The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-01-30

DR.. Il. ~. Whitaker.
the way / did, never saw the girl
that | married but once. We met as
strangers. but / liked her ana she
seemed 80 like me. So We decided to
be married the next time We met. And
sure enough. We were. After marriage
we commenced counting and for I
years the courtshiD went on. ! am
sure we could not have chosen more
wisely q could not at least) if we
had known each other tWcnty years.
Uncle Sam had buried his third
wife. and feeling i little lonely one
morning. he concluded nc ought to
have another wife. He had heard
Of 4 widow, living down in FRANKLIN
county, and it occurred to him shat
there could be no harm in riding
down to see what she looked like.
so he old Allen. an old servant, to
saddIe his horse. In the mean time
and while 50 doing gave instructions
to Nancy, Aliens wife. how to conduct
matters till he came back.
He mounted his horse and headed
for Franklin county. On the road,
out in the n~eighborhood Of Wake
Forest, lived another widow. and tn
thought occurred to him that ned
stop and pay his respects TO her, rs he
did not know how he and the Crank
lin widow would make it. And so he
did. Riding w to the gate he hailed.
and the widow came to the door when
the following c~ollOGuy cnsucd:
Good morning, Mrs. r. he salutcd.
GOOD morning, Mr.. W.
Mrs. r. I'm going dOWn below
here to see 4 widow, and ] stopped
here to say that if she II ] do not
come to an understanding, I'm coming
1.,.lx J.,o tbhiDIt tA &.oa InJ- wa ntp
make it"
4 right. Mr.. w. I'll be glad to
see you And off he rode and away
he vent. as jolly as a chap IF eighteen,
to see the Franklin widow. All day
Mrs. L. was wondering how the mat
ter might turn. and, while wondering,
she concluded TO comb her head and
put on another dress, to be ready iii
case she might have company. 1t
was getting dark and. company d no
company, the COWS had to be MIXED.
out she and II servant went into the
coW-iot, and there they We're When up
rode Uncle sam.
Mrs r. I've come" said uncle sara.
Il see you have. Mr.. W." the WidoW
replied.
What do you say, Mrs. R?'
Light. Mr.. w. and come in"
That was all the courtship L ever
heard Of in that case. Uncle Sam went
home next morning. put things to
rights, and in Il few days he hitched
up the old Gig and went back after
Aunt Polly anG She made him as good
a wife as if he had courted her a year.
Isaac and IteboIah are the worlds
ideal Of q happy c~onjusaiity; and they
didn't have any courtShip at all. The
old father, seeing that Isaac was get
tins Il little restless, after the death Of
his mother, concluded he had better
J I.~ O. So
patched a servant with ten camcls.
with goods, to go across d dcs-
crt country, a distance of nearly d
thousand mites. il quest of Il girl for
Isaac. The boy might have been i'll
love With some of the neighbOrhood
girls, but Abraham opposed any such
al alliance as hat, and made his SER
want swear that it SHOULD not be.
| don't Know about it. but [ imag-
inc Isaac spent q very restless season
while the servant WAS making that
long journey. for he didn't have any
idea what sort of = creature the ser
van would bring back from MeSop-
servant and I&eb@kah arrived in sight
Of home that Isaac had gone out into
the fields at eventide to mediate, Il
thing he had done. likely. many times
before, wondering when the servant
come, me and how his wife. that
NJ C> l tts w ouih ltoh- vi st liz
was anxious. and who is he that
would not have been? But, on that
evening. as he was meditating in the
fields, "hc lifted up his eyes. ana saw
and behold the camolS were coming
About the same time RcDellah lifted
up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac
she said to the servant: What man is
that ',IIlat's my master" said the
~ervant: and Rebekah lighted off the
camel and hid her face with a veil.
After the servant had told him all
things that had been done, Isaac
brought her into his mother Sarah's
tent, and took Rebekah. and she be-
anne his wife. and he loved her; and
Isaac was conIforted after his moth
er's death"
some people, VINO make IonG court
ships, do too much loving befor and
too little after marriage. Isaac hadn't.
wasted any IoV in a long courtsllip,
consequently he had a whole heart
full to bestow on the girl who had left
father, mother. II home to become
his wife.
And I'll say, by way Of a wind-up
Of this matter. that many a couple
might have married and lived happily
together. had they not exhausted all
love in the cOurtship. and when
they did finally marry they had none
left with Which 10 sWecten life and
smooth the rough places along the
way.
Jacob Il the worst experience of
which We read. He c~ONenantcd with
his uncle to serve him seven years for
Rachel. and when the time came for
his marriagc-after years. which
to him seemed but Il few days. because
of his great love for her-Laban made
him take Leah instead of Rachel. and
the Door fellow had to serve seven
years moro to get the girl of his
choice. Tina WAS a pretty long court
ship: but il must be remembered that
it was imposed upon them and was
not. by any a the result of the
young peoples desire to carry on Il
Irritation OF to cngage in Il long drawn
out "spooney."