The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-04-07

sion to speak to the editor, in Il delicate
and confidential way, of certain grave
facts connected with the newspaper bus
mess. "For instance" he remarked,
ga paper should be prompt Units APP
pearance as the sunrise, for If it lags,
people soon lose faith in its stability,
and cease to pay for it in advance; and
| the half-sheet contrivance should never
be resorted to-" he continued, 'for the
size of q newspaper is a good deal like
plenary inspiration, and won't bear
triAing with" This bit of philosophy
being kindly received, he dropped his
confidential tone and manner, and went
on, after the habit of your true printer
the country over, to give the results of
his varied observations in other affairs,
including politics, education, religion,
and, finally, matrimony. at is every
mans duty" he declared with some
warmth, "to get married-and every
woman's too" he quickly added. Then
he stopped, blushed a little, and lifting
the slug that concealed the next word of
the manuscript on the case before him,
resumed his work. They smiled one to
another in a knowing way, the editor
and the ofice-boy, and urged him to
proceed With his discourse but he only
shook his head, and answered, Il trile
sadly "Not now, not now." The
next day, and the next, he was unusual
ly reticent, and they noticed that he
usually threw back as much as half a
line of types from his composing-stick
into the boxes, as if he had unconscious
ly set up the wrong words. When he
did not appear the following morning,
they knew he must have returned to his
resting and his rambling.
If proof had been Immediately re-
CURED of the fact that Perky had taken
another holiday, it would only have
been necessaryto call Aunt Naomi Sey-
bold as a witness, for she had seen him
%saunter past her front room window
the window where she always put the
cracked porcelain teapot that held her
rose-geranium-and he had stopped
awhile at the Widow Hainline's gate on
his way down the road toward the
woods. A halt at the widows gate had
of late become n regular feature of Per-
ky's rambles. He had been known to
tarry thOre on some occasions for fully
On hpttr. nn,J mana tbnn nnnn - had
been observedthat he did not go on over
the bluff, as was his usual custom, but
turned and came back. TO suppose that
these circumstances attracted no atten-
ton and provoked no comment would
be to fancy Seward Center a communi.
ty of winged creatures with crowns and
harps, which it was not. The matter
had gradually assumed an interest in the
public mind second only to that of the
pending strife for the county seat be-
tween the Center and the rival town OF
Konomo, Hence the religious patience
with which Aunt Naomi Seybold watch.
ed Perky's movements from behind hel
window-curtains; hence, also, the sig
nificance that had been attached to his
casual remarks in the Clarion office
upon the subject of matrimony. The
Center really believed that Perky was il
love with the widow.
The Widow Hainline, it is proper t.
say, was not u widow at all. She was
divorced wife, who had resumed he
, maiden name, but still retained the It'll,
of "Mrs." on account of herson Benny
a glad-eyed little lad of eight years
t Her husband had abandoned her whel
Benny was but two years old; she ha,
1 obtained a divorce three years later, ant
the neXt summer she had come to Kan
sas, hoping in time to get Il farm TO
, the boy. This was substantially al
. they knew about her, except that dur
1 ing her nearly three years residence il
S the Center, she had been q well be
, haved, Woodworking woman. 1t seem
; ed strange that, with her bitter expert
t ence and her frigid and methodica
G ways, she should be thinking of mar
3 rage; much stranger than that Perky
S who was so lonely and SC peculiar
should be contemplating such q thing
e To be sure there was no absolute cvi
- dence that her thoughts were %runnin
= in that direction. But, is there eve
1 any but circumstantial testimony j
r such cases? Perky had been seen goin
to and coming from her house very O,
c ten; she spoke of him always, when sh
$ spoke of him at all, with noticeabl
kindness; her face flushed with evider