Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-04-24

stppOlnt"u. IL somewhat eccentric,
il WA, >avor.. and served with liDcrai
y ard ncatn.,,. The master of the
house vut Il tn" pu!d ng master
+ e.: ;h'. N Sizes prt ,cd cveryth ng
from u 'uil AID thankful heart. But
tn r..i-e was I criVrd with magnificent
ini i.ie.vncr. AID the only remark which
the new La:;d ma den was ht ard to
make liza. day was to the end that She
''c"ul'!n stop TO e;.t ANYTHING herself
until she got ,hc house into some kind
OF decent order: she couldn't stan -uch
= look ne plac- nnhaow."
She scrubbed AMI -c1urtd and re-
arranged ior several days, never paus-
ing III her work for u moment from
dawn IL bedtime, never speaking or
goin out for Il breath of fresh air: AMI
th'n. evidently beng more satisfied
with her surroundings. She arraved
herself gurgvou>ly one twilight and
went 10 wall, IN the graveyard. And
Hereafter. whenever >hrtook her walks
abroad. it was to thi, lonely spot-a
Ettir i'll lo.urc on a hills de pasture,
where groups of lvcr- -bircheS stood
Ike ghosts in the M DIST OF dark ever
green trees.
Have YOU any friends buried there?"
MIS-. N.n>or vrntured to inquire ono
day.
''Nobody thrt | know Of" was the
reply.
. ''Dnn't YOU feel rather dismal wan-
dcling about there in the dark? |
should think you would rather 80 and
visit YOUR friends"
Most things is dismal, but I'd
heap Father | sten tow the whp-poor-
. wills a-sin"in' there than tew hear folks
a-gos,ipin.
The family were quite satisfied with
the appearance of their door-yard.
though it was still in the eloquent dis
order of nature. The mistress would
have Liked flower bed. but there were
SO many stumps and orks imbedded n
the sol that it seemed hardly worth
the while To attempt such a thing.
Then, too, there were w Id flowers
viOlctS. anemones and dandelions
perpng through the clustered ferns
everywhere. and gay marshmarigolds
following the footstep, of brook that
came creeping in under the fence rails
and danced Off to the river. But
lc nda, after renovating the house,
! announced that she could not stan
>Tch lookin' place another minute.
She was a-goin' teH clear it up m hcv
a llower-bcd by the front door The
! door yards of the back folks warn't
BIT wuss. so ez fur her part she was
downright ashamed of it, Whereupon
she set to work with n good VIII,
pruned every tree of its decayei twigs,
covered the stumps with creeping vines
brought from the woods. Scraped every
straw and splinter from the ground,
and then proceeded to spade up the
! flower-bed with her own strong hands
but though the ilower-ped proved
great success. and was the gayest thing
in the neighborhood from late June
unit the frost came. it was not wholly
satisfactory in some respects.
Beng in the front of the house. lei
binda' 5 presence attracted the atten-
young man from the village fingered
by the gate to gain an opportun ty to
speak with her. lcbinda was certain
ly attractive to the other sex, though
She treat Il male and female alike tn
naughty Silence. There was one,
dark shadowy youth, who looked more
like a c.ayon drawing than a real t,c>h
and blood man. who was particularly
persistent in his addresse, to the gate
and the back of h fa ones head. He
was the rOpr.teor of the travelling pho
tograph saloon, and had be N brought
up III the same neighborhood with her
''She won have anything to say to
him; she's kind OF cracked about an
other fcllcr.' said Mrs. Copeland, the
nc ghbOr who had been the means of
sending icib nda to Mrs. W.nsor. "She
N 10. ii nton was promised to each
other. but he got jealous. N in fit o
temper went off n merried Lily Din
kins. sh ftless. flighty, good for-noth-
ing girl from dOwn-rvcr. She
leads him a pretty dance. they say; m
| guess he shes his cake was dough
if ever man did. As for Icibndy,
she hasn't been the same girl since he
| left her. She was never very lively.
! lut she ell W be Sociable enough,
n real kind of smiling and pleasant
as a general thing. though there was
st eaK OF oddly born in her. m she
sometimes acted rather curious. Folks
thought the affair would end tragical
al first, but dOl't see as she's any,
tuiuS ulOLc StIuCA uuulU
grandmother before her was a great
hand for graveyards n being
alone. n her mothers almost as
masterful a, she is, though she's al
ways jolly and gooa-natured. John
Parker began to court Ic b ndy before
she ever saw Joe, m p'r'aps CT Joe had
never turned up Sho would have had
h m. But lots and lots of men wanted
her; N Deacon James. that is worth
property. and Usher Hurd. that is
good deal higher up in the world than
Joe. would be thankful enough to git
her now; for, you see. she's not only
remarkable cookbook kng. but smart
n capa1l. as 4 bee, n her folks are
rs well to do as almost any farming
folks in the county. kind of pity
poor John Parker, for 1 think he real
ly LIKES her SO much that her treatment
is wearing upon him."
The Young man certainly looked as
if something was wearing on him, but
Ic bnda's heart was evidently not ut
all moved by the S ght of his sufferings.
When she saw him approaching she
usually turned her back. If he ad-
dressed her. she either regarded the
sunset clouds in a fit of abstraction or
applied herself to her wedding in a very
frenzy of industry. and he was often
obliged to take his departure without
el.citng one syllable from her lips.
She always kept pins in her mouth.
1t was quite the fashion to do so
among the ..back folks" They all ate.
drank and slept with several of these
useful but dangerous articles under
their tongues; out one night. when
cIu pped for her garden work. she was
discovered emptying whole pincush-
ION between her small white teeth. and
the mistress of the house regarded her
with astonishment and alarm.
''Iciblnda. aren't you afraid You will
swallow some of those pins?" she in
quired.
'Oh, lor, no; sha'n't swaller any,
n I'm gttin my mouth chock-full, so
ei any fool comes m asks me to 90 to
the circus with him to-morrer, l sha' mt
answer him unawares," she replied.
speaking with spasmodic effort. I'm