the men
He worked with, rode with, ate with and drank
Down at the Bosco, where we all filled our tanks.
Jeb never talked much ‘bout where he come from
Just went ‘bout hisself without troublin’ no one.
We all took to likin’ that calm, steady way
That would ease a fella up, without a cross word to say.
He looked to be somewheres ‘bout forty five.
He had sandy grey hair and leathery hide
Covered the back of his neck on to his hat
Which, few of us remember him not having that.
It was ever-where he went, whether nice or not
Jeb wore it in rain, or in cold or in hot
That old beaver felt bonnet was a bit sorry site
Even by the standards us cowpokes called right.
So I called all the boys together, gathered them in,
And we all dropped in, at least five or ten
And young Charley Watson picked up the task
To head to town one day, and stop and to ask
The folks at the local store if they thought they might
Help us find a fittin’ brim, somethin’ that’d look just right
On the head of a big, tall ‘sourah man
With a face long as California, and a neck that was tan.
They fixed old Charley Watson up good
And in two months later, the beaver felt stood
On the porch rail edge outside the bunkhouse
As the boys and I stood, waitin’ for Jeb to step out.
He came out and looked at us all around
And settled his gaze upon that tall crown
Of that tall, wide-brimmed beaver-felt hat
He shrugged and he grinned, and we all got a laugh.
“Didn’t think it was my birthday,” Jeb told us.
“Why doncha try it on, you ornery old cuss!”
We just stood there a starin’ and lookin’ about.
And old Jeb grinned, as if he was just a bit in doubt.
Jeb was squirmin’ tryin’ not to let us down,
For buyin’ that fine wide brimmed hat with the crown
That shore woulda shaded him better from rain and sun
Than that sad old excuse that was his current one.
“Boys, this is a mighty fine hat sittin’ that rail,
But I got to tell you, this here hat’s little tale.
See, I was off in Europe back in forty four,
Even though my wife feared she’d not see me no more.
“I was cowboyin’ in Kansas right ‘fore I joined up.
I was just in my thirties, not no greenhorn pup,
And I’d handled some ‘dozers, equipment and so
They stuck me in a tank and done let me go.
“That suited me fine, ‘cause they called it the cav.
I was plumb full all the pride one man could have.
The missus, she hated them big, smelly things.
Guess she knew ‘bout the danger that duty brings.
“I was there in the hedgerows when the Panzers broke in
Blastin’ us hard, like hot lead through tin.
I ain’t no brave man, fellas, I was scared for my life
But mostly of all, I just ached for my wife.
“So we fought them bastards hard, and kicked ‘em on down.
I fought in the mud, and left my brothers on the grounds
Of countless fields, over which my heart still roams
‘Til the day it was over, and I got to come home.
“I’ll never forget the ‘noon I made Abilene.
The blue sky, the sunshine, the gold in the fields
Weren’t nothin’ at all compared to the sight
Of my lovin’ Nora, my sweetheart, my wife.
“She kissed me and gave me this hat you see here,
She said if she bought it, she’d have not a fear
Of me getting’ home without a scratch on my face
And goin’ back to the life I left in this place.
“She bought this for me boys, that part you now know.
But you didn’t see her face, near white as snow.
She’d took to a fever two weeks ‘fore I came.
And that night she passed, like an evenin’ fall rain.
“So boys, I thank you kindly, ‘cause that hat’s pretty nice.
It musta took everyone to fetch up its price.
But this here’s worth more than the world, you see.
‘Cause it was the love of my life that gave it to me.”
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