The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-02-29

that opened out o. the settin' room, an
! sot down, an she told me that it wa.
Uncle Enos that W 8 dead 1t seems
she was the one that hailed the man, an
. he was little hard of hearin', an thai
was misunderstanding between 'em
some way.
/ "Uncle Enos had died very sudden
: the day. before of heart-d;sease. He
went into the scttin'-roo N after break.
, fast, an sot down by the winder, an
Aunt Rebecca found him thar dead in
his cheer. when she went in q few min.
utes afterward.
at was such awful hot weather they
had to hurry about the funeral. But
that want all. Then she went on to
tell me the rest. They had had the
awfulest me that ev rwas. The show
er had come up about one o'clo K, and
the barn had been struck by lightnin'
1t was big new one that Uncle Enos
had sot great store by. He had laid out
consider bic money on it, an they'd est
cot in twelve ton of hay. Is'pose that
was how it happened to be struck. A
barn is good d al more likely to be
when they've jest got hay in. Well,
everybody sot to an put the fire in the
barn out. They handed buckets of
water up to men on the roof, an put
that out without much trouble by takia'
it in time
"iut aher they'd got that put out
they found the house was on fire. The
same thunder-bolt that struck the barn
had struck that. too, an it was blazin'
away at one end of the roof pretty live
ly.
"Wa'al. they went to work at that
then, an they'd jest got that fairly put
out lew minutes before we come.
Moth n was hurt m 'eh, only thar was
a good deal of water round; we had
hard work next day cleanin' Of it up.
AUNT Rebecca alters was calm sort
of woman, an she didn't seem near
as much tlustered by it as most folks
would have been.
Il couldn't help wonderin' an look
in at her pretty sharp to see h wv she
took Uncle EnOs's death, to-. You see,
thar was something kinder curious about
it all from mother. don't pose she
ever wanted him, nor cared about him
the best she could do, any more than she
would have about any good respectable
man that was her neighbor. Uncle Enos
was pretty good sort of man, though
he was alters dreadful sot in his ways,
an believe it would have been wllss
than death any time for h nj to have
given up thing he had determined
10 hev. But must say never tn ought
so much of him aft.r mo her told me
what she did. You see, the way If It
was my GRANDMOTHER " ilson, Aunt Re-
becca's mother. was awful sot on her
hevin' him. an she was dread ul nerv-
Gus an feeble. an Aunt Rebecra t
give in to her. The wust of il was, tn r
was some one else she wanted, tnO, an
he want, d her. Abner Lyons his name
was; he want any relation to the
Lyons woman ] had when [ was sick
He was a real likely youag Teller, an
thar wa mt TIM g agin him that any
one else could see; but grandmother
a rlv hated him, an mother sal she
d believe her mptrr won d rather
hev huricd Rebecca than seen her mar
ried to him. Well, grandmother took
on and acted so that Aunt Rebecca i've
n an said she'd marry lncle En-, s, an
t wed lin day come.
~ other said she lorkel handsome
As a pichlr. ut thar was somethin'
kinder a = i about her when she stood
up before the minister with Uncie Enos
to be married.
"She was dressed in green six. an
had some roses in her hair. kin i'm
5 was a good lookin' woman when |
knew her, an they said when she was
young thar want many to com are
with her.
"Moiher said Uncle Fnos looked
nice. bul h. had his mouth kinder hard
sot. as eff now he'd got what he wanted
an meant to ang on to it. He'd known
all the me jest how matters was. Aunt
..ebecca'd told him the whole story; she
declared she wouldn marry m wit
out she did
al pose at the last minute that Aunt
Reb .cca got kinder desprit. an real
izin' sense of what she was dom come
over b r, an she thought she d make
one more effort to escape: for wnen the
minister asked that question bout thar
bein' any obstac es TO their gettn' mar
ried, an eff thar were, let 'em speak up
or TO ever hold their peace, Aunt Re-
becca did speak Up. Mother sad she
looked straight Mt the parson. an her
eyes was sh min an her cheeks white Us
Lilies.
Yes says she, thar is an obstacle,
an will speak, an then will forever
hold my pea.e. don't love this ma
I'm standin' beside of, an l love an
other man. Now if Enos Fairweather
wants me after what I've said. I've
promised to marry him. an YOU kin go
on; but Won tell or act lie before
God an man.
Mo her said it was awful. You
could hev heerd pin drop anywheres
in The room. he minister jest stopped
short an looked at Uncle Enos. al
Uncle Enos nodded his head for him to |
go on.
''But then the minister begun to hev
doubts as to whether or no he ought tt |
ma ry 'em after what Aunt Re, coca |
had said, an it seemed for q minute as |
eff thar wouldn't be any wedd n at all. |
"But grandmother begun to cry, an
take on, an Aunt Rebecca Jest turned |
round an looked at her Go on saws |
she to the minister.
"Mother said eff thar was anybody |
looked fit to be martyr. Aunt Rebecca
did then. Marvin to please your re-
lations an dyin' to please the Lord is
two things.
"Wa'al. never thought much of Uncle
Enos afterI heerd that story. though.
as l sad before, j guess he was pretty
good sort of a man. The principal
tn ng that was had about him, que ss,
was, he was boun . to hev Aunt Rebecca
an he didn't let ANYTHING. not even
proper self-respect, stand in his way.
"Aunt kebecca alters did her duty by