Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1882-02-03

,e than if it belong to another man. ,

DE than if it belong to another man."
But, instead Of answerin' my affection
ate arguments, he jumped up, and started
or the barn.
And. oh! how feerfully. feerfully eros,
ne Wus. for the next several days. Final
ly, to the breakfast-table, one mornin', /
says to him, in tones that would be replied
to:
Josiah Allen, you are a-carryin' sunth
in On yur mnd'' And says I, firmly
"Yur mind hain't strong enough to carry
it. You must and shall let yur pardner
help you!'
Seein' was immovable sot onto the de-
termination to make him tell, he up and
told me all about it.
Says he: ''Summer boarders is what ails
me: l want to take 'em in.'
And then he went on to tell how awful
ly he wus a-hankerin' after 'em. Now; he
knew, piles and piles of money wus to be
made by it-and what awful pretty bust
ness it wus, too. Nothin' but fun, to take
em in! Anybody could take sights and
sights of comfort with 'em. He said Man
dagood said so. And, it was so dredfnl
profitable. too. And ne up and told me
that Mandagood wus twiJtin' him, all
the time, that, if it wuzn't for me, he
could make jest as much money as he
chose
Mandagood knew well how [ felt on the
subject. He knew well I wuz principled
against it, and sot. Idon't like Manda-
good. He misuses his wife, in the wurst
way. Works her down almost to skin and
bone. They don't live happy together at
all. He is always envious of anybody that
lives pleasant and agreeable with their
pardnsrs, and loves to break it up. And |
shall always believe that wus one great
reason why he twitted Josiah so. And, for
Mandagood to keep at him all the time
and throw them dozen boarders in his face,
it haint no wonder to me that Josiah felt
hurt!
Josiah went on, from two to three-quart-
ers of an hour, a-pleadin' with me. and a.
bringin' up arguments to prove out what
a beautiful bushes it wus, and how awful
happifyin'; and, finally, says he, with a
sad and melancholy look:
81 don't want to say word to turn
your mind, Samantha; but, I will say this,
that the idea that can't take boarders in,
is a-wearin' on me; it is a-wearin' on me
so, that I don't know but it will wear me
completely out"
didn't say nothin'; but felt strange
and curious. knew that my companion
wus man Of small heft-I knew it would
not take near so much to wear him out,
as it would heftier man-an the agony
that 1 see printed on his eyebrows, seem
ed to pierce clear to my very heart. But
1 didn't say nothin'.
1 see how fearfully he wus a-sufferin' },
and my affection for that man is like an
oxes, as has often been remarked.
J And, oh! what wild commotion began
to go on inside of me, between my princi'
pies and my affections.
AS I have remarked and said, I wus
principled aginst takin in summer board
ers. had seen 'em took in, time and
agin. and seen the effects of it. And l had
said, and said it calmly, that boarders wus
moth. 1 had said, and I had weighed
my words, las it were,) as I said it, that
when woman done her own housework.
it wus all she ort to do, to take care OF he1
own men-folks, and her house, and housen
stuff. And hired girls, I wuz immovea-
bly, sot aginst, from my birth.
Home seemed to me to be a peaceful ha-
ven, Jest large enough for two barks: my
bark and Josiah's bark. And when for
eign schooners, ito foller up my simily),
sailed in, they generally proved in the end
to be ships of war, pirate fleets, stealth
happiness and ease. and runnln' up the
deaths head of our lost joy at the mast
head.
But, I am a-eppisodin', and a-wanderin'
off into fields of poesy; and to resume and
90 on. Any female woman, who has got
J beloved pardner, and also heart inside
OF her breast-bones, knows how the con-
f1ict ended. I yielded, and Civ in. And,
that very day, Josiah went and engaged
'em.
He had heard of 'em from Mandagood.
They wus boarders that Mandagood had
had, the summer before, and they had ap-
piled to him for board agin; but, he told
Josiah, that he would Civ 'em up to him,
He said, HE wouldn' It be selfish and On
neighborly, he would Civ 'em up"
"Why,'' says Josiah, as he wus a-tellin'
it over to me, ssMandagood acted like he
was fairly tickled at the idea of givin' 'em
up to me. There hain't a selfish hair in
jake Mandagood's head-not hair''
I thought it looked kinder queer, to think
that Mandagood should act so awful will
lin to give them boarders up to Josiah and
me, KNOWN, as I did. that he wus as sell
fish as the common run Of men, if not sell
fisher. But, I didn't tell my thoughts.
No. didn't say word. Neither did 1
say word when he said there wus four
children in the family that was a-comin'
No. T held firm. The job wus undertook
bv me, for The savin' of my pardner. l
had undertook it in martyr way, almost
John Rodgers way, and I wuzn't goin' to
smile the lob by murmurin's, and COM
plainin's.
But. oh! how animated Josiah Al lien
wus that day, after he had come back
from engagin' of 'em. His appetite all
come back, powerfully. He ate feer-
ful dinner. His restlesslass, and Uneasy
ness, had disappeared; his affectionate de-
meanor all returned. He would have act
ed spoony, if he had had so much as a
crumb of encouragement from me- But,
I didn't encourage him. There was lof-
tiness and majesty in my mean, Caused by
my principles,) that almost awed him. I
looked firstrate, and acted so.
4 And, Josiah Allen, as I have said, how
highlarious be was. He wus goin' to make
so much money by 'em. Says be: ''Be-
sides the happiness we shall enjoy with
'em, the almost perfect bliss. just think Of
four dollars week apiecefor the man and
HI, ,.,;fo and two dollars apiece for the