Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1890-02-28
SHEPHFRDSTOWN, w VA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY %, 1890.

broadcloth. well, l never" she
calculated, and then, feeling that her
reception had been hardly hospitable,
she lowered the lamp and said kindly:
Come in, deacon, come in"
Thank We, thank ye; l don't mind
if / dew"
Take seat, deacon"
Thank you; don't mind il dew"
The deacon surveyed the attractive
room, which, with its CHEEKY fire and
comfortable cushioned chairs, seemed
veritable paradise in comparison
with his untidy, ill-kept home. He
placed his hat on the floor beside his
chair, displaying his scanty gray
locks ingeniously plastered over the
top of his head so as 70 cover as much
of the bald surface as possible. There
was long pause.
Anything going on, deaconY' asked
Miss Keziah, resuming her knitting.
She was greatly puzzled to account
for those Sunday clothes
"Nothin' within the range of my ob-
servation. There won't be much
agoin' on now till lection time;
things'll be pretty lively then"
Want TO buy any hay this year?'
chirped Miss Keziah. Mine is extra
good this season. Ny bired man says
it's the best harvest yield in town"
Il rather guess I'll hev' enough to
carry Inc thro' the winter. II l don't
| shall know where to come fur hay
as is hay. declare your farm does
beat all. l feel kind O rugged like
when | think the best farm in town
is managed by woman
Miss Keziah smiled graciously and
the deacon drew his chair little near.
er his hostess. 1T must be great
load for We to carry alone. Such
large farm is O. tremendous response
bility for lone woman"
"Oh, don't mind it; it keeps me
proper busy"
The deacon hitchpd his chair along
few inches farther "Ye'd oughter
hev' brother or cousin, or some rel
ative like, to share the burden with
ye."
MY shoulders are plenty strong,
returned Miss Keziah, good natured-
ly. I'm glad to show folks that there
are women who are good for some
thing besides giddy gaddying and tat
Ting"
"Yes, yes answered the deacon,
1--WE can all testify to your valley and
worth. You're real honor to your
sex. You're-you're a bright and
shinin' beacon light to the trifiin' and
vain-minded women of the world
aud the speaker waved his hand at
the conclusion of this little oratorical
flourish.
Then hitch, hitch, hitch, went the
chair Miss Keziah-ward. Don't you
feel sort O. lonely at spells?' he asked
insinuatingly.
Miss Keziah glanced suspiciously at
the rapidly advancing chair. She
dropped her knitting and went to the
fire and piled up the blazing sticks OF
wood. Then she came back TO the ia
BILE and sat her chair on the farther
side of it, thus putting barrier be-
tween her and her visitor. I'm new
er lonely, deacon; plenty to do is the
best medicine for loneliness"
But woman's a tender, dependent
creatur'. Woman's a vine" here the
deacon took up his weekly prayer
meeting drawl, "and needs suthin' to
cling to when the troubles, desolatin'
waves and winds o affliction and sor-
row roll over her"
Stuff and nonsensew exclaimed
| Miss Keziah, with a contemptuous
sniff II shouldn't have expected that
a man of your sense, deacon, would
repeat such silly trash. | have no pa
tience with the people who are always
talking as if woman couldn't stand
alone and needed proping up like
rag doll that hadn't any backbone.
I'm no vine or such creeping, helpless
thing, l can tell you. can stand
alone as well as anybody, If the Lord
so wills it, although | admit, deacon,
that it's pleasanter to have some one
to keep you company"
That's jest it; We hev' hit the nail
squar' on the head It's pleasanter
to hev company in our sojourn on this
mortal yearth.'
The deacon seized his chair with
/ both hands, and by a circuitous line
| OF hitching placed it within three feet
OF Miss Keziah's chair You're fore
handed woman, Miss Keziah; I'm a
man of prominence and influence in
the community; ii seems TO me 1t
would be a good thing il we could
walk hand-in-hand thro' this vale OF
tears. Providence seems TO pint its
| finger that way" The deacon was
thinking at that very moment Of the
money he would save by a thrifty
manager like Miss Keziah in the place
! of his inefficient, wasteful hired wo-
man.
Miss Keziah was dumbfounded. She
dropped her knitting, and the ball OF
yarn rolled across the floor. "Mer-
cy!' she finally gasped.
I'll make you first-rate husband,
and veil make Inc good wife. We've
been members Of the same church for
thirty years or more, and we've been
members of the same spiritual family,
we'll now be members Of the same hu-
man family"
NJ. L o,;a Il ~ ra iohtaDad harGelf nm