Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-10-12

Er evEL. WHICH 1s>@ OCSA41Sl rs-Ir 1890
wears before ny trss meeting VIE
Charlie. Ever body said she hzd ben
csleb-gted hoaseksepe-, and Charlie oe
voti1n TO be- hse been the LAX oi tbt
countryside There were people rnA.1-
ious enough 70 say thst II c As-ass Ho-hef
hsa never died be would never have MAY
red; tEi take the liberty 81 resaIl!ng
such 81 assertion Is personal InsI!i io1'
/ although don't doubt the oeAr o3c iacs
! vas perfect jgwel il her WAY, sei iooK-
/ ing 81 the portrait Of be. WHICH Aa11 ga
/ over Our PARKER mamie piece, l s*e LIE isce
! of bsrd, dsterm ned looking woman
with cold gray eyes and r4glaly SCI no. IN,
! IL q funny looking black Gress, neither
frigf, ueckee nor I5H -Deckc6, having q
starchy white ruf1se round The eogs, In
vivid white contrast TO the yellow skin
with grizzly, iron-grsy cErls peeping out
from under cap tasi Is teArtully aid won
derfuIly made. WITH hue rui-
| fed border rs3isting In 8 carc1m-
two biack and white gauzs ribbon
strings he in rigid exsctness over
her two rigidly exact shoulders.
Looking on this portrait, / do not thanK
anybody for saying thst u was only BE-
CATS CE1AL EZDSe lslsS E414LlAE A-An2 u AAS
| had found favor IL Charlie's eyes-
We had been married, / suppose, about
SIX months, when, sitting one evening
| over cozy wood fire in our coy Little
| psrlor, Just under the work Of art / have
| described st such length, Charlie commit
/ ted bis first matrimonial solecism de
yawned, actually gsped--an open mouthed,
undenisble yswni
Glsucing up at him from my work
| (which consisted Of the inevitable worked
slippers without which no woman ecnss..S
ers ner wifehood absolutely ass req, |
| caught him in the act. Are you tired,
Charliey l asked In accents Of witeiy
anxiety.
Tiredl Poor fellow, he ought TO have
have been, for he had ridden all over the
| plantation that day, had written two bust
ness letters, and smoked there's no telling
how many cigars, and had only taken one
! little cat nap after dinner.
He was leaning back in his arm chair,
| with his eyes fixed In mOurnful meditation
upon bis mothers portrait Eat least
thought SOY, when / asked him If he was
tired, and / fancied he was thinking sad
thoughts Of the mother who had not
been dead 80 very long as never TO
trouble the thoughts Of the living go
laying down my slippers, crossed the
rug and perched myself on Charles
knee.
"Talk 70 me about her, Charlie dear"
"About whom, little one ?" asked Char
lie, turning his eyes toward me with q
little lazy look Of inquiry.
about your mother, Charlie: weren't
you thinking about her just nowf"
81 don't know-maybe l was. Dear
mother you don't find many women like
her now q, days.
Reader, that was my first glimpse Of
Charles hobby. And from the luck
less moment when l 80 iDnocently in.
yited him TO mount it, up to the time
when / fOrcibly complied him TO dis
mount from 1t, / had ample opportunity
to exercise my "smiling patience, su lime
dignity and heroic fortitude" Whether
or not improved my opportunities pro-
perly, will leave you to judge for your
self. But for two whole years show
mother did IL" seemed TO be the watch
word Of Charles existence, and was the
bste mir Of mine.
So long as Charlie and were in Para
disc the house kept itself, and very nicely
It did 1t too, but by the time we were
ready to come back TO earth the perfect
servants, who had been taking such good
care of themselves, and our two daft selves
into the bargain, were found TO be sadly
demoralized. The discovery came upon
US gradually. thind my husband noticed
the decadence as soon as | did, but l
wasn't going 10 invite his attention TO the
fact; and he, suppose, thought that l
thought that every thing was just as 1t
should be.
One of Charles inherited manias was
for early rising--a habit which would
have been highly commendable and I'M
deniab ly invaluable in laboring man, but
which struck me, who had an equally
strong mania for not rising early, as ex
tremely inconvenient and the least little
bit absurd. Charlie got up early simply
because mother did it before him; and
after he had risen at earliest dawn and
dressed himself, he had nothing better to
DO than walk out on the front gallery,
locate himself in big wicker chair, tilt
his cha back and elevate his feet to the
top of the banisters and stare out over the
cotton fields. This position he won d
maintain, probably, about twenty minutes.
Then the pangs of hunger would render
him restless, and he would draw out his
watch TO note the time Of day The next
step In the formula would bring him back
TO my room door while was still 81 epily
trying TO reconnect the brok, links Of a
dream, from which vain effort he would
startie me into wide awake reality by a
stentori.n "Lulie, lhllie! Come, wife
it's bTeakfast.iime."
Upon which, instead of "heroic forti-
tude," would treat him TO little cross
"Please yell at the cook, Charlie, and
not at me. I'm sure II people mlU get
up at such unearthly hours, they should
expect to be kept waiting for their break.
faN.'
Then the spirit of unrest would impel
Charlie toward the back door, where |
would hear him commanding, exhorting
enreating.
Mentally registering VOW 10 give my
husband dose Of Mrs Winslows sooth
ing syrup on tho coming night, would
relinguish ali hope of another nap, get up
and dress myself, and join my roaring on
on the front gallery, where we woult
both sit meekly waiting for the allied
forces of kitchen and dining-room 50 de-
eide upon the question of revictualing u.s.
"Lulie," said Charlie to me one morn
ing at the breakfast table, things are get
ting all out Of gear about this house, some
how ar other