Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1884-05-07

| was nhtuT 10 90 JlSt SO, anu nulilhn ma
tur' is poor stuff anyway, and it warm
long afore she was driv in0o that ere
southeast bedroom and closet, and told
that she must remain there.
"'Lijah's wife, right contrary TO the
will, forbid her cooking by the fireplace
but sent her leetle dish o. puddin' and
merlasses three times day, saying that
il was good enough for anybody and
dreadful film.
ut was no matter whether Mis- CLARK
liked il or not; il sartainly want very
film to her, for she growed poor on it.
and looked ten years older than she did
on the day the deacon died.
"Now, Mis- Clark was a nat raj cook,
and we know what that means. If she
set out to fry apiece o pork, why, il
was Drowned TO jest the right brown
even in bilin' pertaters she knew jest
how to dew it. They warn't never
soggy, but alters come out mealy and
whole. When she fairly laid herself
out, bless me! You should have eat her
doughnuts and gingerbread and pump
kin pies. IL was cookin' as was cookin'.
She'd beat the hull neighborhood.
"Now the deacon set good deal by
Esther, and especially by her victualsi
and, arter all, few ribbons and curls
may catch husband, but there's moth
in like good, hullsome cookin' to keep
him in traces. The way to mans
affections lies right through the stomach,
and it STAINS to reason it should be so,
for yaller biscuits and sour bread mater
ally brings on dyspepsy, and that makes
everybody cross and snarlin'.
"But / was tellin' how that will
worked. 'Lijah and his wife put the
screws onto Esther, and the property
was given in such GURUS way that she
couldn't do nothin' with it, True, she
had the use of one-third o. the farm, but
there wern't no buildings onto it, and i
reckon that land is wus than money for
a woman to handle; so there she was
right under their thumb, and they
knowed IT, Folks kinder thought she
was losing her mind; anyhow she got
drefful low-spirited.
1T happened about this time that
Squire Peters lost his wife-Deacon
Clark's folks and the Peterses had alters
been drefful intimate. Now very
GURUS circumstance occurred or, rather,
it came to light. II seems that some
thirty years before, when Esther was a
rosy-cheeked girl-even old folks is
young some time in their lives-Squire
Peters writ her letter, aslsin' her to
marry him.
'In them days postage was high, and
he hadn't no two shillin's to fool away,
so he put it into the hands of his Uncle
Zebedec, who was goin' right to Salem,
and asked him TO carry it to Esther.
This was in the month o. March.
"Zebedee Peters was one o. them aw-
full forgitful men; he slipped that letter
into his overcoat pocket, and then II
slipped out o his mind entirely. When
he got home from his journey it had
growed warm, and the overcoat was
hung up in the closet, and nobody
looked into the pockets till the next fall.
Then what should Zebedee in fumbling
around, draw out, but that ere love let
ter. Twas Gurus circumstance.
.In the meantime, during this ere
summer, Squire Peters, feelin' good
deal sighted in not hearing from Esther,
had done Just what many another disap-
pointed man does, engaged himself right
away to n girl he didn't care any great
for, and Esther had been married to
Deacon Clark.
"In course o time Squire Peters folks
bought farm up to Salem, came up
there to live, and things moved on as if
nothing had happened, and nothin'
rally had happened, for the Squire kept
his own secret, and that was the end
ont. All parties lived happily enough:
I'm them days divorces warn't talked
about, nor incompatibilities. When
men and women got married they
knowed it was for life, and they'd got
TO stand il for better or for wus. Be-
sides, il was such hard work to get a
Twin, they didn't get no time TO sigh
over what might have been. A man
and his wife was like pair o oxen
they was yoked together-and il was
handler, drawing a load, not to pull
apart.
Just at the right time Mis- Peters
died, and the Squire rally mourned fol
her. She was mighty good woman,
though she couldn't cook like Esther
Clark, and when she'd been buried nigh
onto four weeks, Squire Peters happened
to meet Esther, if you can call that
happenin' for which n man has been
contrivin' and watchin' for five days.
"Wall, he Just slid that old love let
ter, yaller with age, into her hand, and
explained the circumstance little, an6
that's all he said and done then. Yor
sec he wanted to wait till n proper time
Then he contrived that she should ge
an invite to spend the winter with 9
fourth COUSIN o. hcrn-she was awfu
scant on for relations-and then she go
fatted up with somethin' more film
than puddin' and merlasses.
"At the end o the year, he went or
and married Mis- Clark, and brought
her home. The first thing Squire Peters
did was to turn over u new leaf with hi:
wife.
Zone day he'd sold some heifers, ant
he tossed the money over to her in ;
careless way, and said: Now Esther
count that ere over and see if it's al
straight
IF he had thrown some black spider,
at her, she wouldn't have been more
skeercd.
81 don't know nothin' about money,
Deacon Clark used to snap her up wher
she only Jest tcched il.
".Wall, it's time you did. Nov
you We got 10 Dcgln' mere 5 no use ii
wimmen folks being so ignorant abou
business matters
"'Why, / never studied 'rithmetic bu
four weeks, and then l never went NJ
further than satisfaction.
"'Never mind that, Esther, said tn
Squire, laughin'; Il heered you countin
up six dozen eggs tother day, ant
money hain't no different from them, a
l knows on.
"You ought to have seen the look oil
that woman's face rs she turned owe
the bills. There was seventy dollars o
'em, and she done pretty well at coun
tin 'em. The fust time she made ninet,
dollars of 'em, and the last time, forty
'Twern't so bad rs 1t might have been
and on the other hand 'twan't wha
you'd call accurat'; but her HUSBAND
kept her at it, encouragin' her along
an helpin' her on, for, as he said, whel