The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-06-25
selett Storp.
THE THREB-TooTHED RAKE.
BY J. K. MecoNAueHr.

| suppose the girls Of Millburn would all
resent the imputation, If | should say that
any Of them enyied little Phebe Bird when
she set up housekeeping with RidgeWay
DAYTON, on the finest farm the country af-
forded. in a house that was in thorough
repair and fully furnished. Il was an es-
adjustment 10 be proud Of, and people
said IL that young couple did not prosper
il would be their own fault.
ssThere, Ridge said Uncle Aleck, SIS
your farm, and stock, and house all paid
for, and now | shall do no more for you
If you don't hoe out your row, you'll have
to starve. am going abroad, so | shan I
be coming around TO advise you and seold
you, and expect it will come pretty tough
with you for awhile. But Phebe is SEN
sible girl, am happy to say, aud thiuk
leave you in pretty good hands.
Ridge secretly felt rather pleased at the
prospect of being 4'left, bat he did not
say so. Uncle Aleek wasEn excellent man
to provide, but he was little sharp in his
way, as the young man had occasion to
know at times in his juvenile years. The
old gentleman himself had been reared
under a system which might be formulated
in the old couplet--
"A boy, dog and a walnut tree.
The more you thrash them, the better they be.
The system had been greatly toned down
in the case of his orphaned nephew, but
Ridge thought it strict enough.
His choice of wife had pleased his
uncle as well as HIMSELF for Phebe was a
very domestic girl as well as cultivated
,one, and il was the general verdict that
.aboth had done well" Still Aunt Cynthia
did tell Ridgway she wished he had got a
wife who would make him stand around 4
little more.
"0h she'll make me stand around
enough" +" laughed Ridge. "You need not
be concerned about that
"She'll have need to, said Aunt Gym
4hia, nodding her head sagaciously. She
had known his manner Of life from his
youth up, aud said he was always very
good boy if he only had steady hand
with him to keep him in order. But
Ridge believed ''aunts and uncles never
did appreciate fellow Now it was
worth while to have the worshipful .diree-
ton of such sweet appreciatiye little soul
as Phebc Birds, and he did think himself
lucky fellow, and he was
A stout, capable hired man was engaged
at the outset, who understood his business,
and, appropriately, received good wages.
So the cares of life sat very highly on the
Young farmers shoulders, though he felt
the responsibility of Atlas when he shoul-
dered the world, having not only his owni
but his wife's domain to look after.
Just whep the serpent entered into his
little Eden could not distinctly be told.
have no doubt he ''wired in and out,
among the vines and shrubbery of that
@frst garden" for sometime before he
nreseuted himself to our first mother
If Ridgeway was little exactiag aud
very particular, Phebe was very selfsacri-
ficing and painstaking; so there was little
lar IN the machinery. He thoug ght strict
order and system about work very ex-
cellent thing-for other people especially
for a mans wife. Breakfast at seven,
dinner at twelve, aud supper at six, always
on the table at the minute, was his stand
ard, but of course if he could not be on
hand lust at that time, it was only neces-
sary to keep things hot and at their best
for a half or three-quarters of an hour, and
it would be nice for her to fill up the time
with sewing, or some little thing of that
kind. It need not be lost time for her BY
any means. OF course a mans work Is
the important work of the world always
Ridge, from his inexperience in house
hold affairs, had imbibed theory that il
a woman is but economical, it costs "next