The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-03-07

I
Tha G,h, down the vista of Miss Mar.
tba's barrell Ike bonnet sparkled still
more BRIGHTLY. but she merely said:
| cain, YOU goin' to tell me?'
.Well, Is'pose must. You see ]
saw h and I knowed YOU d be huntin'
| all over. so I i st took and shut her up
in one of mothers coops. SOS she
couldn't oct away again, and to save
YOU the bother oil hun in her up, and
then / thou hit that this evening Id
"Fm ever SO much obi ged to YOU,
but YOU didn't need to do it" interrupt.
ed Nj IS Mart a, as she walked off brisk
| " toward Mrs. Bakers.
Thought 10 n: "The darndest, pro-
| yok nest woman ever seer'
Miss Martha's life was a busy one; no
idler she. Besides her large house and
farm to look after, she had her brother,
older than she, with three motherless
children-a man who had made ship
wreck of his life. and now. at the age
of forty-tvo. weak. good-patured and
Door, came TO his sister to be supported.
After tryino yar;ous plans she found
that hir NO him az one of her .hands''
was the chea way of doing this. He
seemed contented.
Miss Martha had inst brought out
unon the front porch her w ri .basket
and another CONTAINING tbe articles
tyr, tLo Ianndry in need of ren.;r
seated herself in her little wil,ow.rncker
and commpnced the camna;on nv q vio.
orous As ault upon n oray sock. The
w;Iifnl so ,thern breeze nnshed aside
| tha realised madei a y;pes and morn.
;nn nInr;es at the end ~ tho norch and
gs;,S nlaved with Miss Martha's crinklv
6iact hair AZ She gently roct ed and
5srned and tboncbfNwbo knows of
wbatp-she looked toward her Garden
and saw swinyin0 along the natb-the
tall sweat corn on the one side the del.
;cata. ,ea ed rod he r;ed asnaragus ON
the other~tbe yaliow sun-bonnet Of
her neirhbor. Mrs. Baker, and knew
che was GOING to have a visitation
That was one of the things Northern
Miss MarIha couldn't understand, how
these Southern women could start out
every day and spend the whole after.
noon with never o bit of work. Mrs.
| Baker was a most estimable woman,
albeit much given to this practice.
Said she: "Just thought I'd come up
and SEE how YOU all wus," and she sat
down on the top step and famed her
self with her apron.
a.Have a chair, Mrs. Baker"
'No, thank YOU, Miss Marthy: I'd
lust as lief set here. Saw, I want to
swap a settin' of nv Brahmy's for a
settin' of your Plymouth Rocks. Look
H.Ay
basket sic had and showed bakers
dozen large. creamy eggs.
Sad Miss Martha: Il shall be only
too glad to exchange: but [ can't be
positive that | can give YOU the pure
Plymouth Rock, my eggs now a.e q
miscelleous lot
"Wbat did you say? Miss Philane-
GUS eggs? Who is she? don't know
ANYBODY by that name in this neighbour
hood
"rb no. vou misunderstood mo. 7
meant TO saw thar INV COOS now were
NOT any kind in particular. hut a COL
lect;, n nj all so,tsr
"Oh. VII. INV hens are doing pretty
well inst now.5 and Mrs. Baker went
on TALKING about her luck with chick
ems. now hitc inc her sleeves q tribe
higher. now shi ting her seat from step
to chair and back agan.
Sitting there with the afternoon sun
light Gin ing her handsome. wavey,
iron gray hair. with her fidgety, imny
ways, she formed study. 4 woman
left destitute of husband and fortune by
the war; she had set bravely to WORK to
earn living and a home. She and her
son, now several years man. had been
fairly successful in their lahors and
owned the large farm next Miss Mar
tha's. Injured to the .bone-labor of
the wash IN. the ironing-tab'e, the
churn and the garden" she could never
sit still. Ne yous in action and speech,
she vet had,a peculiar draw about the
ends of words and sentences. 1t some
times seemed as ii, having gone briskly
two-thirds OF the way through a SEN
tence, she was suddenly struck with the
insignificance OF it a |, and, disguised,
let 1t trail OF into silence. She was
constantly in motion, rolling up her
sleeves. crac ling her tinger-io nts, fold
ing together her sun-bonnet, or pullin /.
from their stitched grooves therein the
half-cvl n Tered corn-stalks.
She and NJ &C Martha talked IN the
hum of their voices frequently broken
in mon hy tho stronr brood .oonts Of
Polly, who was leaning over the railing
w tn a basket of smoo h, scarlet toma-
toes from the arden for supper.
"A iss Marthy, did YOU know Tim
Robi' son had got hack?''
"No: has he? when did he Gomez"
LAST night. Come to stay, guess.
It'd a been better fur his wife if he'd a
left her fur 90 d. He don't do nothin'
t,,r,rJs bean N, +ba +,,, L. noho,r.,