The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1906-01-30
AMatyimonialS Sand Bar

MhIN Jones, SpinSIef, who came over
and took charge Of things Cor three or
four days. She had known the deacon
and his wife for several years, and it
was reported that when the wife found
herself dying she said to Mary.
II am going to that better land
aim glad on my own account that am
going, but sorry on Sainuel's He will
he left All alone and how no win get
his shirts washed, bis cooking done and
Ms bed made don't know, You must
be kind to him, Mary, and year or
SO after am gone should be ask you
should he ask you
But she got no further After the
funeral and as the weeks went by
some folks interpreted this to mean
that Miss Jones was to marry the dea-
con If be asked her and others that she
was only to oversee his house.
For ten months the deacon himself
gave no sign Of how he personally in
terpreted k Then it was noticed that
he began to walk home with Mary
from church and prayer meeting and
pay her other little attentions. She
WINS living with d brother who was
married, and by and by the deacon be-
came d frequent caller When Il full
year had gone by Uncle Joe Tracy, who
was known to be q pillar OF goodness
AIS we'll as the biggest gossip in the
country. stopped the deacon on the vii
lage street one day to say:
Look a-here, Samuel, Ina a-hearin'
that you are sorter shlnin up to Mary
Jones'
Well, it's my business II am" was
the blunt reply
SO 1t Is. Samuel-so 1t is. but don't
You make DO mistake on Mary Jones'
She lived with us for four years when
she was d gal, and I'm tellin' you she's
got worse temper than sore footed
eat.
II hain't seen no signs Of It."
"And meboe you won't till you are
married. but it's there, just the same.
She's expectin to marry you and she's
as soft and smooth ais 'lasses, but
when you are married It will be a diff
ferent thing. She'll let her temper
loose and make your hair stand up"
Il don't believe word Of it, and |
don't thank We for your gossip OBJ
served the deacon as be broke away.
One moonlight night a week after bis
talk with Uncle Joe the deacon invited
the spinstcr out for row on the river.
1t wasn't much Of a river nor much Of
a boat, and the deacon wasn't much OF
a hand at the oars but it seemed the
proper thing to ~ Ter the roman
tic occasion. The slpr0orwills were
singing. the harvest moon blinking and
the weeping willows waving their
plumes in the soft night air as they set
out, and everything went well for ten
minutes. Then Miss Jones suddenly
discovered that the boat was leaking
and that she had already got one Of her
feet wet The deacon was sorry, but as
far as he knew ali rowboats leaked,
and people who went out in them had
to make the best Of it. lie bent 20 his
oars to keep time with the whlppoor-
wills, but he hadn't been rowing Owe
minutes when he flirted one Of them
out OF the water and at the same time
fllrted about gallon OF the briny over
Mary. 84ts
Deacon Bradshaw she called out
as she rose up.
Il am sorry, but ] couldn't help it,"
"But you ought to have helped it It
was very clumsy in you. I'm all wet
through. and we must turn back this
minute, don't believe you know any
thing about boat"
"If you hadn't been bobbing around
it wouldn't have happened"
Il wasn't bobblng around. l say
want to so right back home"
The deacon started TO pull the boat
around and lost an oar. In trying to
recover that one he not only came
within an ace of upsetting the boat,
but lost the other.
why don't you jump out7" shouted
the spinster at him.
Because the water here is over my
head and can't swim"
Then what are we going to do?
Deacon Bradshaw, you are nothing but
a blundereF"
Nobody could have done any differ
ent. You were bobbing this way and
that. and
Il wasn't bobbingl You ought TO be
ashamed Of yourself TO try to lay ii on
to me. Amt you going to do any
thing?"
The only thing we can do is TO wait
for the boat TO drive ashore
"And how long win that bei'
mo telling, II you hadn't been talk
ing about the moonlight on the water
should never have asked you to come
out rowing. guess you'll get moon
light enough"
Miss Jones didn't answer this taunt.
She kept getting madden and madder,
but she concealed the fact until the
boat finally grounded on sand bar In
midstream. When tL2y bad both
scrambled ashore she found her voice.
She called the deacon names until she
had ratified off a hundred Of them. She
expressed her pity for the wife dead
and gone and more pity for the wife to
come. She criticised his personal ap-
pearance, his grammar and the shoes
on his feet, and she talked 40 fast that
he couldn't get In word edgewise. Tie
stood there and took It for a quarter Of
IN hour and had just got ready to say
that she was no lady when she plunged
into the water up to her waist and
waded ashore and called to him from
Tho hnnlr nn ..lal 60 .aa a.. hn.... A.a..