The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-12-17
JARED SPARKS DIVORCE
He Got Instead New Dress for
His Wife.

;carly that morning. Jared is my
!ncighbor aud good man to know, If
The is IA little peculiar. He owns a com.
Portable little farm and he and his wife,
iMehitable, have lived on it ever since
i was born, for they are Us old ms my
parents They never had any children,
and like all married people who arc
SO unfortunate, they have got some.
what soured and, sometimes, show a
lack of human sympathy that leads
them into finding fault with each
other. 1 have great sympathy for
people who have no children to plan
for and worry about, for they get into
habit of being selfish and fault-tiud-
ing to n degree that makes them, us
usual thing, not the pleasantest people
in the world to live with. So it hap
,pened that Jared and Mehitable had an
occasional difference of opinion, and
as neither of them could turn to the
ichildrcn for sympathy, they had
fashion of telling their troubles to the
neighbors. As l am the nearest one
they have, 1 am the recipient of good
many of their sorrows.
Jared is the most omnivorous reader
I ever knew. He exhausted my library
long ago, and my new books. whatever
they may treat of, are read by him
with avidity. Anything Jared sees ir
print he takes to be the gospel truth,
'or else an unmitigatcd falsehood. There
is no middle ground with him, and his
Judgment is his only criterion. With
him Robinson Crusoe is history, for, he
argues, mo man could tell lie and
have it sound SO much like the truth
and Dr.. SalmOn's Investigations of the
swine plague are n tissue of fabrica
tions, because, he says, they don't
stand to reason" A consular report
or the statistics of Ohio are just rs
greedily read as the latest novel, anG
anything in print Jared devours with
patient and conscientious diligence
that is interesting l don't know why
he puts so much faith in my opinion
unless it is because he thinks anyone
who has writ things that has beer
printed into the papers" is infalliblc
but the fact remains that he consults
me on every occasion, from the plant
ing of potatoes to the proper way tc
vote.
From this it will be seen that the
appearance of Jared at my house at
any time of the day was not thing tc
'causc remark. was out by the stable
feeding some chickens when he came
up and gave me greeting. l knew rs
soon as saw him that there was some.
thing of an extraordinary nature on
hand, but was careful not to betray
my knowledge, for Jared is inclined tc
be queer, and l never anticipate when
he is around, for usually the thing ]
expect is not the one he has in mind;
SO merely said: Good morning"
One evidence that something out OF
the usual course Of affairs had brought
Jared over to see me, was his appear
:ance. He was dressed in his best suit
L think 1t was his wedding suit,
though never asked him about it, but
/ know he never wears it except to &C
to meeting. Jared is not a church
member, but it has been the rule of his
life to go to the quarterly meetings of
the Methodist church in the neighbor-
hood, and have the elder home with
him to dinner after the Sunday serv
ices. If the elder comes he gives liber-
ally when the contribution is taken up;
IF he goes with some one else, Jared
icuts down the appropriation. AS the
best suit is only brought into use once
in three months, and is laid off before
Guy ehiiB SloC ID uCuC WlCn he ECLS
home, it shows but little signs of wear
more than it did when, us a boy, I won.
dered if l should ever be able to appear
in as princely array as his. The silk
hat that goes with this suit has been in
style 4 number of times since / can re.
member, and it is good for several
more cycles of the mutations of fash.
ion. The long-sllirted broadcloth coat
and pantaloons to match are still
black, but are beginning to get some.
what shiny at the seams, and the
squarc-toed calf-skin boots are free
from patches, though they show the eff.
fccts of age.
Jared returned my greeting in a
rather constrained manner and fidgcted
around as if not knowing what to say.
1T is wonderful how chickens grow
when they git start, amt it?" he said
at last.
said it was, aud branched out to
give him chance to pull himself to.
esther, for l well knew he did not come
over to talk about chickens.
Coin to set out any Strawberries
this fali?" was his next remark.
no, shall wait till next spring, as
find they do better, on my clay ground,
when started in the spring Are YOU
going to set some?"
81 Dunno" he answered, as if in
doubt. II had calkiiated on scttin'
few down by the ditch where the
ground don't hcavc with the frost, but
the way things is goin' l don't know
who would tend 'cm, an l guess I'll
give it up"
He was getting around to the sub
ject on hand now, and began to won.