The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-11-16

economy of nature, she was not to be
disposed OF with a glance. And vet
there was no attempt at subtlety on
her part. On the contrary, no one could
have an appearance Of greater candor
than the lady whose children Mary
Carmichael had come west to teach.
Her costume was thing apart, sug-
costing neither sex, epoch nor personal
vanity, but what it lacked of these
more usual sartorial characteristics it
more than made up in passionate in
dividualism-an excessively short skirt,
so innocent Of 'ft' or chang" in it's
wavering, indeterminate outline as to
suggest the possible workmanship Of
teeth rather than of scissors, and rid
ing boots coming we'll to the knee, dis
playing a we'll shaped, ample foot,
perched aloft on the usual high heel
that COW punchers affect as the eX-
preston of their chiefest vanity. But
Mrs. Yellett was not wholly mannish
IN her tastes, and to Offset the boots
she wore bodice Of the type that a
generation ago used to be known as a
basque"
Such a garb was not, after all, in
congruous with this original lady's
weather beaten face. Her skin was
tanned to a fine russell, showing tiny,
radiating lines about the eyes when
they twinkled with laughter, which
was often. No individual feature was
especially striking, but the general i'm
preston Of her countenance was of ami
nation and activity, mingled with
geniality and with native shrewdness.
"Howdy, Miz Yellett,' called out old
Sally, hitching her rocker forward in
an excitement she could ill conceal.
''You uns' gov'ment come, an she
amt much bigger'n a lettle green
gourd Don't seem to have drawed all
the growth comm to her yit''
In roundin' up the p'ints of my
gov'ment, Mis- Rodney, you don't want
to forget that green gourds and green
grapes is mighty apt to belong to the
sour family, when they hangs beyant
your reach"
"Ai-yi!' grimaced old Sally. cts
tolable far to send east for green
fruit. We can take our own pep'mint."
The prospective advent Of a govern
ess in the Yellett family
one from that mysterious center of
culture, the east-had not only rent the
neighborhood with bitter factions, but
had submitted the Yelletts to the re-
proach Of ostentation. In those days
there were no schools in that portion
Of the Wind river country where the
Yelletts graZed their focks and herds
Parents anxious to obtain "education-
al advantages was the term, ir-
respective of the age Of the student
or the school he attended-sent them
often with parental blindness as to the
eQuivOcal nature of the blessing thus
conferred to visit friends in the neigh
boring towns while they "got their ed
ucation,' or they went uneducated,
or they picked up such crumbs Of
knowledge as fell from the scant pa
rental board, but never, up to the
present moment, had any one flown
into the face Of neighborly precedent
except sturdy Sarah Yellett.
Old Sally, in her eagerness to con-
vey that she was in no degree i'm
pressed with the pedagogical importa-
ton, like many another belligerent, lost
the first round Of the battle through
an excess Of personal feeling but,
though down, Sally was by no means
out, and after brief session with the
snuff brush she returned to the field
prepared to maintain that the Yellett
children, for all their pampering in
the matter of having a governess i'm
ported for their benefit, were no better
off than her own brood, who had taken
the learning the gods provided.
"Too bad, Miz Yellett, that you uns
had to hire that gov'ment without
lookin' over her p'ints. I've ben takin'
her in durln' supper, an she'll never
be able to thrash 'em past Glen. She
mought be able to thrash Glen if she
got plumb mad. These yere slim VIM
min is tarrible why an active at such
times, but she'll never be able to thrash
beyant her" And, having injected the
vltrlollc drop in her neighbours CUP Of
happiness, old Sally struck a gait on
her chair which was the equivalent Of
a gallop.
Il reckon 1 can thrash my own chill
dren when it's needed without gettin'
in help from the east, or hereabouts
either, for that matter. If other folks
would only take out their public spirit
ed reformin' tendencies on their own
families there'd be heap less lynchin'
likely to happen round the country in
the course of the next ten years"
Old Sally let the home thrust pass.
"Who ever hearn tell of good teacher
that wasn't fine thrasher in the bar
gain?' She swung the chair about
with a pivotal motion, as if she were
addressing an assemblage instead Of
single listener, and then, bethinking
herself Of clinching illustration, she
called aloud to her daughter to bear
witness. 'Eudory! Eu-do-ry! You
do-ry!'
yes, ma'am," drawled the daugh-
ter, coming most unwillingly from the
ODen faced room OnnOSito vhoro che