The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1899-06-30


just Because This Clever Woman
"seen Her Duty, and She Done IT."
"Ny wife" remarked Uncle John Al
gus with an air of pride and proprietor
shin somewhat more prevalent among
Young husbands in their honcymonnS han
pmong old ones who have been married
for 30 years or more, rs Uncle John Wis
"niy wife is one NV them women the Lord
only makes Il few NV, and them mighty
scattCrin. She's jist ~ good naturCd and
happy now us she WIZ when | COurtCd
her, but Mandy amt all mush and spoon
victuals, and there's times when she has
to Inc handled with kccr or soMcthin will
| be spilled. She : got temper a-rlenty, and
she amt Altered NV the old serpent him.
self I mind one thing she ,luTc once that
I'll never fcrgit cf / live to be older than
the parsons wifc's bonnet.
''In them days Mandy weighed hun
dcrd and cighty-scvcn pounds in her
stuckin feet, and | WIZ only scant hun.
dcrd and forty We had on the farm all
the time seven CT eight head NV fine
horses, and one winter we had q pair NV
l-year olds that we pridcd ourselves per-
tickclrr on, fer they had been takin pre-
miums at the fair every year since they
WIZ ycarlin's. They had speed, TOO, and
we Thought they couldn't be heat 10y
anything in that neck Nv woods, but II
ncighhur nv ours named Hall every body
knuwcd Jim Hall, jiSt like they lnowcd
| me-hal IL pair he had bought in the next
county that he offered to bet a COW and
calf could beat ours hands down. He
used to let EN- out past oar place to kind
nv tantalizc lis. and tell you they wuZn't
Il funeral Ecrccssiun by il long ways, but
Mandy used to laugh and say we'd show
him something when the goin got good.
"Ycu see. it was along in November
then and the roads hadn't froZc yet. The
first Snow come in December with a
mighty cold spell foliOwin and hanGin on,
ard in about Il wcrG CT ten days VIC had
line s!cighiI. and one afternoon Mandy
said Sic gurssc,! we ought to hitch TIP tho
lays and go out for some air and exercise
That was enough fer nc. and | had the
team to the cutter and out at the gate
| waitin fer The lady ii: less than 10 time.
The tCalH VIZ lC"iin as risky II, kit.
tens. and the Way they slam. the siiGw
| and span over the read would stir the
blood in II w0G;!cn man When WE got TO
the turnpike w!Cre the folks usually let
| their teams out. guess there wuz dozen
cr more liO-in up and dow st Il clippin
ard in about seven minutes we passed CIV
Crything on the road
Jim Hall wuzn't out with his team.
and l could see that Mandy WIZ gittin
anxious, Though she wuZnt sayin much
The road luadn to inns place struck the
pike about POO yards from tic upper turn.
and there WIZ no sign NV him us we pass
ed, ard we didn't see him rs we come back,
but just after we got Ey his road We hrcrd
| a chatter up the pike, and, hy crackcy,
there WIZ Jim a-Ccmin liCkety spit. i
guess he'd been TO the post0ilicc, and the
way he WIZ comm after lis wuZ like n
mink after chickens Mandy took one
look over her shoulder and told me to let
en- go for all they wuZ with. | didn't
| need to be coaXcd, and by the time she
| had said the words we WIZ fairly flynn
| over the smooth Stow track, and Jim WIZ
comm right behind us too. Fer the first
few rods we gained on him, then he begun
TO creep up on Ills i'll spite NV oil we could
do Everybody on the road knowed how
me and Jim set store by our teams, and
they pulled ont to one side and give us all
| the room there WIZ.
Il shook up NV beauties as | felt him
| DRAWN up OH ne, but slukin wuZn't
enough. and i touched EN- once er twice
with the whip, but Jim jist rarcd back on
his strings loOliin like destruction smilin
mt dcsolation and kept comm When
his horses heads passed our dashboard
ard | could STE the snort in thuir.noScs, /
got kind NV sick and thought I'd have to
let go, but Mandy ncrvcd NE up, and /
hung or and leaned away fOrrerd as if
that would help some BY this time .Jim's
horses had their heads cvcn with mine,
and | held him there fer minute CT such
Il matter, but jist as l begun to have
hope that it might be a neck and neck at
the finish Mandy reached fer the line next
TO her, and, with Il sudden jerk, she pull
81 the team off TO one side NV the road,
where the snow WIZ in II high drift, and
jim went ahead with Il yell that made my
ears stand cut like windmill nappcrs.
Il wuZ that daGcd fer u minute at
Mandy that | couldn't DO Il lick, and,
deacon though | WIZ, I'm afccrd I'd
a-uscd language that wouldn't have
sounded exactly right in Sunday school,
but before had IL chance to make move
Mandy made u Eyin leap over the side NV
the sleigh and lit in the deep snow. Then
| wuZ dazcdcr than ever and had some
kind nv an idcc that we'd been struck by
an earthquake or something and Mandy
WIZ killed, and ! must 20 back after her
and dig her out But the team had their
senses with them, and when they felt they
had nigh two hundcrd pounds less load TO
haul than before Mandy jumped they
didn't stop to see what had happened, but
let thcsclves out on Il squirt that wuz chuck
full NV chain lightnin, and out NV the
Snowdrift | could hear Mandy scream
Go it, JOHN; you're all right now
And so | wuz, and so wuZ Mandy, fer
before Jim knowCd that anything had
happened | WIZ up with him, alongside,
neck and ECck, nose and nose, ahead and
past, and when / pulled pat the toll cato
he WIZ ten lengths behind and too much
surprised to even cuSs
MANDY wuZ i'll the middle nv the road
brushin the SNOW out NV her clothes and
waitin fer me us l come back, and when |
said Id give her new silk dress fer that
she said it wuz only what any wife ought
10 do fer her husband, but she couldn't
prove it by shown me where any other
wife had ever done it, and | made her take
The dress i'll spite NV herself That's tho
kind utf Il heroine my wife is, " and Uncle
John went down into his inside pocket
and :iShCd ont il quaint, old fashioned da-
gucrrcotypc in IL brand new gilt frame
u f,,f