The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1879-06-13
TWO LOVERS.
BY FLORENCE II. BIRNEY.

BY FLORENCE III. BlhNEf.
Joshua wanted me to marry him, but
refused. He wasn't my ideal at all.
was pretty, and my friends assured
me that l might pick and choose. But
1 had read so many novels, and my
haad was so full of romance that /
wasn't inclined to choose any one of the
tall, sandy-haired, freckled youths of
Pikeville.
The ideal of my imagination had
dark, flashing eyes, hair like the ravens
wing, tseth like pearls, and naughty
mein. So, could any reasonable person
expect me to be satisfied with plain
Joshua Hobbs, who was fair and
freckled, with pale brown hair and fat
hands, brown with toll. But mother
and Jane expected me to marry him,
and / was very foolish to think of
hrowing away such chance, for, in
spite of being very plain in appearance
and manner, Joshua had made his way
in the world, and was in possession of
veIy handsome farm, well stocked.
"You will never receive another such
offer, said mother, one morning in May.
Il cannot understand you, Leah; you
appear bereft of your senses. There
isn't another girl in Pikeville who would
refuse Joshua Hobbs"
Then he will find no difficulty in
marrying" / replied. L am sure 1
don't begrudge him to anybody"
:" So moral, so upright, so honorable
in every respect" continued mother, as
she stitched away on Ben's diminutive
pantaloons, which were suffering from
a complicated, compound fracture of
the knee.
but homely, mother, fearfully
homely," said.
"How can you say SOP" cried Jane,
whom had always suspected of warm
feeling for Joshua. He is very nice
looking, and will make the best of hus-
bands"
81 wish Joshua had had the good
sense to fall in love with Jane instead
of with you, Leah" said mother. "She
would never have been so foolish as to
refuse such an offer, and with me in
such poor circumstances, too. But
young men appear to care only for
pink cheeks and curls, and marry women
with not an idea above jewelry and rib
bons. l did think Joshua knew bet
ter"
This was rather hard on me, but I
did not feel vexed, for l knew mother
was too angry to be entirely just, so I
excused her.
We lived in Pikeville, small, hum.
drum, sluggish town, and had just
enough money to enable us to live re-
specially and make both ends meet at
H. l..
Mother had a righteous horror of debt,
and we owed no man cent but, of
course, we had to pinch a great deal
and deny ourselves any little extra ex-
travagance in the way of flower or
ribbon. There were five of us to sup
port, and perhaps mother was not to
Zoe blamed for wishing to see Jane and
me well married and in comfortable
homes She thought it really wicked
in me to refuse Joshua, for his farm
was almost the best in the county, and
lay only three miles from town. But
did not fret over the matter myself. /
was too sure that my hero, the ideal
hero of my imagination, would come
along to claim me, and take me away
from little gossiping Pikeville and the
fretted SO continually.
liked Joshua very well, but had no
idea of ever marrying him. / was too
vain to think my first offer would be my
last, and had no fear of being left an old
maid.
know Jane envied me my good
looks and my lover. She was a quiet,
industrious girl, fond of country life
and farm work, and it did indeed look
to me very hard that Joshua should not
have chosen her instead of singing me
out, and thus bringing down on me
enothcr's reproaches and complaints
But then, things generally go crosswise
TN this bias world.
Joshua did not come to the house any
more after my stern and decided re-
Gusal of his suit. We missed the pres
ents of butter, milk and eggs, which he
had been so fond of bringing, and which
were, of course, of more use than the
flowers and iewelry most lovers present
to their goddesses. This loss of the
Eoutter, milk and eggs fretted mother
more than anything else, and not
day passed without some allusion to my
stubborn folly" in rejecting Joshua.
what can you have against the
young mar {? +" mother would cry. "He
sis all that is honorable and good"
"His name is enough" / would an
swer. Fancy my name being Mrs.
Joshua Hobbsl"
at is Bible name as well as yours"
another would say, sharply.
"Hobbs Bible namel Wen, didn't
know that before. will look it up"
At meant Joshua" and then in lach-
rymose state mother would indulge in
quotations from the Bible about the
sharpness of a serpent's tooth, etc.