The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-06-19

ing over the week $ happenings ana
swapping yarns, when the door opened
and 81. Baker entered, with a irkin
of butter in his arms.
"Th' COWS an Sal put in their best
ticks maxim this butter, an I'm eX-
pectin' tn ~top-notch price. It's yeller
as gold" and he dropped the irkin
down on the counter. Whats butter
worth, Dave?"
"T~wenty-nine cents in trade" Dave
answered, picking up the frkin and
placing it on the scales. Nineteen an
a quarter pounds. Let me see, thatU
come to- and he figured away with a
stub pencil on a piece Of wrapping paper
for a minute or two-'hve dollars an
ffty-eight cents. What1l you have?"
"Th' old woman's writ out what she
wants. Here, you put tn things up,
while l join this conclave of wisdom
settin' round tn stove an fggerin' out
how they'll run tn universe for tn next
seven days" and thrusting his hand in
his pocket he pulled out a carefully
folded piece of paper and handed it to
the storekeeper. Put in two plugs of
Old Ironside' terbacker. Don't think
Sal put that down.
well, how be you, Teller sufferers"
and he seated himself on a broken
backed chair and hoisted his feet up on
the stove.
Fair to middlin'. How be you, ST."
lake Purvee answered. Were dis
cussin' Bud Thompson's weddin', an we
can't fgger out how Bud plucked up
courage enough to do tn p~oppin'."
81. Baker laughed. He didn't. His
courage was plucked up for him." and
he chuckled audibly. Sarah did tn
pluckin' up, aided an abetted by her
ma" and ST. chuckled again.
do tell?" You don't Say?" Good
for SARAH" and the component parts of
the circle around the stove came to
quick attention.
YES, that's tn long an tn short
of it." 81. continued. An l reckon
if it hadn't been for Sarah, Bud'd never
have popped. You see, he's been
%courtin' of her for nigh onto ten years.
comm to see her every Sunday night.
as reg'ler as preachin', an beauin' of
her home from church an Singin' school.
an keepin' tn other fellers away from
lSl Oil gN1 ASNSi PSPPA' a. N"S' hON
out loud.
"Once, about three years ago, so
Sarah says. he did catch hold of her
hand, an she thought sure it was comm.
But, after gettin' red in tn face an
chokin' a bit, he blurted out: My yeller
cows got a red calf, an I'm goin' to
name it Sarah. Well. you all know
Sarah. She's red-headed, an her tenn
per's as red as her head; an tn way
she jerked her hand out of Buds, an
tn look she gave him as she yanked
her chair clear across tn room from him
and set down in it. nearly knocked Bud
through a knot-hole in tn kitchen floor;
an it didn't mend matters any when he
said timidly an beseechin'ly It's tn
prettiest calf l ever seed, Sarah
Now | reckon Bud had screwed his
courage up to tn poPpin point, an was
intendin' to ask Sarah to marry him
then an there, an meant tn calf
namin' as a great compliment an a sort
of feeler; but Sarah couldn't see it that
way, an tn tongue laShin' she gave him
took all tn pop u of him. Bud eve
did have no backbone-jusf a thin
streak of soft gristle.
well, Sarah kept gettin' older an
homelier, an her chances simmer of
gettin' anybody else if she didn't get
Bud, until l reckon she just got des-
perate, an determined to make Bud