The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-17

away without the least appearance Of in
. terest.
"One is Abby Bell"
Nathan nodded his head IN confederation,
somewhat disappointed al a revelation that
was no revelation, because MillNlle had
been daily expecting their marriage Tor
thirty years.
And the other is-oonfound that bee. he's
a-goln' 20 sting me yet"
We'll. for heavens sake. CALCULATED Na-
than, say it-say it's WhoE
Ann Elizabeth Tompkins." Daniel blinked
his eyes, Inflated his cheeks until they re-
sembled bellows. and blew out the name
as II IL were plug.
The devil!' gaspe0 Nathan.
Now. what have you got against Ann
Elizabeth demanded Daniel, with an IL
"A widow an gossip an equal suffra-
gist an social pUrtyite. soul-feeder an
a sanetihed person an 20 marry YOU Lord.
| Lord,-rhe saint and the sinner, the hawk
an, the dove the sheep an the goat-yah,
! YAH. The old man grasped his knees In
! his hands and rocked 10 and fro I'm an &C.
! stasy of mirth.
Go on cried Daniel "Pne it up. Insult
| your best friend il you will. but don't drag
her in; don't you say nothing about her
until she present TO defend herself.
Il wouldn't dare TO then" said Nathan.
earnestly. Why, Danl she's n match for
any two men in Millville. an you know IL.
Six feet tall an two hundred-if a pound.
Who-eei Don't you sit there an admit that
you're considerin her. Back track Back
track! Climb a tree, swim a stream. ANY
way 10 spike the scent, my boy / hope il
L
gone and committed yourself beyond recall"
An acorn ratified from bough 10 bough in
a neighboring tree and struck the ground
with a thud. Daniel lodged with quick
duck Of the head and glanced apprehensively
over his shoulder.
1T amt went that fur" he admitted. I'm
only a-figurin as a fellow says"
"AI right but don't you fgger too close
Looky here, Danl. / amt got a thing
! against you marryin', but after havin been
| so uncommon deliberate let's not get in an
ll-firp a as m o. GkF
| TO get married. It's easy as IL is for
/ rat TO get into one or them patent traps,
and marriage has got It's bars too, as Wei
as its bait. Now. TO continue the argument.
we will say, my boy you're a-marryin TO
| better your condtion-for the purpose OF
/ becomin more comfortable; an / judge
that's all a bachelor thinks of when he's
marryin'. II such be the case an / think
know you pretty well, don't you make the
| mistake Of marryin' a widow of strong con-
Victions and mature age. My brother mar
! ried widow. He was about your age when
ne did II, too an out OF consideration for
his feelin s an in the hope OF havin a life
Of ease the rest OF his days he selected what
| he thought was a rich widow. Well, they
hadn't hardly et their first meal together
| until he realized he tied up 20 a whited
| sepulchre. Yes. sir, for a fact. She took
! all her money and put IL into a costly monu-
| ment 20 her first husband an George w.
He tells me it is a mighty handsome
| stone, with two angels carved on H. claspin'
hands an right below the words Till we
meet again. 'Many's the night. says George
| w, that I've laid awake calculatin' Just
where I'm supposed 10 be whilst they are
a-meetin' an claspin hands.
| "Danl a widow either makes a club or a
| clog out of her first husband. You're either
| a whole lot worse or you're never quite so
good as he was, an the longer he's buried
| the better he gets.
Another thing. too. Danl there is no
| such thing as romance in a second mar
riage. Love is a plant that don't bloom
| more than once for anyone And when a
| widow decides she needs another helpmeet
she sizes UP the candidates with mighty
cold, calculatin' eye first. while a widower
| acts II he afraid the supply would
run out before he got chance TO get one.
ITO my mind, there's one time. and one
time only. for marriage. It's when you're
| young an in love, so young an so much in
love that nothing else matters at all. A
! second marriage is like a set of false teeth -
a more or less passable substitute for the
! first according 20 Mt, but dreadful hard to
| write poetry about"
You're powerful set against such things,
il SEEMS" complained Daniel. Now, want
! 10 know what you'd do I'm case you was
Maybe / would Maybe / would, Danl, y
Nathan sighed. "A man an a moth has a
everything an flynn plum in the face OF
| Providence"
do you think ought to marry Abby
"Um-perhaps. She amt so old but she
might be older. An she's probably so un-
selfish that she'd marry you for your own
/ BOOO. 1eS, ADDN COul0 likely SCTdpe up
enough romance to be happy herself. an
she'd be so perfectly proud that she had
got a man, after all, that she'd pamper you
up like young Jordan that l Judge. is
what you're looking for"
Now, Nathan"-Daniel leaned forward
and put his hand on his friends shoulder
''as man to man. $ a man in the light TO a
man in the darkness, is IT the thing-mar-
riage7 Can you. in the face OF your knowl-
edge and experience. say soto me?''
Nathan cleared his throat huskily. COM
rade, don't you gather from what I've ever
said to you that Zerelda hasn't been good
companion TO me. I've talked mighty
triflin about my wife, which is thing no
man ought to do. but I've got the savin'
grace TO be ashamed OF il. When she left
her home TO come out here with me IL was
a trial TO her. She thought heap Of
her mother, an she bid her goodbye real
izin' that she could never hope 20 see her
again. She just put her hand in mine and
set her face TO the West. an IL she ever
looked back. like Lots wife, never knowed
it, We didn't have much TO come 10. Only
a log cabin in a clearin', but love glorified
II into a shinin' palace, an IL wasn't long
until there a curtain at the window, .
flower in the garden an a babe In the
cradle-three things TO make a man happy"
We've raised four children an buried
two, Danl, an IL ever z woman done her
duty by her family II was her. It's only
lately that she's had any time 20 devote
to the cause OF sufferin' humanity in gen.
eral A hOuseful OF children will keep O
woman out Of lots OF devlment Danl,
use tobacco. cuss a little, FISH a good dead
while Zerelda tends church an prayer
meetin, feeds preachers and delegates.
wrestles with the demon rum an pretends
10 sanctifcation; an now that / come TO
think Of II, / reckon, after ALL its simply
different ways we have Of enjoying our
selves, an she's as much right 10 her way
as / have TO mine. An I'll go further and
remark right here that If any other man
would say the things Of my wife that I've
said OF her, I'd bust his head open.
would"
Nathan" said Daniel hoarsely, it's
its-a-going 20 be Abby"
The two old men clasped hands and
looked long and darkly into the waters OF
the race that. like the stream Of life. could
never turn backwards.
The two sycamores alike bound together
swayed and bent low I'm the breeze. appear
ing with outspread arms and rustling foli-
age 10 be whispering a benediction.
A golden leaf futtered loose and turning
over and over fell gently into the water
ana the ripples spreading In slowly widen
Ing cOncentric circles seemed at last. like
| life and love, to reach from shore 10 shore.