Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-08-06

knife and refused to remember that he
had not accepted the offered wager
The vacation between the fall and
| winter term of school was so short that
Jennie and Lucy did not attempt to
spend it at home, but remained in San
Francisco, and thus were absent fully
six months without seeing any member
of their family. They wrote every week,
however, and often more frequently,
and were SO well pleased with their
school, and the family in whose house
they were was so Kind, that those at
home had no especial anxiety about
them. They were kept supplied with
money. and occasional boxes of home
baked pies and cakes, or a jar of fresh
sweet butter was sent them by steamer,
and every few days Erastus or Mrs. Par
sons wrote to them, thus keeping them
fully advised as to all that was going
on upon the ranch or among the young
people in the neighborhood
Their father did not write-he had
never been much accustomed to write
letters until he left the States and went
to the mines; and here his opportunities
for sending letters had been so few as
to prevent frequent exercise of what
little talent he possessed in that djrec-
ton, so that now he felt no inclination
to apply his stiffened fingers to the use
of the pen, but was content to hear read
the letters received weekly, and with
sending messages of love in those of
Erastus and his wife; but as the time
approached for the return of the girls
for the long vacation he was eager for
their coming, and was at the landing
waiting for them more than an hour be-
I for~a tho ct p-a Hra- md yChcn Shn
came, hurried on board the instant the
gang-plank was lowered.
How'd do. Jennie; how'd do, Lucy;
glad you're back again. Give your old
father a hug" and he gathered them in
his arms and put his bearded face down
to theirs for a kiss, and then turned
away and drew the back of his hand
across his eyes and led them on shore
and helped them into the spring wagon.
..Mother'll be monstrous glad to see
you he said, as they drove homeward;
land SOIL Erastus and Johnny. An
the young folks in the neighborhood are
arrangin' for picnic an a dance in the
woods for one day next week. a pur-
pose so you can all see each other agin.
aspect the young fellows are mighty
anxious to have you back in the neigh
borhood. bein' there amt hardly girls
enough to 90 around anyway. L was
just a-tellin' mother only yesterday that
if you girls hadn't got your heads set
on goin' to school another year, I'd a
heap ruther you STAYED to home and
helped her to make the house CHEEKY
like, but if you want to 60 back amt
a-goin' to 'biect l reckon 'Rastus will
be gittin' married fore long. An may
be he'll bring his wife home; I'm sure
there's room enough in the cottage fer
all of us, even if we were all to home,
and s'pose we can't always keep you
girls. Even eff you was to leave school
for good, some of the young fellows
would be coaxin' you away from u.s."
"Oh, no, pa; am sure neither Lucy
nor have any thoughts of getting mar
ried, have we. LucyP' laughed her sis
ter.
"You don't mean to say 'Ras is in
love with any of the girls though, do
you?' she continued. 81 wonder who
it can be. Funny, isn't it? but never
thought that he could ever get married,
had you, Lucy?"
Lucy said she had never thought of
it, though of course Erastus would mar
ry some time. she supposed; nearly
everybody did.
Then she tried to talk of something
else, but Jennie insisted on knowing
who it was that Erastus was counting.
''Oh don't know as anybody in par
ticular.' her father replied, ''only he's
ridin' around with the neighbors' girls
some, and it S natural he should marry
afore many years. He is man now,
and he knows we are savin' money to
buy him a ranch with after spell.
1T will be mighty lonesome" he
added, '.if he should marry and leave
mother and me; specially if you girls
should go, too"
The girls both protested that they
never meant to marry; had not thought
of such thing.
"You must not talk so, pa,' said
Lucy, because we are never going to
leave you; but just as soon as we get
through school will come home and
stay always with you and mother"
Jennie noticed that her sisters voice
! had a little suspicion of tears in it when
she said this, and that she turned her
head and looked the other way when
she spoke, but forgot it Immediately in
wondering if it were true that 'Ras real
ly had any one picked out to marry,
and if so, whom? She thought over
all the girls in the neighborhood, and
| finally decided that it was Mary Jones.
Mary, she knew, had always liked
Erastus. She liked Mary herself, and
the two had been together a great deal,
and if Erastus was going to marry any
body she hoped it would be Mary.
There's Johnny coming to meet u.s."
said John, Sen, as they came over the
hill and struck the little stretch of level
ground in front of the cottage.
| ''You bet he's got good eye for see
| in things. 'Spect he's been watchin'
for us for an hour. He thinks heap
of his dad, don't you, Johnny?' he
said, as he pulled up the ponies, and
reaching down, lifted the youngster
into the wagon where they could get
at him." as the girls said; and straight
way they began to hug and kiss him,
keeping it up until he squirmed away
from them, and getting in between his
fathers knees, insisted on being al
lowed to drive.
| Mrs Parsons was at the gate waiting
to welcome her girls back with smile
and kiss. The old dog frisked about
and barked as if he were still puppy,
fairly knocking Johnny down and up
setting one of the travelling baskets
which had been set out preparatory to
driving the wagon to the barn. Johnny
would have cried, ordinarily, at such
rough usage, but now it would have
| appeared out of place amidst the gen.
eral rejoicing. and so instead of getting
angry or crying, he laughed and tried
to mount and ride old Bose as he fol-
lowed the girls and their mother into
4 L Il Al