Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-12-22

to-
Pm glad he did, said Mindwell
Il have felt as though mother would
do what she liked to with it but if she
is provided for, she can't want for
nothing now"
Il guess she'll want for more'n
money, and mabbe for that too. The
paper says she's to have her livin';
now that's wide word folks can live
on bread and water, expect and he
can't be holden for more than he's a
mind to give
'Oh, Sam, you don't think Deacon
Flint would grudge her good living?
Why, if he is near, as folks tell he is,
he's professor of religion
1'd burned sight ruther he was 3
practicer ont Miss Pratt Religions
about the best thing there is, and
maxim believe it is about the wust. |
b'lieve in Amasy Flint's religion Jest
so far as hear him talk, an not
an inch further | know he'll pinch an
shave an spare to the outside of a
cheese rind; and | haven't no great
reason to think he'll do better bv
Mother Gold than he does by himself :"
NJ .ndwel turned away, full of forebod-
ing. and Sam, following her, put his
arm about her and drew her back to
the settle
Don't worry dear; she's made her
bed, and she's got to lie ont; but after
all it's the Lord who lets folks do that
way, SOS to show 'em, l expect, that
beds amt always meant to sleep on,
but sometimes to wake folks up.
We're kind of apt to lie long an get
lazy on feathers. Iexpect that's what
the matter with me. III get my
husks by-and-by. l guess
Mindwell looked up at him with all
her heart in her eyes, but she said
nothing, and he gave a SLY laugh !;
their deep love for each other was "a
f,untain shut up" and so far no angel
had rolled away the stone and given
it visible life it is still voiceless and
sleeping.
Before her wedding day was over
Mrs. Flint's new life began. for Polly
Morse had been sent off the night be-
| fore being the end of an even week,
lest she might charge ninepence for an
extry day; so her successor without
wages had to lay aside her plum-color-
ed silk, put on calico petticoat
and short gown, and proceed to get
supper, while Polly, leaning over the
half door of the old red house which
she shared with the village tailoress.
exchanged pungent remarks with old
Israel on the topic of the day in Bas-
sett
No, they didn't make no weddin',
Isr'el; there want nobody asked, nor
no loaf-cake made for her he wouldn't
here tot noway. I'd have staid and
fixed up for her to-day hut he was
bound l shouldn't. As for me, I'm
most amaziD' glad to get hum, now |
tell We. I'd a sight ruther be in
Simsburg prison for a spell, if it want
| for the name ont
Say, Polly, do you call to mind
what [ said three weeks back about
Miss Flint comm home? Oh, We do,
Well, | amt nobodys' fool, be L? |
guess | can see through a milestone,
providin' the holes big enough, as
well as the next man. Pm what We
may call mighty observin', now. | can
fgger considerable well on folks, eff [
can't n'rithmetic, and | know'd jest
as we'll when | see him rugged up in
his Sabba'-day go-to-meeting's, and
his nose p'inted for Colebrook, what he
was up to, as though | heard him
askin' her to hev him.
We'll, | never did think Sarepty
Gold would demean herself to have
him. She's got means and real good
home, and Mindwell sets sight by
her, and so does Sam Pratt; but here
she's ben an gone an done it. |
wouldn't ha' thought it, not if the
angel Gabriel had have told me ont ?
Guess he's in better business than
goin' round with Bassett gossip, any
how; but what was you so took back
by? Lord!y l should think you was
old enough to get over bein' surprised
at women folks them and the weather
| is two things / don't never calc'late on.
You can't no more tell what woman
III do, specially about marryin', than
you can tell which way in the road a
pig I'll go; onless you work it BACKYARD
same as some folks tell they drive
pig, and then faint reel reliable
they may go right ahead when you
don't mite expect it,
That is one thing about men, L
allow, Ira'el; you can always tell
which way they'll go for sartin, and
that is after their own advantage, an
nobody else's, now and forever
Amen! They'd all be fools, like
me, if they didn't assented the old
man with dry chuckie as he drove
off his empty cart. Yet, for all his
sneers and sniff, neither Polly nor the
new Mrs. Flint had a truer friend than
! Israel; rough as he was, satric as a
chestnut burr that shows all its prick
les in open defiance, conscious of d
sweet white heart within, his words
only were hitter, bis nature was gen.
erous, kindly, and perceptive; he had
become the peripatetic satirist and
philosopher that he was out of this
very nature,
'Dowered with scorn of seorn, a love of love-
and free with the freedom of indepen-
dent poverty to express pungently
what he felt poignantly, being in his
own mind and measure the salt of the
earth to Bassett.
But in spite of comment and pity
| IL ID
FIint's married life had begun under
new auspices, and it was not path of
roses upon which she entered Her
housekeeping had always been frugal,
with the thrift that is or was charac-
eristic of her race; but it had been
| abundant flr the wants of her family