Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-05-18

| L[pAfVE tears OF wear
=W y j iSy t is.1s. of I'll 81
big brown eyes and childish voic
exclaiming;
81 brought you such beautiful
bouquet because love you, dear.
walked miles to get it. Do you lik,
it, and will you keep it forever
ever?"
"Like itG" Words cannot express
how much 1 liked it-then.
That was years ago. One woulC
think had rgotten-sometim I
is better to forget-and yet, at times
these hot hearts of ours play US such
strange, freakish tricks, one wonder:
how they can belong to quiet, self-pos
sessed worldly people. For I an
worldly there is no use of denying
it; in fact, rather glory in it.
Some old maids take to fancy work
with a cat and parrot attachment
some devote themselves to church and
sewing societies, but I settled down
to work-and work would surely put q
quietus on sentimental nonsense.
If there be not love and happiness
in our hves-and these things are
blessings that come to so few-why
not be something to and of the whole
world. This bright, beautiful, fasci-
mating world that we are so loath to
leave, and yet would never have en-
tered had our wishes been consulted.
81 bring such beautiful bouquet be-
cause I love you, DEAR" sounds as
clearly in my ears tonight, as it did
more years ago than I care to re-
member.
Tom was eight and I was six and q
half, and, oh, how we loved each other
in the days when we used to go to
housekeeping regularly, every morn
ing after breakfast, in the little old
summer house at the foot of the hill.
Tom sat on sofa inverted soap
box) and made believe smoke a cigar
and read his paper Ia stray leaf from
old Mother Goose), and I tucked up
my curls with a big hairpin-we had
saved our pennies to buy-and baked
enormous sand pies for our lunch.
Afterwards he always went down
town to his office and worked very
hard, and dressed up magnifcently
in the remnants of an old red table
cloth and lolled ON the sofa lat least
part of me lolled; the rest hung over
on the floor and I nearly broke my
poor little back over the edge of that
horrid box; But Tom said it was
''grown up to loll" so the lolling had
to be done) until he came home from
town with my bouquet. He never for
got it, and I always Loyalty vowed tc
keep it ''forever'n over" Sometimes
it was dandelions, that I laboriously
picked to pieces leaf by leaf to see il
he did truly love me, and, when the
woeful words came to the final petal
he loves me not" Tom would STAMP
his foot and scold-"Pohl Katie
flowers don't know, 1 love you more'r
million bushelsl Now kiss me this
minutei Cos mans and boys JUS
likes to be loved when they's all tired
cut working, like am" Then tina
bouquet was thrown away, but the
clover or wild flowers or even thistles
Loyalty wore the rest of day.
How this long dried bouquet has es
capped the ravages of Time-oDly Fate
knows; but it occupies secret drawer
in my desk and sometimes I take i
out and live over again those old, de
lightful, thrilling days so full of low
and happiness when Tom was a grow
man at eight and such a splendid lover
Ny cheeks were the reddest, my eye
the brightest and my kisses the sweet
est of any girls in town, for-Ton
said so.
He also said that I made the bes
sand cakes and he ate them, like
good husband ought, until one da,
when he nearly choked to death OH
pebble and that frightened us so h
never again could be persuaded t.
touch any of my baking; and he mad
me dress in mourning-a piece of blacl
calico he found in the garret-just t.
see how badly I would have felt if b,
had really died.
It was dreadful I had to cry an
sob. Tom said widows always did
sob loud, dreadfully loud-until al
most made myself sick about it; for h
made me keep that up for week AM
cut off few inches of the black Gallo
every day Tom said L just couldn'
get out of mourning too quick and i
wasn't nice of me to want to. Bnt al
ter that I stole the bread and jam TO
our luncheons. Tom made me. III
said one funeral was all womal
ought to expect Of man and h
wouldn't choke himself to death agai
for any woman