The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-07-24
Aunt Tabitha's Mistake.
BY MISS L. z. BAKER

"Nou want to know how / came to
get married, do ye, Clinthy Ann, and
settled down into such a dog-trot kind
of life as this? Well, child, if it'll be
any warning to you," here Aunt Tabi-
tha's eye lighted upon Christopher, in
one corner of the great old-fashioned
kitchen, busily engaged in one of those
mysterious inventions OF boyhood which
are always TO be something, but seldom
arrive at that desirable eOnsummation.
Now, 'Tcpher," which was her famil-
lar contraction of her sons more vener-
able title, ''you must leave that whit
Ting and go help your brothers. Why
can't ye be smart, now, and leave the
loafing to them that's older?D Which
was as near as the good old soul could
ever get to warming her boys not to fol-
low in the footsteps of their lazy, shift
less, goOd-fOr- nothing father.
Not that Tobias Short was at all dis
sipated, only supremely selfish and
lazy, and fond of loafng around the
stores, and driving sharp little bargains
with whoever he could beguile into
trading with him, or lying i'm wait
about his own doOrsteps, and pOuncing
out, like some lean, rapaeiOus old spider,
upon any passer-by TO whom there was
the slightest prospect of his being able
TO pass off the skinny, raw-boned ami
mails which filed his barn, and that
only departed to make room for others
like themselves which he could pick up
for trifie, and dispose of for twice the
value of good animals.
IL was strange that he could find peo-
pie to trade with him under these cir
cumstances, but somehow he generally
did. SO he flattered himself that he
was a useful member of the family,
while the money he made in these ways
always stayed in his own pocket, and
his poor, Woodworking wife maintained
the family.
Christopher being finally disposed of,
Aunt Tabitha resumed: "As was going
to tell We, / never would have told you
(Or anybody else) a word about it, if you
wasn't my own sisters child, aud p'r'aps
1T may save you from jumping out of
the frying-pan into the lire, as l did.
81 was a-keeping school over to Hard
Scrabble the summer l met Tobias
Short / had had to punish Job Skin
ner's boy land a dreadful bad boy he
was, too for something, misremember
what, and Job, he was as quick-tem-
pered as flash, what should he do but
prosecute me for it. Tobias was sheriff
then, and came for me to go to court,
arrested me l s'pose you'd say, but it
was all as pleasant as could be, and he
just invited me to get into his nice
spring wagon aud ride down with him,
and so ! did.
"Weli, you see, | hadn't any money
10 spend On lawyers, for seven an six 4
week was cOnsiderd a good price in them
days for school-mSrms but what with
helping father on the farm, and paying
your Aunt Tribulation's Doctors bills
she was almost always ailing-there
wasn't much left. So what should do
bat plead my own case, an the judge,
who looked like a clever old soul, gave
me the case.
Then on the way home what should
Sherifi Short do but propose to me, that
ne hau seen week afOre. An, ye see,
was mat tired Of keeping school, an
boarding round, an all its homeless
ness and ingratitude and cold-hearted-
ness, that after minute, TO get over the
shock like, | said YES.
81 didn't pretend to love him then,
Clinthy Ann, an he didn't ask me TO.
for, ye see, he was only driving a bar
gain OF little different sort from his
usual trades, an didn't consider il any
thing but transaction anyhow.
al had had my own little love dream
as girls generally do before they get
TO be as old as / was-I was twenty-five
that summer-an' / had buried il, an
that was the end Of that.
81 won't deny that the prospect wasn't
of the sunniest to me even then, but it
was better than keeping school an
boarding round, an so / shed a few
tears in dark corners, when / couldn't
help 'em, an Tobias kept company
with me while for forms sake, an
then We were married.
But | very soon found that / hadn't
Duttered my bread, for Tobias had lit
tie iarnl, an he always left me with the
nelt oi the work to do, an the harvest
,iIs;Sl ins nI Mhat not a-spoiling in the field,
"Hlre iiI' ne was OIL tratlicking.
but still it wasn'r sehool-keanino
an so Kept on an made his home Iook
DTlght an CHEEKY an comforfahIa for
hImi an always had n hot snnnar a,,i
nice IRE Tor him when he'd co5,a bo,,ao
at night even if | had had 10 milf ny,
the wood for the very fire he yyarr,at rrO II
himself by. wal ineu
''After a while Tobias's old fa,ho-
came TO live with us, an | made bi,,,
welcome, an tried to humor his r,ti,..
as best / could; but he was a terribI.'
fractiOus old man, am nothing I coni3
do would suit him, an things got noora
an more uncomfortable every day.
"Our family kept growing more an,
fhore expensive, too, all the time, for
I'd fairly get one baby fairly out of NV