Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1906-11-30

hand in his most ehivalric manner.
called her mamma and Intentionally
stepped ON the tail Of her favorte dol
"Damned mongrel'' he mut,sfei
Wherever 90 that beast is Ia ne
way.
You do not like dogs, A" the old lads
stammered, with tears in her eyes.
nWhy, on the contrary, love them
he replied. ~ must admit, though, tia,
detest fat, clumsy things Ike Tia,
one; but on my estate | have q whole
menagerie of bloodhounds, mastiHs,
wolfhounds and bulldogs, many Of them
as big as calves. Fierce animals. al q
them, and dangerous to anybody they
do not know.
"Great heavens, But why DO yol
keep them therei'
" A ease of necessity. ] live far from
anybody, in a most lonely place, and The
country is simply full Of bandits Of the
worst kind. Hardly week passes With,
out some of my people being bitten BALI
to death"
Z" Ion Dieu! C'est terrible BIT
are YOU not afraid to live thereon'"
"Well. what can / do2 ! have %
live. But to tell the truth, sleep fully
dressed, and / always have a loaded re
volver under my pillow.
This was too much for Nine. POpof's
nerves. She rushed out of the room 70
look for her husband.
On the piazza in an easy chair sat
Maria, his fiancee, looking dreamingy
at the stars, when she was not sneezlng
or blowing her nose.
When she saw him come she pointed
to n hassock at her feet, inviting him 10
sit down on it. With a sigh he did 50,
taking one of her fat hands between bis
own. $500,
Il did not close an eye all night, be
began. trying to force a lovesick eI'
preston into his face and squeezing her
hand little harder.
"'You were not sick, darling'' she
lisped. ,,
''No, my little dove, I was thinking
of you"
"Oh, you flattererl'
~ am no fiatterer. | thought Of how
hapnv we shall be together, you and l.
out in the country, when we are mar
ried. for we will 60 to my estate me
day after the wedding. l know you Will
love country LIE. We will get up very
early every day am always up before
sunrise.
Maria looked anything but delighted
"Then / mount my horse and rlde
into the fields to see that the men DO
their work right. You will look after
everything around the house. You vii
feed the chickens and the pigs, watch
the girls milking the cows. weigh tle
feed and attend to the bookkeeping
Maria s face grew perceptibly Longer
Later ! come home tired and dirty
but oh, so happy! We can eat dinner az
noon, and then / take a good, long nap,
Ny work is very exhausting. When
wake up l ride into the fields again,
and in the evening / come home deaa
tired and still dirtier, but inexpressloy
happy. In the evening we Visit lne
neighbors, the village teacher, the grave
digger, the district midwife ana tne
baker. We play cards and drink a rev few
glasses of vodka-not very good VouAa'
but the best those poor people nave
Then we go home and 60 to bed
Maria was nearly crying now.
''But you will have no parties 10
musicales-'
Alexander Stepanovitch interrupted
her with roar of laughter.
D'Partiesl Musicales! he repeated
'.That is too good. Why, you seem "
forget that we are hundred miles from
the nearest town and only see news,
paper or a person who knows how "
read one, if he had it for months al
time. -.
Maria burst into tears and ran lh'O
the house.
The following morning Alexander ~
ceived letter 1t read:
Ny Dear Alexander Stepanovltch'
"Having thought the matter over anu
after a talk with my wife | have colhs
to the conclusion that you are not .ns
man to make my darling daughtyi
hannv. and l beg You to consider 'D'
engagement broken. Sincerely yours,
"Michael Ivanovitch Popoh'
----
The Reformer till Jan. |, l9oS' 10 TIC"
subscribers, $3.50.