The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1893-07-22

u0u uOt YET uTIeO Iuc ueW 1IOAn uAO
grass.
She had on a blue calico dress, and
1t was pinned up in the skirt SO that
1t might not get draggled in he wet
grass, and a red petticoat and two per-
pendicular sections of white stockings
were displayed below it. -
Sally Hurler - everybody called G
"Aunt Sally" now w a little, black
eyed woman of forty-fve, and she.
lived with Timothy Tuots, her cat, in
the white cottage with green blinds,
which stood Just in front of the bean
and potato-patch.
Aunt Sally always had some beans
and some potatoes and some cabbages,
and q few sage and hollyhock and
sWeetWilliam roots. in her little back
garden.
ut is so handy" she was wont to
GAy, "to just pick a few beans when
cure short on it for dinner. Beans
J ! hearty an awful fillen."
On this July day, while Aunt Sally
was diligently searching amid the
green leaves for the notified red-and-
white pods Of the 'horticulturals,' n
Timothy ToOts was rubbing his sleek
yellow sides against her white stock
ngs, IN old man in q blue jean suit,
with a high black stock around his
lean neck, and a little basket in his
hand, came slowly up the sandy road,
and leaning over the picket-fence which
shut the bean-patch from the depreda-
lions Of the highway COW, called out
IN a high pitched voice that denoted
the absence of n few front teeth:
"Mornin', Sally! Thought I'd come
down a minnit an see how We was"
Law sake. Adoniram! Is it y0A?"
said Sally, hastily u%npinning her gown
and letting 1t drop over the white
/ stockings. Who'd although Of seem
you? l was Jest a-pickin' n few beans
Sor dinner. l kinder felt as If ! wanted
somethin' hearty" -.
"Nice-lookin' taters you've got there"
said the old man. approyingly, bugs
trouble We much?"
Bugs" said Aunt Sally, Indignantly.
"Wal, I should think so. Bugs has
nigh about been the death of me. All
yesterday forenoon / worked on them
are later bugs, a-hloekin' OF 'em on
with a shingle into n tin-pan, an then
I put kerosene lie on ZEN an burned
'em up, an land sake! to look Mt 'cm
this mornin' you'd think every indtytd-
ual bug of en- had riz right up out OF
his 1sheS!
Aunt Sally picked her way along the
narrow path beside the currant-bushes
to the back door, which was painted
green, and invited Adontram to enter
the house.
The old man scraped his wide-toel
shoes on the braided rug which protect
ed the yellow-painted floor, aud follow
ed Aunt Sally into the front ROOM,
Che ,.o11p1 ~ tho npoaIO manor N3n.
~dow-curtain, and ct the Wasps and
flies that had been lMxuriously doing
behind it into n lively turmoil.
Adonlram put down his little basket
carefully and wiped his partially bald
brow with a red cotton handkerchief.
Its 4 hot mornin', he remarked;
"feels kinder as if We might have thun-
der showers afore night"
"Wall, yes, it does feel some like It,"
said Aunt Sally, taking aim with a fold
ed newspaper at a fly on the looking
glass. Il don't see what flies wal
made for"
ITO try our patience, Sally" said the
old man, Ito try u patience. Ha,
Timothy"-as the cat came and stood
on his hind legs and put his fore paws
on the visitors knees" how tat he
is getting, Sally. Wall, I guess I must
be a-movin' on. Thought Id just step
IN an see how We was"
For . little more than twenty years,
twice, sometimes thrice, Il week, Adon-
Tram Jackson had called at Sally Hur-
ler's on the same errand-to see how
she was.
The time had been when all the
neighbors had expected-indeed, Sally
herself had expected-that she and Adj
oniram would be married and live to-
gether ia the big yellow house on the
hill, which had belonged to Captain
jackson, AdoniratA's grandfather; but
the years had passed On, apd AAdopiram
paid his regular visits, and he and Sally
grew gray, and the yellow paint on the
| lonesome old house faded to q dull
drab, and still the courtship had never
materialized into matrimony.
The fact was, the yacksops had ql
been slow and AdopiTam was the slow
est of the race. and Sally had waited
and hoped. and her young mates had
married and seen their children grow
up around them, and Sally was waiting
still.
She shut the door after her diiatery
lover, and went into tho kitchen te
stirring" some beans. "Secms 10 ma,
| Ttnaothy," she remarked to the cat,
las If Ad9niram don't look SO peart
as he ginally does. This hot weather's
| terrible draggin' on elderly folks. He'd
ought to have some Of my sarsaper-
tller bitters. They'd kinder brace him
up" ...
She arose with her lap full of bean
pods, and going to the window, she
gazed after the old naal as he toiled
along up the hill to the yellow house IN
the distance. A half sigh heaVed the
calico bosom Of her dress, and shR
wiped the moisture from her specta-
cles with a corner OF her ginghanl
apron.
Who'd a thought twenty years ago
that things would a gone Oh this way! 7
she said, thoughtfully, III she sat down
to the beans again. Il used to be Il
likely girl enough, leasways, there was
some that thought I was, an l might
have married Richard Mutton if Id
been q mind to. Richard is foreltlnded
now, an owns the Danblry mill, an
he's cot a wife an eight Children, an
she wears her diamonds every day.
An, here's me an Adouiram just the
same as we was twenty years ago
He's awful slow, but that isn't tho
worst Of it. It's the way we had that
are dispute about baptism that's KEEP
us apart. I've alters knowed twas
that, though i amt said nothin'. Ad0n
IRAN thinks that nobody can't be saved
unless they go right into the water nj
over; an I'm a splinklerist, an we're
both as sot as the hills. Wall, tain
no wonder he's a Baptist; his Gather
an grandfather was Baptists afore him
Pint we'd nO need to A. argued about it
'Tain't no special count, ! don't expect
SO long MS you do rs you'd ought to
an as you'd like to be done by"