The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-08-11
THE EVENING STORY



You used ter know Lovey, you say,
when she's a little bit of a mite? An
you're in rested in her, an want ter know
her story? Well. pardner. there amt
so awful much that kin tell We, seem
as how I've Just got the slimmin's O.
her life, havin' only knowed her little
up'ards o. two months; but I'll tell We
all I've found out in that time. Lovey
conf1des in me, powerful, though, SOS
spoze I kin tell We more than most
folks could what hev known her fer
thirty odd years an more.
sLovey hain't told me as much o. her
schoolhood days as she has some other
things, but from all hear, 1 reckon
she must ma been holy terrier.
guess she an her sister jis about run
things. She wuz ones o. them kind O.
gals tibet allus helped ever one out
when examination day come-jes' sech
lovin' disposition, We know, an she
still shows it real often. An I guess
the sisters jes' stuck together thro' thick
> n thin, an she's still ho1din' thet quail
ity, too-that stickin' quality.
AN do We think fer a minute she'd
be like other girls an be clerk or
somethin' in a dry goods store an hey
beau an then get married an get dt-
vorced an hev another beau an so on?
Not her. No, stree. Lovey, she had
hankerin' after a perfession. Yep, she
Wuz SO Oealn on neVln perIeSSlOh lHol
she actually went to college an made
doctor out O. herself. They weren't
nothin' slow about Lovey. An If you'll
believe me, she got to be one O. the
biggest doctors in every city she re-
sided in, an had the blamedst biggest
amount O. customers of any doctor fer
miles around. Why, man alive, used
ter go up to tibet there office to see
her sometimes, jes' to please her, We
know, but there weren't never any see
w.
she's kind o. woman thatd give up her
life fer her country, any day.
Somehow er mother, Lovey never did
go much on religion. She says she got
over thet ailment along with measles
an chicken pox an them things when
awful cute, sayin' tibet, but sometimes
wish she had more of hankerin' after
religion. Not that she'd be better
woman if she had it, though Don't We
go an get the impression thet Lovey
could be any better, noways.
cam considerin' the narryin' Ques-
tion-well, you never would ha' believed
it O. Lovey-no one would. But she Jes'
never could bear the thought O. mar
ryin'. It weren't that she were ever
bitter agin' the men folks. 'Twerent's
thet An no more were it because she
never he'd no chance. fer from all
hear tell on tibet subject, Lovey must
ha been ABOUT as popular III neI ody dc
the next one, an her day lasted a good
long time, I kin tell we. Why, man
alive, she wuz--well, she wuz out o. her
teens, anyhow, when men jes sent her
flowers, an Christmas presents, an UNI
brellers, an ever thing, an she jes' took
it all as coolies as a matter o. course.
Lovey weren't the kind that jes, simply
didn't want to marry, herself, but she
wuz tibet dead set agin' 1t tibet she
didn't want no one else to marry,
neither. Why, she had a partner IN
her business-a pretty, young thing.
too--an' Lovey wouldn't think any
more o. her gettin' married-bless ye.
no. An the partner wuz' one o these
f1irtin' kind o. girls, too.-innercent as
lamb in their flirtin'. though-who
would would ha' kinder enjoyed gettin'
married an who could ha' got many a
man. But Lovey, she wouldn't hear to
it. She never wuz crazy about no man.
An she certainly could give 1t to the
thet If she ever had little girl to
raise, she'd let it play with the boys
until it wuz about fourteen. an then
she'd take it an show man TO 1t an
say. See that there thing? That's a
man. Don't you never hev nothin' to
40 with that thing cause Gods sorry
He ever made that Now amt thet
jes' like Lovey?
sRut if she weren't much on lovin
the min folks, she made it up In lovin
flowers. I'd stake my honor as a gentle
man on 1t thet Lovey druther pull weeds
out O. tibet there flower garden O. hern
fer ten minutes than she would ter hev
a man a kneelin' at her feet, tellin
her thet he loved her, fer an hour or
more, like any common, ordinary wo-
man would Oh, I'll tell We right now.
Lovey, she amt common. Sometimes
We could go up to tibet there OFFICE O.
hern, an honest Injun, about fifty bou-
Duets I'd hev to be moved, afore ye
could get clear in. An the FUNNIEST
thing about her affection fur flowers
wuz this-she wuz jes' ez crazy about
an ole piece o. smartweed as she was
about the beautifullest rose or lily tibet
man ever rose in green house. But
tibet again jes' exposes tnet disposition
o. hern. She allus wuZ the kind tibet
WIZ a pettin' the down troddeu an
unloyed things o. life. She allus took
the side O. the weak agin tibet O. the
strong. They hain't no use talkin; she's
a peach
like about Lovey an tibet is tibet she
amt one O. these dainty. delicate crit
ters in the eatin' line. But you must
understan' that I amt a-callin' Lovey
no hog. I hope 1 may never fall so
low ez thet She's jes' a real nice SEN
sfble eater-I reckon you've seen the
type. She never was hankerin' after
any great variety, but there wuz some
things she liked real well, an when
she had one o tnen lhihgs' sne want
ed a plenty. For a long time oranges
wuz her speciality, an I'd really hate
to tell you how many she could get
rid of in one day. But her pardner
put a stop to that. She counted up,
an she says, 'Lovey, do you know you
eat eighteen dollars worth of oranges
a month"; An somehow er mother,
,ovev never cared SO much about 'em
after that. An there wuz one time
when Lovey didn't eat no breakfast
nor dinner, that was awful funny. She
had ct a dozen or so oranges an few
other little extrys but in the afternoon
her office girl heard her aprowlin'
aroun' in the back room an she says
to her. 'Lovey, what are you doin'?'
An Lovey says, We'll. dear, I'm boilin'
myself some eggs. I didn't have no
breakfast nor no dinner. an I thought
I was starvin' to death Lovey aIlus
did like her little joke, but this time 1t