Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-02-21

doubts as to whether or mo- ne ought to
marry 'em after what Aunt ReDecca
had said, an it seemed for minute as
eft thar wouldn't be any weddin' at all.
But grandmother begun to cry, an
take on, an Aunt Rebecea Jest turned
round an looked at her. Go on says
she to the minister.
"Mother said eff thar was anybody
looked fit to be a martyr, Aunt Rebecca
did then. Marvin to please your re-
lations an dyin' to please the Lord is
two things.
eva al. I never thought much of Uncle
Enos after 1 heerd that story, though,
as said before, guess he was pretty
good sort of a man. The principal
thing that was bad about him, guess,
was, he was bound to hev Aunt Rebecca
an he didn't let anything, not even
proper self-respect, stand in his way.
''Aunt Rebecca alters did her duty by
him, and was a good wife an a good
housekeeper. They never had any
children, but I don't s'pose she was
ever really happy or eontented, an |
don't see how she could hev respected
Uncle Enos, scursly, for my part. but
you'd never hey known but what she
did.
$50 l looked at her pretty sharp as
we sot thar in her little bedroom that
opened out of the settin' room; thar
was jest room for one cheer beside the
bed, an l sot on the bed. 1t seemed
rather awful. with him a-layin dead in
the best room, but l couldn't help won
derin' eff she wouldn't marry Abner
Lyons now. He'd never got married,
but lived all by himself jest at the rise
of the hill from where Aunt Rebecca
lived. He'd never had housekeeper.
but jest shifted for himself, an folks
said his house was as neat as wax, an
he could cook an wash dishes as handy
as woman. He used to hev his wash
in out on the line by seven o'clock of
Monday mornin' anyhow; that know.
for I've seen it myself; an the clothes
looked white as snow. l shouldn't hev
been ashamed of 'em myself.
''Aunt Rebecca looked very calm, an
l don't tn nix she'd ben cryin'. But then
that WANT nothin' to go by; 'twa'n't
her way. don't believe she'd cried
eff it had been A5ner Lyons. Though /
don't know. maybe, if she'd married
the man she wanted, she'd cried easier.
For all Aunt Rebecca was so kind an
sympathiZin' to other folks, she'd al
ways seemed like stone bout her own
troubles. don't s'pose eff the barn an
house had both burned down, an left
her without roof over her head, she'd
a seemed any different. 1 kin see her
now, jest as she looked, settin' thar
tellin' me the story that would hev
frustrated any other woman most to
death. But her voice was jest as low
an even, an never shook. Her hair
was gray, but it was kinder crinkly, an
her forehead was as white an smooth as
young girls.
Aunt Rebecca's troubles always staid
in her heart, s'pose, an never pricked
through. Except for her gray hair, she
never looked as eff she'd had one.
''She never took on any more when
she went to the funeral, for they buried
him at last, poor man. He had most
as hard a time gittin' buried as he did
gittin' married. l couldn't help peekin'
round to see eff Abner Lyons was thar,
an he was, on the other side of the aisle
from me. An he was lookin' straight
at Uncle Enos's coffin, that stood up in
front under the pulpit, with the curl
ousest expression that ever did see.
''He didn't look glad RELY. Icouldn't
say he did. but all could think of was
man who'd been runnin' an runnin'
to git to Il place, an at length had got
in sight of it.
'sMay be twas dreadful for him to 60
to a man S funeral an look that way,
but natur' is natur', an | always felt
somehow that eff Uncle Fnos chose to do
as he did 'twa'n't anythin' more than
he ought to hev expected when he was
dead.
but did feel awful ashamed an
wicked thinkin' of such things, with the
poor man layin' dead before me. An
when went up to look at him layin'
thar SO helpless I cried like a baby.
Poor Uncle Enos! ii amt for us to be
down on folks after everything's all
over
'.Well, Aunt Rebecca married Abne1
Lyons bout two years after Uncle Enos
died, an they lived together jest five
years an seven months; then she was
took sudden with cholera morbus from
eat.n' currants, an died. He lived a
year an a half or SO longer, an then
he died in kind of consumption.
"'Twa MT long they had to be happy
together. an sometimes [ used to think
they wa MT so happy after all; for thar's
no mistake about it, Abner Lyons was
awful fussy. I s'pose his livin' alone
so long made him so; but don't be-
lieve Aunt Rebecca ever made loaf of
bread, after she was married, without
his havin' something to say about it,
an eff thar's anything that's aggervat-
in TO a woman, it havin' man
fussin' around in her kitchen.
but eff Aunt Rebecca didn't find
anything just as she thought it was
goin' to be, she never let on she was
disappointed.
AZ declare. Almiry, thar's the house
in sight. an the shower has gone round
to the northeast, an we amt had a
speck of rain to lay the dust.
"Well, my story's gone round to the
northeast, too. Amt you tired out
hearin' me talk, Almiry!"
.'No indeed, Mis- Green" replied AL
mira, slapping the reins; II liked to
hear you, only it, kind of come to me.
as I've been listening. that had heard
it before. The last time l took you to
Walpole, guess. you told it.
'Wa'al. declare. 1 shouldn't won