Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1884-02-20

and badde printer.
INDUCEMENTS TO LAND BUYERS.
BY FRENETTA e. HAwLEY.
CHOW, be sure that you distribute
every one of these at the fair, Bertha, Z"
said Mr.. Belmayne, the land agent,
coming into the room where his wife
and daughter sat at work, and deposit
ing on the table towering pile of blue
covered pamphlets, entitled, t'Induce-
ments to Iand.buyers''.
'Trust me for that, father" respond
ed Roberta, little brunette beauty, all
life and sparkle and energy, from the
ttpmost ring of her curly hair to the tip
Of her little, scarlet-s]1ppered feet.
I'll DO my best to bring two or three
capitalists out here" she added, after a
moments busy stitching, "but the
golden eloquence of my pumpkins and
corn will plead 60 West, young mani
more forcibly than I can do
II doubt that, BERTHE, for you have a
persuasive little tongue of your own. 1t
was all through your influence that Mr..
Wheeler located here. I had talked up
Kansas to him until midnight, but for
all that I could see that he had decided
to invest III California orange groves;
then you talked to him for ten minutes
at dinner the next day, and Kansas came
down with rush, and California kicked
the beam. And the beauty of it is that
you believe everything you say so en-
tirely. All, if your name was only
Robert instead of Roberta what a land
agent you would make!"
And Mr.. Belmayne sighed as he re
flected that the light of every quality
needful to produce phenomenal land
agent was hidden under a feminine
bushel.
"Be sure that you don't forget Lucia
st. Johns pansies," admonished Mrs.
Belmayne, shipping her thread after
sewing the last button On Roberta's
travelling ulster,
"That reminds me that I had better
60 to Lucia's right away, so that she'll
have time to transplant the pansies be
fore supper" said Roberta, rising and
shaking the threads from her apron.
Il want some of your pansies, Lucia
the best and biggest, and all you can
spare" was Roberta's modest announce.
ment few minutes later, as she changed
the gate leading into daintily- kept
flower garden, where young lady was
busily at work, stalking up tube roses.
Miss st. John smiled, and went,
scissors in hand, to an octagonal bed,
filled to overfowing with pansies whose
royalty colored velvet blossoms stirred
in the buoyant breeze, like troop of
gold and purple butte, flies, a.hutter for
flight.
"Does the Coffee Club meetto night ~
she inquired; ''you are welcome to all of
these beauties that you want, BERTHE.
dear. But wouldn't those red blossoms
suit your dark curls better?" indicating
some verbenas, whose vivid scarlet fred
the grass, and ibid the rash gazer wipe
his eye"
"Oh," said Roberta, / don't want
them for my hair!. You don't under
stand. But why should you when I
haven't told you! Well, yon know that
I am to exhibit collection of Kansas
products at the county fair when go to
New York to visit Uncle John, in order
to futher emigration?"
II should think I knew it." laughed
Lucia. "Why, haven't you and your
father and I interviewed farmers and
searched the county for Brobdignagian
apples, mammoth potatoes and gigantic
farm products in. general? And don't
know the height of the tallest cornstock
to an inch, and the weight Ct the biggest
pumpkin to All ounce?"
"Mother suggested to. day that
should take few pots of your pansles
in order to make my display more at
tractive, if you please, ma'am!" said
Roberta, laughing, as she recalled the
peremptory manner in which she had
introduced her request, and bobbing an
exaggerated courtesy.
GLOW fond you are of pansies!' she
remarked, noting Lucia's tender touch,
as she transplanted the flowers.
eyes," answered Lucia, q mist of
hopeless yearning filling her eyes; land
they are doubly dear to me be-
cause I had a friend who loved them. "
"'Her dark, dil.ung eyes expressed
The boundless prai1ies Of the West;
uheps her roe
Immediately quoted George Derwent, as
he turned the pages of q blue covered
pamphlet, entitled Inducements to
Land Buyers" and glanced, with an
amused smile, at the cuts which adorned
it's pages and illustrated it's text.
These cuts represented prosperous
farmer in a variety of delightful situa-
tiens-eyeing with calm pride his fat
cattle; rapturously contemplating his
acres of wheat; sitting on bis vine
wreathed porch and viewing an indefi-
nitely extended prospect of maize
through the smoke of his evening cigar;
and so on through the whole gamut of
agricultural bliss.
The place was the exposition hall of q
country fair; the speaker handsome,
blonde young fellow, whose face, voice,
laugh and hand grasp won your liking
t once aud held it forever.
: "Whose speech drops prairie flowers?
Or are you merely reviewing your Whit.
tier2'' inquired a chestnut haired, ath.
]etic man, coming up to Derwent with q
prize baby balanced on his shout.
der. : emo" he added, as George ex-
tended the pamphlet, THAT'S the same
thing that all the farmers are glueing
their eyes to. z $
You have answered your last ques.
ton yourself, and my answer to your
first is, Miss Roberta Belmayne.' She
is niece of Colonel Belmayne, and is
exhibiting some Kansas products here.
I'm sadly afraid that that silver-tongued
siren will induce all our farmers to en-
jgrate, Derwent continued laughingly.