River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1905-09-07
MRS. PERRY'S
GRIEVANCES
By SUSAN BROWN ROBBINS
MO. the day of miracles amt over
IN and folks dream dreams and

that | went over to spend couple or
weeks with Cousin Elvira at MarshalPs
Corners. Now, you probably don't
know it, but Marshalrs Corners amt
exactly the liveliest place in all the
world. They are mostly farmers there,
and mile from Elvira's is store and
post office and tack factory. Oh,
yes, and there's a schoolhouse in a
pine grove half mile from her house
the other way.
81 guess it was the third day l was
there that | says: 'Elvira, who is it
lives in the house across the road,
and what's so much coming and going
there for? Seems to me there's some
one calling there every half hour
'Elvira, she folded up her work and
stood up. Come along with me- she
says, and you'll see why there's SO
much calling there. It's Mrs. Perry
lives there. Her husbands sick, has
been for a long time, but he's getting
better now. We all think everything
of Mrs. Perry, though we didn't like
her a bit the first month or so she
was here
81 noticed, as we went across the
road what pleasant look the house
had. The curtains we're raised quite
high SOS to let in a lot of light and
there was one window full of bright,
clean-looking, poisoning plants. A
big yellow cat set on another window
sill and blinked at us as we went by.
never liked yellow cat, but some
nd
other kind would have seemed so
cheerful.
"The minute I laid eyes on Mrs.
Perry / knew why everybody liked
her. You know there's some folks you
just meet on the road; they don't do
nothing more than nod and smile at
you, but you somehow feel better for
seeing 'em. Mrs. Perry was like that.
She want what you'd call pretty, but
she had nice clean-loozing teeth and
her hair was tidy, and she had the
pIeasantest cordial smile | ever see.
She had on a plain calico dress, but it
was clean and whole and fitted her
nice. and looked kinder stylish. She's
just what she appears to be- Her
and neat; there was comfortable
chairs, and there was books and a
piano.
"Mr. Perry was lying in reclining
chair, and although you could see that
he was a pleasant sort of person
enough, it was his wife that was the
one folks liked best.
well, we had an awful nice call,
and Just before we went, Elvira asked
her to play and sing for us. She never
made a word of objection, and she
didn't say she had a cold and couldn't,
but she went right over to the piano
and set down and begun to play Now
I've heard more or less good music
in my day, and when | heard Mrs.
Perry sing | knew she want no or
binary amateur. Her voice want
nothing wonderful, but it was sweet
and true, and she sang with some life
and snap. | says something about it
after she got through, and size said
shed studied a good deal and been to
some good teachers, but she didn't put
on no airs about it.
After that first call, l went over
there pretty often, and we talked to-
eether like old cronies. 1t was one
day towards the end of my visit that
we had a specially long talk. 1t was
a rainy day, and Mr.. Perry was asleep
in the next room, SO we had quite a
spell to ourselves. We'd come to a
kind of pause in our conversation, and
there want no sound in the room
but the clock ticking and the cat pur-
ring. Finally, Mrs. Perry laid down
her work-she was one of the busy
kind and we was both sewing-and she
saws. with a queer little smile: Aunt
Asenath, I'm going to tell you a
strange experience / had when | first
moved into this neighborhood. | never
lave told anybody but Alfred, and l
was ashamed to tell even him all of it.
"'You see, when he was taken sick
and the doctor said he must come
into the country, it was terrible blow
to me. I'd always lived in the city,
all my friends were there, and | went
about a great deal. To leave all that
and go into the country, which l hated,
especially with winter coming on, with
nothing to do but take care of a sick
MAXWELL, it nearly broke my heart.
actually was so childish and horrid
that l felt as if Alfred was somehow
TO blame fer getting sick. This wasn't
all; | had a sort of compound griev-
ance: Alfred chose to come to this
lonely, o"-of-the-way place, where l
was sure there was no society. | did
not like the town itself, and l did not
like this neighborhood nor the house,
and | made up my mind that l should
not like the people. They called on me
very soon after l got settled, and |
was just as horrid as | could be to
them. l told them how lonesome and
homesiclx l was and how / disliked the
country, and l Dragged about my life
in the city and of all the advantages
l had there. After my callers went /
told Alfred how countrified and boor-
ish | thought them, and declared that
/ never would return their calls. Poor
Alfred. what he lad 10 endure!
thought the country was a good place
TO wear out my old clothes, so l wore
old gowns that had seen better days,
and looked like fright. especially
as / neglected my hair and wore shah
by old slippers.
1.-The doctor came out to see Alfred.
and he looked puzzled and shook his
head 81 don't see why he don't gain
more" he said, and he looked at me