The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1878-08-08
"Oh yis, 1 k,aoao enough!n noddine


her head sagaciously.
THAT medder land o. yourn's look
in putty good," he remarked, some.
what at loss for subject.
Must ben out o. yer road to find
that out''
Caleb's few acres were at some dis
tance from the Widows farm.
''Oh, I'm sayin' what other folks say"
Pears to me, I'd try to hev an idee
o. my own, sometimes" returned the
widow, sharply.
"'Pears to me yer kinder spunky to-
day, aint ye?" inquired Caleb, blandly.
"But I've got some news fur ye. They's
a minister from Ballville a COM
in to see ye. He's heered on
ye, an yer faculty fur pushin'
things, an he thinks yen drive things
in that perish; SO he's a comin'." Caleb
had no objections to any one sscourt-
in the woman he had courted himself.
He understood that she would not take
him, so that was the end of it. But he
was anxious to see her safely married to
somebody, for he had no faith in women
being able to manage their own affairs
without the aid of man.
GA minister?'' snuffed the widow.
"Um! Well! I guess he won't tarry
long. Eff be church member, eff there
is one thing that despise, it's minis
ter fur week days. They don't know
no more bout feedin' stock then they
dew bout feedin' cannibals. Ez fur
gittin' in crops, they're ginerally so
nigh-sighted they can't tell wheelbar-
rer from a hay-rick, though l think
more'n likely, it's nuthin' but ignorance
ais 'em. So he thinks I'll drive things
in his perish, docs he? Well! I will!
I'll drive him int, an my dog efter him.
l guess he won't want me in long W'the
dog"
"He's widderer," went on Caleb,
when he had stopped laughin' at Wild
der Plin's threat.
"Oh! he is! I want ter know eff he
Bi''
"Yes. An he's got a growed up son,
an some little prop'ty Nv his own.'
go! want ter know! An so he
sent word aroun' beforehan' that he was
a-comin'! Welt Well see!'
The next night the minister put in an
appearance and Widder Plin' was prinl-
ly gracious to him in spite of herself, for
in her early days she had been taught
that unbounded respect and awe was
due to a minister But it was stiff, un-
comfortable visit, nevertheless. 1t was
over at last, and after saying the Gus
tomary " Call again. she slammed the
door together and bolted it, muttering
Miserable hypocrite thet be! I wish
to the land he'd break his pesky neck
fore he gets home. To come jedgin'
on me ez eff was beef critter!" The
next call was in the forenoon, and when
the time came to prepare the dinner for
the hired man, she said, "Yew kin eth
er set by yerself here, or yew kin 60 out
an look at the critters, till dinners
ready.''
The latter was an opportunity of
which he gladly availed himself, and al
though the widow called ministers
snigh-sighted'' and "ignerant" con-
cerning farm matters, this specimen
was an exception to the rule. He was
so pleased with his survey that he men,
tally rehearsed the "soft sauder'' calcu-
lated to win the widow, with her encum-
brance-though, perhaps he thought Of
it as the farm and its encumbrance.
Meantime, as the widow was getting
the dinner, she nodded her head with a
snap now and then and sometimes NUT
tered: "S'pose he's seein' how he'll
like it," ''Come this time o. day to see
how l cook !" or I" will gin him fish !;
see eff thet'll fetch him.
The minister had good deal to say
at the dinner table about the widows lot
being cast in pleasant places, and her
"goodly HERITAGE" and he could dis
tance her in eating fish, both in rapidity
and quantity. Widder Plin' began to
lose her. respect for ministers.
The next call was just before supper
time, and he brought a " bunch o. po-
sies''-a peony and spray OF s' matri-
mony" blossoms. He also had matri-
mony in his buttonhole
"The land sakes!" exclaimed the
widow as she watched him hitch his
horse. "I deU believe they amt no fule
like an old one"
He was very lover-like that evening,
and kept hitching his chair closer to
hers till, as she told Miss Frisbee the
next day, she could almost scratch his
face, putting the yarn over the needle of
her knitting.
When on the way to her house for the
fourth visit, Parson Ludlow resolved to
put the final question that night. She
was just what he wanted-thrifty and
economical, good worker, and a good
cook, tidy, small feeder, and rich.
Again he wore matrimonyin his button
hole, and this time it meant business.
The evening wore away, and the wild
ow, who was vigorously mending meal
sacks, had foiled every attempt of his
to allure the conversation into the by