The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-02-11
K%lHGSBORO'S PUZZLE.

Nobody at Kingsboro knew what to
make Of it. Deacon Turner, the Oldest
inhabitant, said that during his earthly
pilgrimage he had sojourned at numer-
III towns, but in no one of them had
any young man who dressed nicely and
did no work turned out well. Captain
Brown, who worked hard but managed
so badly that he was never out of debt,
glared savagely whenever he saw hand
some 10 Madison with his hands in the
pockets of his neatly fitting coat, and
took occasion TO remark to the firstper-
son he met that he wished the old days
IN which people who had no visible
means of support were prosecuted
would return again. Squire Beaten,
who kept the post-Of1ice, admitted to
certain astute questioners that 10 NAL
Nson received letters, so it was i'm
possible that any one was sending him
money with which to support himself in
idlencss. Suspicion even ran so high
that Bill Bridger, who was the only
apothecary and candy-seller at Kings
boro, and who aad 10 Madison for quite
a steady customer, made it a rule to ex-
anime very carefully every bank-note
that 10 offered in payment, lest haply
the handsome d%o-nothing might be cir
culating counterfeits. The married wo-
men at Kingsboro, who had to work as
hard as women almost always do in new
towns in young States, carefully pointed
out 10 to their IONS as an example to be
Stunned, except so far aspersonal neat
ness was concerned.
But the Kingsboro girls differed from
the rest of the community, in their es-
timation of 10. He might be indolent-
in fact they knew he was, for he might
almost always be seen on the main
street in the village, sauntering along
while other men were at workout he
was handsome and he dressed with real
taste, and his breath never smclt of IL
quor or tobacco, and he was always po-
lite, and he never was awkward or ill
at case or presuming when in the socie-
ty of ladies, and he seemed to under
stand all his fair companions so well.
In all these respects he was quite diff
fcrent from most of the Kingsboro boys,
so that when good mothers warned
their daughters against young men who
could only give fine words in proof of
affection the damsels experienced strong
misgivings as to what they would say
if 10 Madison were to propose.
But 10 saved them the necessity of
deciding any such question.
He proposed to nobody; he made love
to nobody he seemed to have no spe-
cial favorites among the girls of Kings
boro. He never wen flirted; he SEEM
ed to heartily enjoy himself when with
ladies, and to express his gratitude so
deity as to leave no one word upon
which to base a suspicion of any strong
or sentiments. And he did not stop
with %conquering the hearts of all
the Kingsboro girls. Without any SEEM
ing intention to do so, he won the hearts
of a few of the elderly women in the
town. They did not mean to give coun-
tenance to a snowy idler, but somehow,
when 10 would coax some bad or fretful
child to take a walk with him, and then
send the child home with a head full of
Bible stories and a mouthful of pretty
songs, the mother of the child would re-
l~uctantly admit that the handsome young
do-nothing did have a real good heart.
But still 10 did nj work, nor did he
try to do any. He boarded at the only
hotel in town, paid his bills, avoided the
bar-room, v played cards, always