The Pascagoula democrat-star., 1896-10-16

the old lady. II guess | might ha'
been married anytime | said so, David
Hatch. l amt forgot how you got
down on your knees an begged Inc TO
hev you, with tears in your eyes, an
so at last l took pity on you. ! was
alters terrible sOft-hearted crtter
Wall, lemmc sec. where was l? Oh,
yes, l know. Wall, as was a-sayin',
mother an was alvin on the old
place, an we KEEP hearin' how that
Polly was a-goin' to be married to that
worthless Uriah Hayden, an at last
mother says to me one day, says she,
Il can't stand it any longer, Susie. l
can't bear to have One O my gals
throw herself away like that. want
you to 20 right down there and see il
you can't prevent 'cm from bein' mar
ricd'
"'Why, mother says l. what can
| do?'
"'Oh. l Dunno says she; but you
was alters cunnin' critter, an maybe
you can manage it some way
"It was settled that l should 60, an
Aunt Hannah Smith could come OvcI
to stay with mother. 1t didn't take
me long to get ready, for We was well
off, an | had good clothes. In them
days Polly an | looked rs near alike
as two peas, and we was both consid'a-
Bile good-lookin', if ] do say it. When
| left home | remember that ! wore
an alpacky g0wnd, all trimmed with
fringe, an hat with green feather
on it. Twas about twenty miles
down to Polly's. an | went on the
stage and arrived a-WedneSday noon.
Polly warn't eXpectin' me, but she
was real tickled when walked into
her neat kitchen. She KEEP askin' me
questions about mother an the folks
at home, an | answered 'cm all an
never mentioned what we'd heard
about Hayden. You see, l bided my
time"
"Done jest SO ever since | sec you,"
interrupted Uncle David hastily.
"Dayid, | wish you'd keep STILL"
sand Aunt Susie, mildly. "Youre al
lers a-jokin when begin to tell any.
thing. should think you'd know by
this time that it's dreadful bad man
ncrs to interrupt anybody when
they're pursuin' the thread OF MARIA
tion. Wall, Polly said she hadn't been
feelin' jest right for few days. Says
she. amt slept much for two nights,
an I feel dreadful near beat out i
hey been tryin', says she, TO decide an
important matter, an at last I've
made up my mind The individooal.' ;
says she, is comm for his answer this
evcnin. an when he comes you'll hev
to excuse me. I'll bring some maga-
zines out into the kitchen for you to
read while he's here
"'Oh, that'll be all right, says !
carelessly.
"You see, knew by that they
warn't engaged yet, an l was to my
wits end to know how to manage. !
knew t wouldn't be no use to argy
with Polly, for she was alters terrible
sot in her ways an | found out before
long by her talk she'l made up her
mind to accept him. But rs we sot
there a-talkin' an idee flashed across
me. You see, when ! was gettin' over
the fever, good old DR.. Wheeler give
me some restin-powdcrs cause |
couldn't sleep. Says he, you needn't
be afeared to take 'cm, for there's
nothin' in 'cm to hurt anybody.
Wall, when l was packln' up to go
down to Polly's ! see them powders,
an something seemed to tell me to
put 'em in, so did. An now / said
to myself that il | could get chance
I'd drop one into Polly's tea at supper,
an then II | could get her of to sleep
before Uriah come, / could easily send
him off with a flea in his ear.
"Wall, it seemed that everything
worked right in my favor. After
Polly'd got the table sot an the tea
poured out she went into the buttery
after something she'd forget, an
dropped the powder into her cup.
"We eat our supper an then help
ed her wash the dishes. After we hac
sot down, Polly began to nod, an say.
she, 'lm terrible kind o drowsy
Susie. Ib'lieve I'll law down few
minutes and ! may drop asleep. il
anybody should come in, be sure t.
call me- She went into the bedroom
an laid down. an it warnt no time
hardly, afore she was sound asleep.
felt kind O guilty an scared like
though knew that no harm wa
done. Dr. Wheeler had said that tn,
powders wouldn't hurt anybody, an
he was a nice old man as ever lived.
"Wall. went an dressed myself II
one of Polly's gownds; and fixed NJ!
hair like hers, an then ! sot down It
the sittin'-roCm. Pretty quick
hccrd a knock at the door, an wen
an opened 1t. There stood Urlah, II
his Sunday suit. / had seen him,
few times, some years before.
"'Good evcnin', Mrs. Jones' says he
"'Good evenin', Mr.. Hayden, says /
walk In an set down.
II didn't feel jest at my ease, but
tried to appear so. He made few IN
different remarks about the weather
on the new mectiu'-house, an re