Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1871-08-18

a mate for life properly and with
due consideration, | know that you
may now feel that l was wiser than
you thought. In selecting dear
Orlando l have gained 4 most at:
fectionatc and attentive husband
and one who has neither a fault OF
a vice. Heavens! What must a
girl suffer who finds herself united
to 4 dissipated person, ncglcctfnl OF
her, and disposed to seek the socie-
ty of unworthy persons, who drink.
smoke, and do all sorts of dreadful
things!
Thank heaven, Orlando isperfec-
ton.
To-day is my eighteenth birthday,
and we have been married a year.
We keep house now, and | make
pretty good pie, only the undercrust
will be damp. However, | think
that must be the oven. Once | put
| peppermint in the pudding sauce
instead of lemon favoring; but then
Orlando was trying to kiss me, right
before the girl, who didn't much
like either of us to come into the
kitchen at all.
The flowers are coming up beau
tifully in the back garden. We
sowed a great many seeds, but hard
ly expected so many plants. Among
the most numerous is one variety
with a very large leaf, that scratch
cs ones fingers, and don't smell
nice. | wonder what it is. Orlan-
do frightens me by talking about
weeds; but seeds always come up,
don't they?
Dear Orlando! | come back to
him again-so excellent, temperate
and true. Tell all the girls to mar
ry as soon as they can, if they can
find a husband like mine.
| have but one trial-business
takes him so much away from me.
\ lawyer must attend to business,
you know; and sometimes they car
rv on the eases until two at night.
Often and often he has examined
witnesses until half past twelve,
and come home perfectly exhausted.
And the nasty things will smoke, so
that his dear coat quite smells of it.
And as it makes him as i'll as it
does me, | have to air it, and
sprinkle the lining with cologne
water before he dares to put it on
! again.
| had 4 terrible fright the other
night-dreadtul. Orlando had told
me that business-1 think he said
it was a case of life and death
would detain him late. SO sat up,
as usual, with a book, and did not
worry until about one o'clock. Af-
ter that, | was a little anxious,
confess, and caught Il cold in my
head, peeping through the upstairs
window blinds; for dear aunt, it
was not until three o'clock that |
heard cab driving up the street,
and | saw it stop at our door; then
| thought | should faint, for | was
sure some dreadful accident had
happened to Orlando.
ran down to open the door, and
Mr.. Smith, friend of Orlando's,
who is not, | confess, much to my
taste-such a red-faccd, noisy man
was just supporting my dear boy
up the steps.
"Oh, what has happcncd," cried
''Do not be frightened, Mrs.
| White" said Mr.. Smith. "Nothing
at all; only White is little ex-
hausted. Application to business
will exhaust Il man, and l thought
I'd bring him home"
"All right, Belle" said Orlando,
"Smith tells the TRUTH am ex-
haustcd."
And, dearest aunt, he was so
much so that he spoke quite thick,
and couldn't stand up without tot
tering. Mr.. Smith was kind enough
to help him up stairs; and he laid
him upon the bed, so prosrated that
| thought he was going to die.
Then | remembered the French
brandy you gave me in case of sick
ness. | ran to get it out.
"IIave a little brandy and water,
dear?" | said.
"The very thing. Smith is ex-
haustcd, too. Give some to Smith, "
said he.
And so | reproachcd myself for
not having thought Of it before Mr..
Smith was gone. But gave glass
to Orlando, and under Providence,
| think it saved his life; for, oh,
how bad he was!
"Belle," said he, quite faltcring
in his speech, "the room is going
around so fast that / can't catch
your eye. And besides, there's two
of you. and | don't know which is
which"
| knew these were dreadful symp-
| toms.
"Take drink, DEAR" said l,
"and I'll try to wake Mary, and send
her for the DOCTOR"
"No," said he, I'll be all right
in the morning. Pm all right now.
Here's your health. You're Il
brick, I-' And he fell over fast
asleep.
Oh, why do men think so much
of money-making? Is not health bet
ter than anything else?
OF course, as he had laid down
in his hat, took that off first. And
| managed to divest him of his coat
But when it came to his boots
dearest aunt, did you ever take off
y gentleman's boots? probably not
as you are Il single lady-what a
task! How do they ever get them
on? Ipulled and pulled, and shook
and wriggled, and gave it up. But
| it would not do to leave them on all
night; so | went at it again, and at
last one came off SO suddenly; and
over | went on the floor, and into
his hat, which had put down for a
minute. | could have cried. And