River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1896-07-30

and whisper confidentialiy to the curly
head which exactly fitted my shout
der that | was the luckiest fellow on
earth. On one occasion Agnes sighed
and murmured dreamily that that was
Just what she felt.
THAT was on the 5th.
'On the 18th stopped i'm a minute at
noon to see if she loved me as much as
at 1915 the night before. She replied
that she did-that love was unalterable
but that she must hurry upstairs now
or the dressmaker would get her skirt
fiute-shaped instead of organ-piped.
ION the 14th the presents began to
RrTiye-alsO the relatives IL became
an unsettled problem which of the two
were more numerous. Aggie had
cousins once removed, / had several
uncles and aunts. All were well off; in
fact, II was curious coincidence that
we were the only poor branches on
our respective family trees. 1
was in an insurance office-fire
insurance, not life insurance-and
when l had communicated to
Ter the news of my recent promotion
she had promptly declared in the face
of her family 5 unaccountable prefer
ence tor Henry Walker (who was not so
good a fellow as by any manner of
means) that to be Mrs. Joseph Louns-
bury and live in a small house and on
n very small income and bliss was pre-
cisely her ideal of existence. So we
were not marrying as a speculation;
nevertheless, since marriage came so
seldom in ones life, we had hopes that
our mOneye@ relatives would do the
handsome thing.
They did. First came n complete
set of knives, forks and spoons in a
polished wood case. They were from
the cousin Aggic had been named for
Such a sensible present. said her
mother; 'tAey will last lifetime
Yes said I. 1T will take US good
while to wear all those out two at
time
Don't YOU suppose we're ever GO
ing to entertain any company, JOe?'
asked the girl of my affection. tapping
me on the cheek with one of the forks.
THE same night l had note from
her saving: Dearest Joe. YOU OF. hit to
see the lovely after dinner coffee spoons
Second Cousin Milly has sent-no two
alike. Orange plush case. Isn't il ex-
citing? Don't tell, dear. but almost
wish they'd been something else, for
think some of the girls are going to
give me spoons The rest of this let
ter was not interesting you.
This was the beginning of an av-
alanche of spoons-Ch Charter Oak spoons,
nutmeg spo pns. soldiers monument
spoons. witch spoons, bust spoons, por-
trait spoons II called these last our pic
ture gallery and suggested that they
should be framed in ribbons and hung
up i'm the pIrlOr). One of our friends
sent a pair of salted-almOnd spoons,
hoping that we would exchange them 1,
they were duplicated, but it turned
out that those were the only ones We
had. The sugar spoons were all marked
There were five of them.
lit is a time-hOnOred custom in our
office when one of Us is married for the
rest TO combine and buy picture; and
YOU could generally tell what year
mans wedding came off by glance AT
his parlor wall. Williams, who was
married in 81. had Far Away Browns,
a few years later, was The Three Fates.'
Ours was. of course. the latest thing out.
II had silver frame.
AS the days went by and pieces of
silver piled mp on US was more than
once reminded of the couple whose
Courtship was conducted in Brown
iugese. and wnC were fitted out by their
admiring friends With Browning tea
set. with quotations around the edge
oh. the little more. and how much il is
The Forls had a run on china, but
good deal of il got broken the first
year. The Smiths speciality was etch-