Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1867-09-13
From the Western Rural.
MORE THAN HE BsxGAiNED ron.
By PAIL PILLOW,

Or a sunny May afternoon, whea Mature
seemed revengiug herself Tor tie cie.ri.-s,
Of the sky By the mlddiuess Vi the roads
Nr John Harrison, farmer, r9.e siewll
through Fly liollo~, Attempting ever aad
anon, to induce the gray beast the, propell.
ed h's vsh.e,,e 10 2, a little ias,er.
" Move or; taue. move or = s. ID he
Jane moved, but With very moderate peei
She seen ed to b Nc an exceeding gteat de.
sire TO regulate her own yelociy The ef
forts OF her impatient master 10 master heE
gait could not be- terraed q success. And
indeed, II Was almost too much - expect
that be would make any very surprising
progress along the muddy roads. as she va.
bcas, OF iong 81, uding, extremely old, and
always eusiomei to having her own way
" Well, hang you, old nns. 90 as sou
please = he exclaimed, after lsIaeiiliig. fel
The toglielh time the absence VI lis whip.
"Ta<e il slow slow suppose We Il get
there after while. We GENERALLY Go -Je
ru-salem
As he was making the last interjec;ion
enc Of the heavy wheels was plAuging say.
agely into an enormous slough nearly lip
ping Mr. Harrison of his sea,.
man. as he scra rnhled to the higher side
" con.ound Widow Barker That is I'LL .oi
her accommodation. Get ont o. il. seq
There. right side up again, guess -
" Now, here am, am old man. OVER fifty
years old. actually courting a woman ov-i
forty years old, just on her account, too. All
for h,r accommodation. Hanged if il isn',
now. That is, il is-well the question il
is it? Now, III be fair. Yes, T.. te can
did, seeing that I'm alone"
The old gentleman reflected candi1ly foE
few minutes. during which time old Jaue
canaialy evinced determination to walk a,
slowly as possible, without positively balk-
ing.
Well suddenly br &c out Mr.. H.. :" /
suppose may be little selfish ia the mat
ter. Tn good Lord kuows we're all q httie
,eltish--aud We all liae to hi, the mark
straight as We can" aud he made an abor-
1--WE attempt TO slash Jane with the end @.
the lines.
. | suppose he continued, gravely regari>
ing the efforts of the steed Ia walh upon both
sides Of a deep wagou-rut At once, sup>
pose | may be ilit.e --.;i>a. That i. 4
sld0ser. with niu. ia!FeH, cam iina time
r room, or inc.i.sai.en. ar heart to 6e sc fish.
jus, thii.h OF tha, err hAaed family ot msne
There's John. the scamp, just twvnis-oue to-
day, and there's oac sur every tso years,
down 10 Elam, which Is five, altogether, Ii
the III house. They are little noisy. now
cant deny that. They don't seem to care
q straw for anything Isav-nuw | don't de-
nv that. They need mother The poor
things need one bad. Aud mus, get one
icr them. Its ON this account that I'm go>
in- t r,y miles tor the fourth time. 10 see
Polly Barker-i.s OH their acceun;--and
hers. Yes. Aers' Perhaps my eyes may
be blinded, but
O.d Jane, with an energy that rendered
the last mentioned event highly pr1bab 3.
kicked an imaginary dy. and sent up a tor
rent Of liquid mud into Mr. Harrisons face
right ia the mids, of his dislnteres;edness
aud devotion.
"Oh, you old jade {" be shouted. with an
other futile attemp, nj Hue tiageilation.
T. lou Old sponge. get along It's ucky
for me. he continued, wiping the mud from
his face with red silk handkerchief. /" tina,
this is the las, time I'm going, Lucky fer
me tha, ! am TO marry her 10 morrow Why
| wo.ldn, travel the road twice more TO -
faF-anather family ii; children"
So Mr.. Harrison rode gu toward the goa
OF has hopes, seliliquizi. Z, and thinking, and
scolsiing his horse; II auIng how he should
manage. and how his wife should manage
after they were married and building home
" air castles IN the hemely future.
HIS feelings. however. were NOT ntirely
ire, from a sli-h, twinge of conscience. new
and then, in regard T. what lie had tod, aud
What he mad not laid, Poll, Darker. For
reader. Mr.. Harrison although rlgid mor>
aiisi. although gut'd eiizen. and cead>
hearted man, ataoi gh ;.li honest dealer AID
apvi4ht genteuan. had vet committed. and
persisted ia. = considerable decepiion ia his
dealings with Pol, Barker. Ii WAS on his
FIR: ntrodue,iJn to her, aud While they wer,
talking OVER matrimonial a.f-irs. rs OLD sins
gie people often Will, that Mrs. Barker had
declared that she would Hece1 marry man
wno already had children ior her 10 .ak-
care OF; and II was upon his third wish 10
her. when be proposed rather pretnaturely.
As old @ldowers IN desperate .traiis DO, that
she had asked him If lie had children; and
he, ia his desire to carry lis suit, and in bis
zeal in working for the nine orphans
ren, but they were all atcuy, by which, She
poor. innocent soul, understood that they
we're all grown. and du,sllly a, d industri,
,usly taking care OF then selves aud hy
winch he, >ls oh fellow, meant Iha, they
were literally d,cay, that is, away from the
spot upon which he Moses Harrison. aud
she, Polly Batksr, We're then and there eon>
vefslng.
0, Deceit. thy mamie is man!
Polly had had childre,, who had re;u;ccti
ia the paternal protection aAd ateetioa ot
mo SSs a man than Mr.. Perley Barker. with
whom She had lived SO happily aud whon
she had loved so we'll and who had once
been constable, and had twice been talked
OF strongly tor equity sheriff; and who was
oue Of the best men that ever. ercr lived.
Yes, she did love Perley Barker. Mr.. Har.
rsoa NIGH, di,hcliese h..r. but she did love
him. Bat she alw, vs. used to add. br.
cones are bygones, aud the deal cos. back
no mere forever" from which Mr. Harrison
Inferred an intma,ion that The said BarNc.s
lease II love had expired Nth himself. aud
that new lease was fast being drawn Tor
his own dear and importan seii
Concsrn:n, polly's { il1r Mr.. aarr-
son had mere than ogee ;ss T such delicate
liille questions rs he dsrrt AS. hos many
were they, madam ard lOW old 6ii they
grow, ma am and what became of them all.
Mrs Barker? Bat she bad Invariably m.,
such questions and hints with sad. dowu>
ward ieok. ani the reply, Mr. lierrison,
nv aeAr children are all under ground
speak 8; ,hem no more -
So he rode on toward the goalof his hopes.
not without some li,tle fear Of the couse-
laeue,.s VIXEN his futnrc bride should dis
cover tha, she married ten instead Of one
not Without some sondeyiags how she might
take the information not wiihout consider
able chuekiug and self coagra,alt ton a,
the march b had stolen upon her, aud the
case With Which he was outw,,ing her.
The house at which Mr.. Harrison hated
on the following moraiug having. with a
great sense Of proprieiy, spent the night at
an inn close hy) was no, noted for lis grand
eur, nor for such huge proportions us might
be .aia l.i,irstelv T. testify the inrorsaec