The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1899-11-15
A FREQUENT MISTAKE.

Il
Alexander aud Fidelia Pogram. We had
been OWN 'em visits for some time.
They're movin' planets, and revolve
round considerable, and always have.
We are stars, Josiah and me, that are
more fixed in our orbits. It wuz on
one Of AleaGderses revolutions with
Of cot rse his satellite Fidelia revoIvin'
rJund him) that they lived neighbor
to US for over two years, and got real
attached to Fidelia. She is eonscien-
tious, painstaking woman, and her
husband is well off, and materially good
natured aud well-meanin'. But when
they wuz first married Fidelia made a
Molok of him, and burnt incense be-
fore him day and night, burnin' up on
that altar all her own preferences aud
desires, all her chances of recreation
and rest, all her own ideals, her own
loves.
Never tryin' to lift herself up and
look abroad into the sunlight, and
foller il outdoors into happiness-nO;
she jest sot crouched before that altar
till her eyes got dim with the smoke OF
her sacrifice and she couldn't straight
en- up. And the cloud of incense she
wuz offerin' up to him from day to day
wuz so heavy between 'em that he'd
lost sight OF her; and bein' at his feet,
instead Of by his side where she be-
longed, he couldn't see her very well,
and she seemed to be quite distance
| away from him. She had made over
by such doin's his materially generous
disposition into a selfish, overbearin'
one. He wuz about as innocent as q
babe Of the way it wus done, and she
too. But, take it all in all, she had
made about the worst botch of married
life that had ever seen made, and she
all the time jest as conscientious and
religious as old Job or Zekiel or any of
'em; and be too thought that he wuz
jest as good as Obadiah or Jonah or
Enoch. And, what made il seem still
worse 70 me, she wuz bringin' up her
g RI in the same way.
Elinor wuz goin' on twenty-one, and
had DO, Louis Arnold by nsme. Her
ma had told me about it the year before
and l had noticed that Elinor looked
real rosy and sweet. That wuz in the
first days Of courtship, and / could see
that the spell wuz upon her. The earth
wus glorified; the heavens bent down
clost to her; she and Louis wuz walk
in through Eden. But the next time
see Elinor she looked considerable
faded and anxious eyed; for all the
world her eyes looked like her mas
lovin' and faithful as dogs and as
anxious lOokin' as a dogs when it has
been doin' sunthin' and expects a
ghippin'. had hearn from q neigh
Dor that Louis was of late growin' cool
in his attentions to ElinOr. And / felt
bad, for mistrusted how il was done.
She had sot him up on such a bite that
he looked down on her. Good land!
with her poster, he had to look down
If he see her at all. The neighbor said
that it waz's posed that Elinor wuz
goin' into decline, and sez she: "That
Louis Arnold is william. He paid her
attention for year and won her love,
and wuz as good as engaged 10 her, and
she doin' everything under the sun to
keep his love, and then he grew cool
aud drawed Off He is q villianr' she
repeated.
"well, mebby there is blame on both
sides"
And agin she z, ''Elinor did every
thing to hold him, and duz yet, for she
still hopes to keep him."
And sez, "Mebby she did too much
And the neighbor giared at me, and
ssz, coldly, az don't understand you"
And sez, "No, s'poze not" And
didn't explain furder, nor she didn't
And this neighbor, bein' a sharp
eyed-and-nosed woman, who evidently
loved scandal, sed, "Have you hearn
anything more about Fidelia's trou-
bles2"
And 1 sez, "No."
And she seZ, "POor creeter! she is
passin' through the waters"
And l SCI: "What waters? Has she
fell into the creek, or hes her suller
overfowed?"
And then she sez, right out, 'Her
hired girl gifts more of her husbands
attention than she duZ Folks talk q
sight ~ sez she.
And sez cody, "They generally do;
they mostly make out not to lose the
use Of their tongues by tyin' 'em to
their teeth"
And | wouldn't ask wold more;
but she went on: Everybody sez
Maud acts more like the mistress of the
house than Fidelis dnz, dressed up and |
loiterin' round; though they do say that |
she is faithful and honest; but Fidelia |
duz the hardest Of the work herself, |
and folks say that Maud eats with |
them, and if anything is wanted |
Fidelia gifts up and gifts it, and Maud |
sits like a lady"
"Well," sez /, "most probable that |
is Fidelis's fault. She wouldn't do it |
unless she wuZ foOlp' sez I.
"And some one told me-" sez the
neighbor, "that hearn it from one that |
wuz knowin' to il, that Alexander had |
been known TO pay Maud compliments
on her good looks and pretty dresses
aud find fault with Fidelia."
SWELL" stz | "that is nothin' but
human man-nater; they will always
find fault with their wives in prefer
ence to other wimmen; they're built in
jest that way, and mebby they can't
help it. / s'poze mebby they think
that they're complimentin' 'em, payin'
attention 10 'em; men are so queer"
And again she looked real meanin',
and sez, "Well, folks talk sight"
And sez agin, They most generally
do"
Well, FIdelia Pogrsm wuz dretful
glad TO see me, and so wuz EIinor.
Alexander, OWN TO the course of treat
ment he had had, acted some hauty,
bein' wuz a woman-FideIia's fault,
every mite ont. Alexander wuz warm
hearted when he wuz married, and
liked wimmen jest as well as he did