The Waco daily examiner. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 187?-1888, 1882-02-23

Auo ever thlnS says spring ID
Jesse. But all signs fail in dry
weather and in wet weather, too, |
reckon. The times are out of joint, and
as we had some April showers in Janu
ary maybe we will have winter along in
the spring. We had two or three good
days this week and all hands turned out
to work, for the work is long ways
behind, and the farmers are impatient.
l am gardening, now, | am; that is, me
and the children, for we have division
of labor at our house. There are the
field hands and the garden hands and
| the house hands. The big boys run the
| farm and the stock and the wood busl-
ness and do the milking, and L run the
| garden, and Mrs. Arp she runs the do
mestic affairs and the kitchen and sew
ing machines, and has opened little
school in the corner for Carl and
Jessie and Naybor Freeman's little
daughter, and while she sews or
knits and darns the stockings, is laying
the mudsilis of their education. Jessie
and Fanny march right along, and it's
powerful train on the boy. When lie
spells kettle he will pronounce it tea
kettle, or keteatle, and he calls kitten
cat, and every little while he wants
water and by the time his half hour is
out he is tired as q race nag and wants
something to eat. [ encourage the little
chaps by promising to tell tnem another
stor,, and I've got through the ''Forty
Thieves" and "Sinbad," and "Jack and
the Beanstulk," and the little things
that happened when / was q hoy, and
now have to make up as L go. They
know "Uncle Remus" by heart, and its
funny to see 'em get off in corner and
take it time about, telling each other
about the fox and the rabbit, and laugh
ing like they would have fit. Children
have a power of natural sense, and i
sometimes think we old folks know too
much and have got it all muddled up
on the brain. Last nisht Carl
asked me what they had court for
at town, and l told him then
he wanted to know where We got the
law, and | told him, and told him about
the Jail and the chain gang, and as he
pondered over these dreadful things his
little bosom swelled and he said they
oughtent to do that to ANYBODY. So
! said, Suppose man was to come to
! our corn-crib and break the lock and
steal big bag of corn and carry it off,
| what would you do with him." "a poor
man ~ said he. "Yes," says [. He
studied awhile, and said, 81 think I'd
| give him about one bushel.' Suppose
he took ten bushels said [. "Well, Id
whip him for ten bushols," said he.
Suppose ne was very mean, bad man;
and burned up the stables" well, I
wouldn't care if he did go to the chain
gang for that" said he; then he pom
dered moment and said, "but if he
burned up the horses and mules, too, |
think 1 would hang him.
1 like gardening because it suits me.
It's light work and nice work. and the
rows are short and the spring is close
by, and the sofa is in the parlor where
[ can reclins when 1 get tired, and then,
besides, Tn not fer off from the queen
who sympathizes with ME, and the
harder [ work the more she encourages
me, and when [ get tired digging she
scolds me gently for working too hard,
and straightway puts me to raking the
front yard or trimming the rose bushes
or fixing up her flower pots or some
other little amusement, as she calls it.
What blessed thing 1t is to be tied to
a oonsiderate woman.