The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-08-10
LONG AND SHORT.

"Eudory!' cried Mrs. stebbins in her
high nasal voice, and the clatter of
spoons in the next room stopped sud-
denly, after which slight assurance that
she was heard Mrs. Stebbins command:
ed, between the energetic splashes of
her churn: ST want you to come right
out here an put up the, mems dinner
an takeit down to 'em. They ain t goin
to take the time to come home, cause
fathers feet is achin this mornin, an
he wants to git n all the hay afore the
storm. Come along now! Them spoons
is goin to keep"
There was no answer this time either,
but the door was pushed farther open,
and a girl came silently into the kitchen.
Her fingers were black, as if she had
been cleaning very dirty silver, and she
walked over to the sink, poured some
water into tin basin and began to
wash them with deliberate slowness
which made her mothers thin lips
tighten and the churn fairly hop about
the floor with the yigor Of her strokes.
Mrs. Stebbins could not tolerate slow
ness. She could not understand how it
was possible fer a person, to be either
slow or silent, and nothing made her so
angry as the exhibition Of either char
acteristic in her only daughter fact
which I am sorry to say Eudora discov-
ared and made use of at very early
age-soItwas the only way in which she
could, as she expressed it, 'get square"
with her oyerbearing mother, and she
had cultivated 55still the slight natural
tendencies in those directions had be-
come actual habits. ~
AS she stood there now, seeming to
wash and dry each separate finger by
itself, she did not look like a person
who would be trod upon without find
ing some way to turn.
She was dark. with strong, hand
some face, heavy brows that met above
q very determined nose, a beautiful
chin and bright, brown eyes, but the
most notable thing about her was her
height. Tall, taken III the ordinary
sense, would not describe her, for she
stood 6 feet in the lowest heeled shoes
she could buy, and the neighbors de-
clared that though ever 20 she was
growing yet-a fact which filed her
parents with pride, her brothers with
envy and herself with fierce rebellion.
She detested the curious looks that
followed her when she went to town,
the inevitable jokes aboat the state OF
the atmosphere ''up where she was, .
and references to 1.-The long and the
short of it, OR the probable diminutive
height Of the man she would marry.
She was thinking of it now, as she
saw how far she had to stoop to reach
the basin, and the little fit of anger at
tendant OF the thought made her even
more deliberate than usual, so that at
last Mrs. Stebbins broke forth in spite
of herself.
you've took Eve minutes for every
finger now,'' she exclaimed wrathfuily.
s.If you wash the palms the same way,
I'll be able to do the butter and git
down to tn field ahid Of you. If it
takes all big things so long to move,
I'm glad the boys didn't grow no more!''
Eudora flushed and threw out the
water with more hurried motion.
That last was the only taunt that ever
had the least effect upon her. Then she
went into the pantry and began to cut
loaf of bread
"You better cut it ali, p" her mother
called, .''cause there's four of them to-
day-pa's got Joe Sampson helpin, too
an don t forgit to leave the mustard
out O. Ioe's sandwiches, either. Put IN
lots of pickles. and take the apple pie
-Eu-do-ry! Do you hear me-" as no
sound but the rattle Of dishes came from
the depths Of the breezy pantry.
..Yes. ma said Eudora shortly, and
fer few minutes the churn had the
floor entirely to itself. But presently
Mrs. Stebbins broke out again. What d
you get them spoons out for anyway, .
she demanded. ''If plated uns ain t
good enough for Gus Sanderly, why
he'd better stay away, that's all. He
amt no better'n my boys er Joe Samp-
son. If you only wasn't SO plumb crack
ed on height, you'd know there WASH
as much good in the hull length OF him
as in little Joe's thumb nail. Eu-do-ry,
do you hear me::"
Eyes, ma, - said Eudora, and silence
reigned once more.
In moment she came out OF the
pantry, carrying big tin pail full Of
dinner. and set it quietly down on the
table
Her mother looked up to see if there
were any signs of wrath in the girls