The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-03-14
PLUCKY MRS. CRIME.

zee the worst SlQe o MS vile CnaracCcl
before marriage and the sweetness after.
But bein' tin man, with as good an
outfit as travels New England road,
bilers, pans, brooms, tea-kettles an all
sorts O. knick- knacks bein' included. get
q pretty good back view of what learned
folks call society. And it was along o
follering my trade III this fashion that
first saw tire present Mrs. Crime.
She was at the wash tub, an the suds
was flynn for all they was wuth. She
looked pretty, too, though you might
not think it from the work she was at,
but the rubin he'd made her cheeks
losy, an somethin' I'll tell of when / get
to it he'd made her eyes snap.
1t was one O them big houses in a
suburb she was doin' work at to help the
old folks back on the farm.
The back yard to this house was a
sort O. place with a lot O bushes an trees
afore you got in sight O. the kitchen
door, an when I'd got where 1 was pretty
near, an afore I could get another sight
O. the little woman at the tub, I heard
somebody say, with lots O. meanin' in
the tones:
"You do that again, and I'll do more
than talk-now mind"
Istepped out in full view O. matters,
an there little mite of rigged-up
babyhood was spilling dirt into the
washtub..
1t was an aggravatin' thing, an I
know jest how that little woman felt.
There she was a-workin' away for dear
life-for it was late, an l could see there
was still big pile of clothes unwashed
AM that little wretch a-grinnin' an
throwin' its fists full o'dirt. jest won
dered what'd happen.
As l kept comm nearer the house the
young rasr al ran out for another handful,
lively as cricket anticipatin', no doubt,
the fun o. more scoldin'.
But he missed his calculations. He
hadn't no more than put his body close
to the tub than the little woman he'd
been tormentin' just swooped down on
him easy and swift like, an without a
mite O. fuss or waste o. breath landed
him plump in the suds-slippers, velvet,
dirt, an all! While you could perhaps
count FIVE, she held him there bleached
out little sinner, too completely knocked
out O. his reckoning to even cry. Then
she set him, all drippin' like a drowned
rat, on the floor an held him fast by the
shoulders.
"iou've done that times enough, y
she SAID with grain o. temper that
found it easy to forgive, "an' no one has
stopped you. Now I've taken you in
hand an will see what'll come of it. Go
tell your mother, an tell her I'm ready
to give her an explanation. Now you
go''
With a howl that would have done
credit to Feejee Islander, the soaked
torment started, an his self-constituted
discipliner went to rubin fast an iuri
ous, as if she he'd still somethin' to work
off.
In spite O. the temper should hev like
to give her hearty handshake, but
knew enough about suburb folks and
their relations to their third girls to
know gu h proreedin' wouldn't be pru-
dent-it wouldn't help the third girl q
mite-so l jest travelled back the way !
he'd come without word about bilers OF
anything else. felt putty sure the fewer
spectators to the scene that would follow
when the youngsters mother came down
stairs the better.
The folks in the kitchen had seen me,
but I knew at least one of 'em would be
more comfortabler if 1 left an wouldn't
lay up agin me any leavin' out of man,
ners. But l made it in my way few
days after that to call 'roun there an sec
if they had any rags or old paper they
wanted 10 swap for tinware.
The third girl wasn't there, only ths
second girl, ironin' subdued like at 6
table. She said they didn't trade with
peddlers: they bought all their tin things
down to the store Then 1 looked round
careless, an asked where the other gir
was, but at that she looked scared, an
said she didn't know, she'd been dis
charged and no one knew where she'd
gone.
was mighty sorry at that. for I'd ad
mire / tha: plucky dousin' in spite O the
bit O. temper. Well, said good by tc
the second girl and travelled ba k to ny
cart.
For more'n two months I tangled
round on my tin cart, maxim good bar
gains and swellin' my bank account a
few dollars each week. / always was o.
thrifty turn, and it come easy to lay by
somethin' so don't speak of it to takt
credit, only as fact. I thought lott
about tibet washin' day, an wondered
what the two women he'd sed when the
young torment he'd told his ina. al
ways smiled when l thought on it, be-
cause I was pretty sure the mistress
didn't get the best on it in words, any