The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-11-07
THE FIRST SETTLERS STORY.

battered
Her rustic furniture broke up and scattered.
Her paintings, which long years ago were done
By that old splendid artist-king, the sun,
Torn down and dragged in civilizations's gut
ter,
Or sold to purchase settlers bread and butter.
She don't want things exposed from porch to
closet,
And so she kind o. nags the man who does it.
She carries in her pockets bags of seeds,
AS general agent of the thriftiest weeds;
She sends her blackbirds, in the early morn,
To superintend his fields of planted corn;
She gives him rain past any ducks desire
Then may be several weeks of quiet fire;
She sails mosquitoes = leeches perched on
wings
TO poison him with blood -deyouring stings;
She loves her ague-muscle to display,
And shake him up-say every other day;
With thoughtful, conscientious care she makes
Those traveln' poisonbottles, rattlesnakes
She finds time, 'mongst her other family cares.
To keep in stock good wild CATS wolves, and
bears.
Well, when first infested this retreat.
Things to my view looked frightful incom-
plete;
But had come with heart-thrift in my song,
And brought my wife and plumber right along;
hadn't round trip ticket to go back,
And If had there wasn't no railroad track;
And drivin' East was what couldn't endure;
! hadn't started on circular tour.
Ny girl wife was as brave she good.
And helped me every blessed way she could;
She seemed to take to every rough old tree.
As glar as when first she took to me.
She KEEP our little log house neat as wax,
And once l caught her fooling with my axe
She learned a hundred masculine things to do;
She aimed a shot gun pretty middin' true,
Although, in spite of my express DESIRE
She always shut her eyes before she'd fire.
She hadn't the muscle Though she had the
hearty
In outdoor work to take an active part;
Though in our firm of Duty and Endeavor
She wasn't no silent partner whatsoever.
When was logging, burning, chopin wood,
She'd linger round and help me all she could,
And kept me fresh-ambitious all the while,
And lifted tons just with her voice and smile.
With no desire my glory for to rob,
She used to stan around and boss the job;
And when first-class success my hands befell,
Would proudly say eve did that pretty WE'LL"
She was delicious both to hear and see
That pretty wife-girl that KEEP house for me.
Well, neighborhoods meant counties in those
days;
The roads didn't have accommodating ways;
And maybe weeks would pass before she'd
And much less talk wth-any one but me.
The Indians sometimes showed their sun baked
faces,
But they didn't teen with conversational
graces;
Some ideas from the birds and trees she stole,
+,lly
And finally thought that could trace
A half heart-hunger peering from her face.
Then she would drive it back and shut the
door;
OF course that only made me see 1t more.
Twas hard to see her give her life to mne
Making a steady effort not to pine;
Twas hard to hear that laugh bloom out each
minute,
And recognize the seeds of sorrow in it.
No misery makes close observer mourn
Like hopeless grief with hopeful courage
borne;
There's nothing sets the sympathiesto paining
Like II complaining woman accomplishing.
1t always draws my breath out into sighs
To see brave look in a womans eyes.
Well, she went OIL, as plucky could be.
Fighting the foe she thought did not see.
And using her Northumberland powers
To turn that forest to Il bed of flowers.
You can not check an unidentified sigh,
And so had to soothe her on the sly.
And secretly to help her draw her load;
And soon it came to be an uphill road
Hard work bears hard upon the average pulse,
Even with satisfactory results;
But when effects are scarce, the heavy strain
Falls dead and solid on the heart and brain.
And when we're bothered, 1t will oft occur
We seek blametimber; and lit on her;
And looked at her with daily lessening favor,
For what knew she couldn't help, to save her
And Discord, when he once had called ana
seen us,
Came round quite often, and edged in be-
tween u.s.
One night, when came home unusual late.
Too hungry and too tired to feel first-rate,
Her supper struck me wrong Though I'll allow
She hadn't much to strike with, anyhow
And when went to milk the cows and found
They'd wandered from their usual feeding
ground.
And may bed left a few long miles behind en-
Which must copy, If meant to find en-
Flash-quick the stay-chains OF my temper
broke,
And in a thrice these hot words l haa spoke
"You ought to've kept the animals in view,
The heft of all our life on me must fall;
You lust lie round, and let me do II all"
That speech-it hadn't been gone halfa min
ute
Before saw the cold black poison In IT;
And ia have given all had, and more
To've only safely got it back indoor.
I'm now what most folks "well-to-do" would
call:
feel to-day as If I'd give it all,
Provided l through fifty years might reach
And kill and bury that halfminute speech
She handed back no words, as couio near;
She didn't frown; she didn't shed tear
Half proud. half crushed, she stood and looked
me DER,
Like some one she had never seen pei"re'
But such q sudden anguish-lit surprise
Inever viewed before in human eyes.
U'ye seen it oft enough since in a dreah'
Itsometimes wakes me like midnight scream
Nextmorning, when, stone-faced but heavy
hearted,
with dinner pail and sharpened axe started
Away for my days work-she watched ths
door,
And followed me half way to 1t or morei
And was Just Affirming round at THIS
And asking for my usual good-by kiss;
But on her lip saw proudish curve
Aud In ber eve N shadow ofreserve;