River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-01-09
SHnnY INNS
LETTER
BY NORMAN H. PITMHN.
II
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Copyright, 1901, by Authors syndicate)


farmhouse which answered as post
office.
"She1l be the peertest gal in the
cove aginst she gifts it," said old
Aunt Polly, laughing.
E'Atter waitin' nigh onto three year
fer it, I reckin she will. Let's see;
hits marked Cincinnati. I wished [
could see what's on the inside of it"
"Bud Hunts been monty fergitful
of her, hit pears like to me-" said
Aunt Polly. "Bein' scholar enough
to read an write, hit seems like he
would hev wrote her fore now, jist
to let her know what he wuz about"
''Waal, I Think said the postmis-
tress, "she's been ez wishful ez a
young cat, comm round every mail
day an askin' eff thar warn't no let
ters fer her folks. She hain't been
in now fer more'n two weeks"
'Waal, I say; she must be TUX sick
or somethin'."
"She's been a-lookin' powerful puny
ever since corn wuz laid by. She
must a worked too hard; we know
she's about to run into kinsump-
ton"
''She used to look big and chuffy
enough fore Bud went out'n the set
Element"
''Yaas, an after he went, too, fer
the fust year. They say ez how he
Civ her his promise he'd write jist ez
soon ez he could git a good job;
then they'd git married"
I, - 11J114 fol eli
an uncommon likely Teller ez him
more'n a week to git a well-payin'
job"
"Her pappy died with that kim
sumption jist soon after she wuz
bornded," said the postmistress, re-
fectively; can whenever he died they
said ez how some'n his people'd hev
it, too"
''Do we mind" broke in Aunt Polly,
show Sally Ann TUX on at the time
of her pappy's buryin'? They wuz
maxim the coffin before our house,
an she come in an axed me eff they
wuz goin' to put her pappy in that
old box. That's jist what she called
it, old box an p'inted over whar
they wuz worldn'. I tole her that
they alluz put dead corpses into
boxes, ez they called collins, an then
put a led on 'em fore they put 'em
in the ground an kivered 'em up.
'Kiver up my pappy?' says she;
'they's afeared to kiver him up; he'll
git up an shoot hole through 'em
eff they tech him.
"She knowed what buryin' meant
by the time her five sisters wuz TUX
to the buryin' ground"
81 reclin she did. Waal, must be
gittin' home"
"Can't we stay all night?"
"No; I'll hev to be a-goin'. You-uns
come up and see us; don't fergit."
A group of men were gathered at
the small store in the lower end of
the cove just as the evening shadows
were beginning to thicken in the
mountains. Some were seated on the
rude platform in front, while others
mounted on horseback had refined up
to hear the news of the day; for the
country store and the post office take
the place of a newspaper in the
mountain districts.
"They tell me-" said old Squire Bar
low, as he threw huge quid of to-
bacco on the floor, ''they tell me that
Sally Ann Larkin got that letter from
Bud Hunt to-day, an that she growed
nigh onto an inch since it come"
''Whar is Bud, now?" said an angu-
lar young farmer.
bud, he's some'rs about Singcin-
natl, 1 reckin; that's what Polly said,
an she wuz at the office when the let
ter come. He's run onto a plumb
good job thar with some kind of a
railroad consarn, an he's a-gittin' 40
month";
''Beats stalk breedin' all holler,
don't it, gittin' into one of them big
towns?"
Yes, or maxim corn an wheat,
too"
"'Tain't everyone kin git such job
in the city," said the squire; "when
/ wuZ thar about war time they
flowed ez thar warn't nary place like
the mountains fer Pete Barlow"
''Waal, hit pears to me-" said the
storekeeper, 'that eff We an Bud
Hunt could both git jobs thar, that
mos all the rest of us could"
This raised the laugh on the squire.
who responded by expectorating in
key of horseshoes that stood atone
end of the porch. Just then a pale
young fellow, whose white skin was
a sharp contrast to his curly black
hair, hailed the group, and was lust
about to ride past when the squire.
in order to regain his standing as
leader, called out: Cant We pull up
an be frien'ly fer minute, jim?
Ye needn't think Sally Ann wants to
see We now, Hain't We heared about
her letter?''
eyes, 1 did," said the young man,
quietly, as he rode up; 81 didn't low
she'd care much to see me-
81 should guess not" responded
the squire, quite happy again, and
restored to his former position by
the laughter OF the loafers. ST