, 1902-10-03
FARMER DALE'S MISTAKE

III ped for supper ana all night at u
- forlorn-looking farmhouse. I was
surprised to see no woman about, all
the work being done by the owner Of
the place, Ezra Dale. After supper l
lighted a pipe and sat on the porch
smoking. Dale came and sat beside
me.
you have finished your evening
chores early" I said. when my wife
is without a servant, she gets
the dishes washed before 8 o'clock"
WAL. We see, I don't do it that
away. I wash dishes oncet a week.
Then I put 'em all on ter the wagon,
drive EN- inter the creek, take a mop,
an when I get through they shine like
pewter"
Don't you think a wife would be
handy? She could do your mending."
Don't need no wife. l got needles
an thread an buttons. There's my
Fit" And he handed me q case con
tanning the articles mentioned and no
more.
"Where's your thimble?" l asked.
Don't need no thimble. I tried one
oncet an couldn't use 1t. It's handler
TO git the head Of the needle ag'in the
wall and drive it through that away"
did vol never have a love AFFAIR.""
Eyes, oncet. 1t was when 1 was a
ryeuR&-feller--very young-an--yery
green. / used to look on a gal as a
heather would look on a sacred i'm
age. There was a little one Twin
across the creek, Farmer Owens
daughter Daisy. Purty2 Ye bet, an
gentle as a kitten. She took a shine to
me. l was a fair-lookin' young Teller
then. straight an slim an light IN my
feet. One evenin' | was a-passin'
Farmer Owens, and Daisy come run
MIN out with her finger a-bleedin' an
asked ms ter tie 1t up fur her. I had
ter git her arm under mine somehow,
an. hold on ter her hand an wrap the
linen strip an wind the string an a lot
OF things all at the same time. While
L was a-doin' of it her hair got ag'in
my cheek, an'-waal, I lost my head
an, turnin', put an arm around her an
kissed her.
do We know, stranger. I've since
made up my mind she done 1t all a-pur-
pose. l b'lieve she cut her finger on
~tentionally. I tell We, women folks is
tricky"
81 think that was a very nice femi-
nine way of catching your attention."
l remarked. go on"
"That's jlst what l did do. l went on
from day ter day. week ter week, till 1t
seemed ter me If anything happened be-
tween me an that gal I'd collapse.
Somethin' did happen. Farmer Owens
what did Daisy do but take him out in
her buggy that her father bought fur
her at Christmas an drive right by that
house a-purpose ter show him off ter
me. 1 tell We, stranger, she had the
wickedest eye in her We ever see."
Another feminine trait" l observed.
"Miss Daisy was evidently a woman"
"She was a woman. stranger, an the
worst kind of a one" Dale went on
I~ugubriously. "She broke me all up. l
list rented this farm an went away I
didn't come back fur ten years. Then
/ made up my mind that women folks
wasn't wuth worryin' about, an l TUX
my farm ag'tn an began ter work 1t.
The fust time l went by Farmer Owens
Daisy come out-she had grown ter be
a Ane-lookin' young woman of 26-an'
what do We suppose she did?"
81 can't imagine"
ASKED me If l wouln't tie up a cut
finger. She had the same wicked look
in her eye she had when she drove that
Iopsided farm ham by my house ten
years afore. Women is the persistenest
critters / we see. I jist squared Off an
said: TYe don't git me that away ag'in.
.Ye' done 1t oneet, an that's enough
But, do ye know, stranger, she was so
slick about 1t that in FIVE minutes l had
my arm about her an she was a-restin'
her head on my shoulder. She was
a-cryin', too-cryin' crockerdile tears,
no doubt.
> "Waal. we was engaged, but 1t didn't
las long. The question come up as ter
whether we'd be married by a justice
or a parson. I don't like parsons my
SELF. an I wanted O Justice. Daisy