Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1902-06-28
TOD'S EXPERIENCE.

made the tinware that was hanging on
a33ks from the ceiling resound and cropped
a fake of plastering on the pile of jean
overs II. The s~teFekesper started and, nut
sesing something about having forgotten
saat wood, picked up an Ak thai lay against
The kerosene barrel and hurried out. Wash
Hancock winked at Sol Baker.
~Sae's got him pretty well broke" said
Baker. 1T beats the Dutca how some
wimmen sill make a nan hump HIMSELF,
DO you hustle that way when Mis- Hancock
gets sorter red beaded
II might lie about it. replied Hancock,
hut shueks. what's the use. Yes. | reckon
[ do-only quicker | guess the most oil us
do if ii comes right down TO that When
a man gifts merried he tainks IFS all goin'
ter be hot sody biscuit fer breakfast an pie
any Old time. He don't take no count o.
washdays an the same way he iiggers bow
scrumpshus its goin' ter be ter have a WON
an ter talk to him 'thout takin' inter consid
Grafton that it depends on what she's gcin'
ter talk about an the way she says it"
That's all right" said Baker, but a
man don't want TO let a woman boss him
around.
you can bet your g~alluses that Tod
Spooney would have went" said Hancock,
iii his little 90-pound woman had told him,
You wouldn't think to look at Tod, SIX
foot two in his socks, an with them fierce
whiskers on him, that he'd turn pale wnen
he see he'd overstayed his time down at
Moseley's an it wasn't even lodge-night,
SOS he didn't have no good excuse to offer;
but she's got MIN that way. | remember
when the first tnssle come.
Tod talked big afore he tried it, the same
as you an me, as the Teller says. He was
about the best man in the county an them
as thought that he wasn't allus had a good
chance TO prove it if they'd a mind to. /
guess he'd take most anything now. His
sperrit's broke. When he got merried ev,
erybody said they felt real sorry for Mandy
Somers-all but Bert Sonaers an 81 Harding,
the Somerses' hired man. Somebody was
a-sayin' suthin' about pityin' the poor gal
an they spoke up an said that they didn't
see as now they had any call fer to pity
Mandy, an they'd save all their pity ontil
they was dead sure who was a-goin' ter
need it,
Baker raised the lid of the fne-cut pail
and helped himself to the tobacco. sHow
did Tod come out with his woman" he in
| quired as he resumed his seat on the coun-
ter.
" ~ L uCtQ ~ dSL tlE IBdtt uO yO0
replied Hancock. "He come out where the
Dutchman blew mat the little end Of the
horn. Two days after they was married |
went down from town with Tod to get SEINE
seed potatoes for the old man. Tod was
feelin' tol'able good an he ast me to come
into the house an set down a spell an
he'd send Milt after the potatoes. ] guess
he wanted to show me the~new furniture
he had got for the settin' room. He walks
up to the front door an turns the handle
an shook it, but it didn't open worth a
cent. 1t was locked. Tod gave it another
shake an then he hauled off, mad, an
kicked it. That brought Mis- Spooner to
the winder. She didn't look pleased, either.
Go round to the back door, she says.
81 low I'll 60 in at any door | dern
please says Tod, an he gives the door
another kick. She took her head away
from the winder an we heard her putin
the key in the lock, but she didn't do it
quick enough for Tod an he kicks the door
again. Then it was pulled open an Mis-
Spooner stood on the sill with her hands on
her hips an her eyes snappin' worse than
evex. Tod looked sorter s'prised.
What's the reason | can't come in heres
he says.
Because / say that you can't she says.
IF you think that you're goin' traipsin'
through my settin' room whenever you've
a mind to you're some mistaken, Tod
Spooner. Now, you walk straight around
10 the back an see that you wipe your boots
on the mat afore you come in. The kitchen
floor was scrubbed this mornin' an don't
propose to have it tracked up
".Well, you're mighty pernieketty about
your settin' room, says Tod, but he started
around all the same. | heard him say
suthin' sorter under his breath, but ne
stopped at the woodpile and picked up a chip
an seraped the gpmoo off his boots. An
when the old dog came runnin' up he kicked
at it tol'able vicious, but be done a careful
job on the corn-husk mat.
That was the last Of Tod Spooner, s far's
him bossin' anythn' was concerned.
''She let him off easy afore me, but ]
knew that she had sathin' more on her
mind, an afore l left / knew what it was.
Milt an me went to the root cellar after
dinner an sorted over enough Early Rose
potatoes to do me, an that took some time.
When ! got the team hitched up | went
up TO the house to look for Tod. Mis- Spoon
er came to the kitchen door when | knocked
an she looked as pleasant as a basket o
chips.
NtFt lou, MIS- SpooHcF. 1 dst hSE.
Hes round to the front door, she says,
smiin'. SO ! went around an what do you
reckon he was doin'.'
'Cuttin' a Watermelon hazarded Baker.
you might have made a worse guess
than that and you might have made a right
smart better" said Hancock. "He had a
pail o green paint an a brush an he was
hxin' that door over where he'd kicked the
paint Off.
What are you fellers gassin' about
asked the storekeeper. b~ustling in with an
abnormally cheerful air.
we was talkin' about these iellers that's
all the time bullyraggln then long-sufferin'
wives, sal Baker and Hancock, Il tell
Baker ! don't b'lieve you'd be mean enough
10 act that way
The storekeeper grunted and turned rath-
er red IN the face.-Chicago Daily News.
Gee Fung's Letter.
A Boston mai who went to the coun-