The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-04-09
HOW?

1
! Perhaps l am little too hasty, lit
tie too ready to light up at minute'l
notice; but there are some words tha
seem to me to carry an especial grain
/ of gunpowder in them, and the abovt
| is one o. the sort. To have a person
after you've been through long ex.
| PLANTATION, put his fingers TO his men.
tai ears and query you thus, or worse
still, "HaoW 2" is too exasperating fol
human nature to bear. But that ii
what John Stringer did to me, bend
! ing his head little nearer, aud speak.
| ing in an absent, aggravGting manner
that tantalized me beyond words.
You see John 6tringer and / were
engaged; we'd been angaged for a
/ long time, and perhaps had got to be
| a little too matter o. course to each
other.
| We were sitting there, over the fire,
after the old folks had gone to bed,
and 1 fell to telling him about Sophia
Mills wedding-herg white silk dress,
! her bridal cake, and her bridesmaid
frosted all over to match it, and end
ed in this way:
''But it don't make any difference,
John, to people that love each other
all that's o. no more account than last
years sRowdrift. They could be
married in calico and homespun, with
feet on a rag carpet like this, and love
each other just as WELL"
Chow 2" said John, absently. He
was watching the Goals flicker up and
die out again, and picking up stray
chip now and then to throw on the
embers-a fashion he had when he
was thinking"
Now, L had had the headache all
day and l guess | was rather more
tindery than usual, though / didn't
think so then; but when John bent
his great, broad shoulders over, as if
he hadn't heard word / said, and, in
fact, had something better to occupy
his mind, l just fired up, first, and
then the blaze died down into sulks,
and when we parted that night, John
and | had our first and last quarrel.
Ny heart did not misgive me that,
when saw Johns great, tall figure
going out the door, is was the last
time he'd lit the latch for many
year, but so it was. u
You see, held my head pretty high
in those days, and wouldn't show that
L W DIS q D1L tut up &UOuB 80 L pdlE6u
off with Mrs. Plumbe RS Jesse, a likely,
spruce young fellow enough, but no
more to be compared with John than
a cockle-shell is to a. brigsntine.
Oh, well, mother sighed, and tried
right hard to bring us together again,
but it wasn't to be.
John was a power ful, muscular man,
and used to see him go up the road
n 4szv,r. n -, -
she'd milking, and, peeping out at him
through the chin KS. l thought his
broad shoulders ;stooped more than
ever, and his figure was growing
more staiky-like. Suck an awkward
fellow as John was! / came near
rushing out on i'm once, with my
sun bonnet, and sleeves rolled up, and
finging my arms around his neck
but John liked 10 see folks tidy, and
never did it.
Jesse Plumbe was the beau o. the
neat and dainty as
you please; and all the girls
had come to my senses
when I oustere them O. j ess. And by
and by it was Jess that came sparkin
o. nights, and sat O. winter evenings
over the embe rs, and he was SO soft
spoken and ph easant that even mother
forgot her Yex alton. (She always set
store by John mother dido Well, in
the spring we. were married, and had
a string o. ps.arls and real silk bridal
dress, and fs 1t kind O. lifted like when
the girls Gro wded round me and hoped
I'd be happy. l hoped so, too; l
wasn't surG, of it.
Remembering the day that came
after, can't recall one hard word [
ever hear d from Jess. We weren't
near emo ugh to each other TO quarrel );
we just laid apart like two odd vol
uraes /; there wasn't any fire 'twixt US,
nor anything 'twixt US, either love or
la ughiRg, whereas john and I had al
W ays been bubbling over one way and
a Mother
/ worked hard, for my silk dress
? md necklace were all l had of riches;
? md | cut up my gown one day to
mako a cloak for the baby. You see,
| corlldn't give up my pride, and was
j 1st as high-spirited as ever. But our
farm didn't prosper, and Jesse didn't
IJros per; aud Mrs, Plumber came to
live with us, to look after things she
saiil and she got pitying him every
now and then for marrying poor
vii fe. and-oh, what's the use of talk
in g? sometimes / couldn't help wish
irlg JohnStringer's strong shoulders at
I be wheel, when was working myself
to death morning and night for moth
ing.
Then, when the baby grew bigger,
1 took to teaching an A B G class, as
I used to before / was married; but
what little knew had run wild since
then, and couldn't keep the boys
straight somehow /; and the girls didn't
care about samplers, for the sewing
machine had ridden right over every.
thing. Then Jesse fell i'll of the fever,
and with all the tuning and fretting
and nursing of his mother, and with
all my watching day and night some
how he slipped of between us. And
/ found myself widow, with the ILL
Jared, wasted farm on my hands, and
Mother Plumber drizzliug and maun-
dering after jesse in a way to break
my heart,
But l kept my spirit up yet, and /
advertised half the place for sale at
the courthouse for If could sell it
we could skin through on an acre or
two l thought. tt
Well, who do you suppose came
over one sunny afternoon as l was
standing in the kitchen? Who, to be
sure, but John Stringer, large as life !;
little gray, mayhap. and little an
gular, but keeu and strong as ever.
He'd a use for that bit o. land, and had
his eye on it along back. always
was wanting what wasn't his" Mother
h L..