St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-08-22
The Mitigation ~
" of Miss Merry.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES l5571N5l5l5Ijy
tReprtnted by Permission from Woman
Home Companion.l
by May Belleville Brown.

Reprinted by Permission from Woman
Home Compant0n.]
7 was mail-day at Waxhaw. TIL,
i narrow street in front of the DOS
Office was full, and the hitching- post
each tethered it's saddled horse
There were high-heeled boots will
Jingling spurs, reckless-looking som
breros, cartridge-belts and full hol
sters, as well as leather and befringet
leggings, but the crowd about tn.
gray and weather-beaten cottonwood
building was a decorous one. Ever
those who came and went through
the swinging doors of the Cowboys
Rest down street did SO in q sub
dued way Had a stranger, expecting
vociferation and reckless shooting
questioned the state of affairs, Linn.
Der Jack, the erstwhile Bad Man OF
Waxhaw. would have explained.
Don't talk too loud, er Miss
Nervy'll git after ye. She don't like
. racket when she's sortin' the mail"
The men lounged and talked, ex-
changed tobacco, the news of the
range and frequent ibations. Sud
denly the post Office door opened, and
there was hush. An erect, we'll
built woman of about IS stood there.
The sun caught the ripples of her
red hair, turning them to copper; her
mouth was set in q grim line as she
looked sternly across the crowd.
"You Samuel Smith" Her voice
drifted commandingly even into the
interior of the Cowboys Rest. "Your
broncho's scratching itself against
the south wall fit to knock the house
over. If you men amt more careful
you can't hitch here at all"
A dozen men sprang with alacrity
in answer to her complaint, and as
many more reproved the owner of the
offending animal, who was Smiling
Sam to all but Miss Merry, and who
meekly led the pony away.
Juno Minerva her father had named
her, and he had fondly hoped that in
his only daughter might be united the
wisdom and the beauty of her god
dess godmothers. These she came to
possess only in moderate degree;
also-from Minerva, perhaps-she in
herited temper.
Her father, early widowed, had be-
taken himself and his young goddess
to the plains of the setting sun, where
In the heart of the great grazing
country he established small store
at trading point on one of the great |
stage lines. He died while his daugh-
ter was yet young, the general opin-
ion upon his taking off being epitom-
lied by 81 Nerristalk when he said,
How glad the old man must be to
be good an dead, an whar Miss Merry
can't boss him fer a SPELL"
BLAMED eff she don't try to regpe-
ate every livin' one o. u.s." Timber
Jack would complain. SAWS us if we
1on't change our shirts, er eft we run
'ur bosses er take hand at a quiet
title game. Allays two kinds o. things
$ wrong-them we do, an them we
ion't do-so anyway she's sure to
kin u.s."
Despite their faultfinding, the men
Who frequented Waxhaw secretly adj
nired and gloried in the possession
# Miss Merry. The very fearlessness
nd the high temper that rendered
he contraction of her name a fitting
ne caused them to respect her. She
vas neat and businesslike; the goods
n her little store were irreproach-
BILE; as postmistress she was accu-
ate; her arraignments, if severe,
7ere usually acknowledged to be well
and above all she was
roman.
To-day the crowd that awaited the
orting of the mali displayed, with
II its decorum, a suppressed excite
tent. After much discussion of ways
nd means whereby Miss Nervy's
,verity might be lessened, some of
re more daring ones had hit upon /,
lie scheme of furnishing their god I
BIS with sutton.
''Love," acclaimed Timber Jack to
lie campfire circle-''not the philan- q
erin flirtin' that most O. us has done,
1T reggelar, squashy love, that r
cans tyin' up to the same post i
items the hardest-hearted, which +
cans Miss Merry, lords the whole
orld, which means us. Well choose r
likely duck to b'siege our fair post T
isis, an trust the rest to him an t
b
After much elaboration Tom
who had been Merry Tom IS
It'll Miss Merry wrested away his n
urels, was selected as the Horatius
Waxhaw. a
II apose it might as well be me b
any one," he remarked, in tones a
resignation. 'I'll die some time, n
yway, either by shootin' er bron- il
o-bustin', an eff it'll help the gang O.
y to have it come by red-headed a.
htnin', all right" n
He's never baked at proposition t.
), firm bob-cat up" said Timber
ok, exultantly; "an' eff he causes Ell
S. Merry to s'render, he'll be good h
her. We don't want to s'press her.
derstan', merely to-er-to miti- 10
te her, SO to speak" 10
again the post Office door opened, NJ