The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1873-12-18
SITTING UP WITH HER.

She was expecting him Sunday
night; the parlor curtains were
down, the old folks noticed that it
was healthy to go to bed at 8 O'Clock
ana Johnny, bribed with a cent. per.
mitted himself to be tucked awav at
sunoown. He sneaked up the D ath,
one eye on the dog and the 9th,
Watcning Tor the cold man." who
aiant like him any too well, gave a
lalnt knock at the door, and IL wa.
opened and he was escortsd int ,he he
parlor. He said he couldn,t stav
put minute, though he didn't mean
70 go nome for hours. She wanted
TO know how his mother was : Ifb;s
iather mad returned from York state.
II his brother Bills rheumatism Nc,
any better; and he went over and
sat down on the sofa, 90 as not 80
strain his voice. Then conversation
tagged, and he played with his hat
ana she nibbled at the sofa tidy.-
He finally said it was a beantifnl
evening, and she replied that her
grandfather predicted a sno v.storm
lie said he guessed it wouldn't snow
as the moon wasn't crooked enough
to hang powder. horn on the end
and she said she didn't believe i
would, either. This mutual under.
standing seemed to give each other
courage, and he wanted to know if
she mad seen Bill Jones lately. She
hadnt she said, and she didn't want
TO. Then they went to talking about
the donation visit which was to he
gwen Elder Berry, and he carelessly
cropped his hand on hers-his right
hand-while his left arm sneaked
along the sofa, to get behind her
shoulders. She pretended not to
notice 1t, and he looked down at his
boots and wanted to know if she
thought mutton-tallow rotted out
boots faster than lard and lampblack.
she couldn't say, but she had an
idea that it did. He had lust com
menced to lock fingers with her
when she discovered something
allied the lamp. She rose up and
turned the light down half. making
the room look dim. 1t took him five
minutes to get hold of her fingers
ag ain, and she pretended to want to
draw her hand away all the time.
After a long pause, he lowered his
voice to a whisper, and said he
didn't see what made folks love each
other. She bit her handkerchief and
admitted her ignorance. He said he
could name dozen young men who
were golrg to get married right
away, and his left arm fell down and
gave her hug. Then he went over
and looked out of the window to
make sure that it was not going to
snow, and coming back he turned
the light down little more, and
then sat down and wanted to know
II she didn't want to rest herself by
leaning her head upon his shoulder.
All, me! we have all been there
and who of us cared cent when the
clock struck twelve, and we five
miles from home I? The old man was
fast asleep, the watchdog gone a
visiting, and the hapdsomest girl in
the county didn't see why We need
be in hurry.
Perhaps / shouldn't have written
OF this, but as was going by Saun-
ders the other day, thinking of the
night l heard him whisper in her ear
at spelling school, that he'd love her
very shadow as long as he lived, he
raised the window and called to her,
as she was picking up chips in the
road: "Sue Saunders, come in here
and find the bars grease for my
sore heel, or I'll break every bone in
your body "-FIreside Friend.