Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1897-03-03
r I was In a little house on a little
Ia Town of Bnbble.

The little woman was crouched up
ON the carpet sofa In limp heap she
looked III, but sanguine--eNhausted,
but relieved. The remains Of the mid
day meal were on the table, There
wore traces Of ashes about the stove.
The babys gown was begrimed. In
spite of these facts the mistress of the
modest home smiled sweetly.
"Well," exclaimed her visitor, one
comprehensive glance embracing the
unwonted neglect of the place, Il heard
you We're not feeling WELL but ! did
not know you required assistance with
your housework. l supposed, of course,
your friend Mrs. Mason was with you"
The little woman looked up with
sparkle in her eye.
80, I'm well enough. / was sick
enough up to last Tuesday. I've been
gettin' better ever since. I'll have the
table red off an things Strengthened be-
fore Tom gets home If | feel like it
now can let things be, There amt
no one to notice. Mrs. Mason, she don't
come over. Truth is, we've got shet
of Mary Mason. We Just" in emphatic
repetition, had to get shet of Mary
Mason"
The visitor was sympathetic. The lit
tie woman was confidential
me an Tom" she explained, have
lived on farms all our lives. So when
we rented the farm and moved into
town, thought the change was fine.
My? | says to Tom, amt it nice to
live in a large place. l never before
suspicioned how comfortable it was to
live reel near to folks, an have them
folks neighborly. Outn the half sec
ton we might be two weeks 'ithout see
IN a body to speak to. An here we've
got 300 people in this town, an two
trains day-not to mention the
Irelghts-an' houses all round us. It's
awful NICE ! says to Tom, but what's
incest Is Mrs. Mason. Why, she comes
In that often | amt got a bit of time
to be lonesome for the stock. There's
only herself an her husband, so her
work don't count. She can't read or
write only Bohemy, an she amt got
no use for that language since she mar
ried outn her folks. Take ii altogeth
er, she's willin to neighbor lots, an
that ! says to Tom, will be mighty
perkin' for mer
Yes" assented her visitor. with
rising infection on the monosyllable.
Tom, he didn't say much. He's kind
of slow-llke, He jest said, What suits
you, Eliza, suits mer Well. Mrs Ma
son she come She kept comm. Some
times, If she got Samyel off early. she
come in before our breakfast She al
lus come in before got the dishes done
up. An she stayed She stayed all
mornin-even wash mornin's. some
times she talked. Right along she kept
nibblin'. Sometimes twas a bit of
cheese, or couple of crackers. or
hunk of spice gingerbread or the top
off jar of jell. i cant hear you when
I'm a-rubbin',' I'd say. That never
mattered bit to her Shed wait till
! got through rubin an was a-bilin'.
But whether she talked or whether she
didn't she allus come, sure As the day
light did, she allus kept a-nibblin', an
she allus stayed"
The narrator treated herself TO a tea
spoonful of medicine out of a bottle on
the Window=sill before she proceeded.
our girls get home from school at
Il, : Went on the Frustrated chatelalne,
AN | allus have lunch for ,em then.
Sometimes its reel good Sometimes
It's only scraps Anyhow, it's the best
me an Tom can afford. Don't Won
think she stayed for every one Of them
lunehess My, yes. She don't have Ia
get dinner for Samyel till |, an, she
lowed that she most generally got peck
ish about noon. So she'd set down with
the children regular, an then 90 across
home to get dinner Lots of times
they'd be just snag of pork, or
gumptfon Of fried potatoes, or as much
jam leayin' as you'd sneeze at. There
amt nothin' here, Mrs. Mason. to ask
you to have a bite Of | saws TO her
often. % laws she answers, what's
good enough for you Is good enough
for me- An she sets down."
Her visitor sighed softly.
Then she would stay all afternoon
She was allus here when Tom come
home TO supper. Her husband took his
supper at the hotel, so she used TO line
US. Samyel never got back from the
store before II, so she'd stay at our
house to pass the time. Tom. he'd 90
for the mail, an come back, an there
she was. Read the noosr she'd say
Tom, who Is natcbilly petite. nd read
it He'd read, an read, an readt
Lands sakesr Mary Mason 'ud put
in, go onl / could jest set here all night
an listen An she did-pretty nearr'
There was a mournful silence.
ION the farm" continued Mrs Rob |
inson, me an Tom allus went to bed
at 8. How was we to 90 to bed even
at 10, with Mary Mason a-sittin' there?
Land o. the liyin'r she'd say, seeln' me
a-patchin I'm glad / amt got emmy |
children to keep a-slayin' fer-thcy do |
take such a slew of work. But when I
got through the mendin'. an Tom had /
read every word in the paper. even the
INSTRUMENTATION she was! Tom
he'd yaWn an yawn I'd tell as how
] was dead beat, not hayin got much
sleep the night before with the baby
that was cronpy She never pretended
to hear. By'm by, Tom, he'd go into
our bedroom that's off the settin room,
an he'd haul off his shoes. an sling EN-
on the floor real hard. That didn't stir
her il was awful proyokin'."
ut must have been!' her visitor ac-
quiesced.
"Then they was the borrrjn, NOT