The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1901-01-03

THE WICKEDNESS
OF THE RIGHTEOUS
BY Mrs. Caleb Larrabee.

BY Mrs. Caleb Larrabee.

act wicked-not but what good
folks'll do mortal queer things some
times-but to do jest pure, downright
wickedness is what I'm talkin' about,
and when their doin's turn out bad I
allow they excuse themselves by sayin':
ooh, well, l didn't mean them to take
it hat way;" jest as if their meanin'
made any difference. When you throw
a stone at anybody, an it hits them it's
poor liniment to say you didn't mean
to hurt them. An that's jest what lots
of folks does every day, fggeratively
speakin'. There is some that's alwus
thinkin' other folks needs takin' down
an settin' right, an so they make stores
out of their own extra righteousness.
Land, there amt none of us got any
goodness to spare. Seems as if Ole
Harry's that persistin' he keeps a
body's goodness sort of thin in places.
There's good folks that seem to hev
nothin' else to do but go round huntin'
out the thin places in a body's good
ness. I'm not sayin' mines very thick.
but, land, whose is? S%peshally when
folks gets a rap an goes at me like
Sister Meachem did the other day. Now,
Sister Meachem's a good woman, a
mortal good woman, but she's tryin'
at times. Her and mes been friends
these 40 years and more, but it's jest
because I am easy to get along with,
nothin' else in the livin' world.
Well, I'd bin a1lowin' all fall that I'd
go in an see Maria Ann = that's my
niece that's named for me an lives in
town, an I'd writ to her that I'd be in
the next Thursday mornin', an that
I wanted her to go long to the expo
sition. Well. I told Caleb all about it.
an I allowed he understood perfect
1y, but there's no tellin' whether a
mans listenin' to you when you're talk
in or not, not even when they say:
"Yes," an keep noddin' like a toy
donkey; ten to one they amt hearin'
a word you say.
Caleb went to town on Wednesday,
an he didn't get home till e%venin'. an
Ihed supper on the table, jest a picked
up p p fur I'd bin hat busy clean
in up the house. I allowed to stay
two or three days with Maria Ann
that I hadn't time to cook. I heerd
Caleb drivin' into the yard, but 1 was
at the sink washin' my hands, an ]
didn't look out the window nor turf
round till I heard him openin' the
door, mind you, bringin' her right into
the kitchen, an says he: Here's
Lucy, Maria. I was round there to-
day, an I told her to jest bundle up
an come out fur a week, an here she
is" Well, there's some folks you like,
an there's some you don't like, an
I don't like Caleb's sister Lucy. How
in this world a good, savin', k~ind-heart-
ed, unselfish man come to have such
an extravagant, cold-hearted, selfish
woman for a sister is past findin' out.
Talk about stores of righteousness!
I'm black an blue for months every
year after she's bin visitin' us.
AS I was sayin', Caleb fetched in her
satchel, an I made her welcome. You
can't treat a body mean in your own
house. Jest as I had got her into the
settin'-room, in comes Caleb a-luggin'
two baskets, an says he: "Here's
some peaches Maria; I heerd you
wishin' fur some last week, an I
thought now Lucy was here to help
you pare them, I'd jest fetch a couple
of bushel. An I got a bushel of plums,
too" An that man actually seemed
to think he'd done somethin' fine. If
ever a woman was mad, jest downright
mad, I was, but I jest told him to take
them down cellar an hurry an git
washed fur supper. I allowed Lucy
'ud stay in the settin'-room an give me
a chance to slip somethin' more on
the table, but not her. Out she came
an set down where she could see every
hands turn. I went to the pantry
an fetched out a crock of raspberry
preserves an begun putin some into
a dish.
you still make as many preserves
as ever, Maria" says Lucy; an if she'd
ased: you're jest as wasteful as ever"
I wouldn't have understood her a whit
better. But I didn't let. on; I jest set
them on the table an says: "Oh. yes,
it's cheaper to make them in the sum-
nier than to buy them at the store in
the winter" She didn't answer, fur
she didn't allow 1 knowed she bought
all her preserves an jams.
Then L got out the meat I'd roasted
to do Caleb while I was gone, an we
set down to supper. Caleb cut the
meat an offered her a slice, an says
she: SIS it cold, Caleb?" An says he:
"Seein' that it was roasted this morn
in before [ went to town. I allow it is"
Says she: "Ill not have any then. 1
don't think it's healthy to eat cold
meat"
Well, ies. then siA.cs Mcachem