The Washington herald., 1907-05-12

old idiot he was onei I mean Old Man
Bob, not Solomon; though solomon WASH t
as wise as he might "a been in some
things.
well. Annie was head-sTong. high
/ tempered child TO begin with; and havin'
/ nobody TO control her. she got to be the
/ worst young one. I reckon, ia the State
o Kentucky. l used TO feel right sorry
| for her little brothers. They c0uldn t
keep a top or q ball or marble or any
plaything 10 save their lives Annie would
cry for 'em jest for pure meanness. and
whatever it was that Annie cried for they
had to give it up or git a whippsn', She'd
break up their abbit-traps and their bird
cages and the little wheelbarrers and
wagons they'd make, and they didn't have
any peace at home. pore little mother
less things. l ric0llect one day little Jim
come runnin over TO my house draggin'
his wagon loaded up with all his play
things, his little saw and hammer and
some rails the carpenters had give him
when Old Man Bob had his new stable
/ built, and says ne, Aunt Jane. please let
ne keep my tools over here Annie says
she's goin' to throw EN- in the well, and
pappy'u make me give 'em to her If she
cries for EN- Them tools stayed at my
house till Jim outgrowed EN-, and he and
Henry. The other little one. used TO come
and stay by the hour playin' with my
Abram.
1T was all Old Man Bob could do to
git a hOusekeeper to stay with him when
Annie got older. One spring she broke
up all the hen nests and turkey nests on
the farm, and they had 10 buy chickens
all summer and turkeys ali next winter
They used 10 tell how she stood and hol-
Tered for two hours one day because the
housekeeper wouldn't let her put her
hand into kittie o boilin' lye soap. It's
my belief that she was all that kept Old
Man Bob from marryin again in iess'u
a year after Ann Liza died. He cOurted
three or four widders and old maids
round the neighborhood, but there wasn't
one OF 'em that anxious to marry that
she'd take Old Man Bob with Annie
thrown in. As soon as she got old enough
Old Man Bob carried her with him wher-
ever he went County Court DAYS you'd
see him goin along on his big gray mare
with Annie behind him, holdin' on 10 the
sides of his coat with her little fat
hands. her sunbonnet fallin' or and her
curls BLOWN an around her face-like as
not she hadn't had EN- combed for
week-and IN the evenin about sunset
here they'd come, Annie in front fast
asleep and Old Man Bob holdin' her on
one arm and guidln' his horse with
the other. Harvestln' times Annie'd be
out in the field settin' on a shock o. wheat
and orderin the hands around same as
il she was the overseer; and Old Man
Bobd Jest stand back and shake his
sides laughin' and say: That's right,
honey. Make EN- move lively. II il
wasn't for you, pappy couldn't git his
harvestin done
Every fall and spring he'd go TO town
10 buy clothes for her. and people used
10 say the st0rekeepers laid in a extry
stock Jest for Old Man Bob, and charged
him two or three prices for everything
he bought. He'd walk into Tom Bakers
store with his saddle-bags on his arm
and holler out. Wei. what you got to-
day? Trot out your silks and your satins.
and remember that the best amt good
enough for my little gal
when Annie was twelve years old he
took her on 10 BardstOWn 10 git her edu-
cation. When he come 10 say good-b bye
to her, he cried and she cried and il
ended with him settin down and stayin
three weeks in BaTdstown. waitin' for
Annie 10 git over her hOmesiCkness. Folks
never did git through plaguin him about
gOin OF to bOdTdin school, and as soon
as sam Crawford seen him he says, Well
Uncle Bob, when do you reckon youu git
your diplomat
4 never shall forgit the first time An
ME come home TO spend her Christmas
The neighbOrs didn't have any peace o.
their lives for Old Man Bob tellin 'em
how Annie had gTowed. and how there
wasn't gal in the State that could hold
candle TO her And Sunday he come
walkin' in church with Annie hangin'
on 10 his arm jest as proud and harry
as il he d got a new wife.
Annie had improved wonderful. It'll
wasn't jest her looks, for she always
was as pretty as a picture but she was
as nice-mannered. well-behaved q gyirI s
you'd want 10 see There was lest as
much difference betwixt her then and
what she used to be as there is betwixt a
tame fox and a wild one. OF course the
wildness is all there. but its kind o. Gov
cred up under lot o. cute little tricks
and ways; and that's the way IT was
with Annie Squire ElrOd's pew was jest
across the aisle from Old Man Bohs. and
/ could see Dick watchin her durin' I
church time. But Annie never l0ked one [
way nor the other. She set there with
her hands folded and her eyes straight I
before her. and nobody ever would "a 4
thought that she'd been ridin' horses bare /
back and climbin' eight-rau fences ever
since she could walk. mighty near.
When she come back from school in I
June it was the same thing over again. /
Old Man Bob bTaggin on her and every 4
body sayin' how sweet and pretty she
was. Dick began 10 wait on her right 4
away, and before long folks was sayln' 4
that they was made for each other. es-
pecially as their farms jined That's a l
Iooi notion but you can't git 1t out o.
some peoples heads
Things went on this way for two or
three years, Annie goin' and comm and /
sittin prettier all the time, and Dick
waitin' on her whenever she was az home
and earryin' on between times with every
syirl in tie neighborhood. AT last she
come home for good, and Dick dropped all /
the others in hurry and set out in ear
nest 10 git Annie. Folks said he was
nightly in love, but accordin' to my
way o. thinkin' there wasn't anv love
ABOUT IT, The long and the short of IL
vas that Annie knew how to manage hin.
and the other gyirls didn't They was
always right there in the neighborhood.
md il don't help woman to be always
lnder mans nose But Annie was here
and there and everywhere, visitin in town
md In Louisville and bringin' the town
,olks and the city folks home with her.
''' iti De''t~N9 -4tO PiSAlCSs anu NDlu
III she could to make Dick jealous. And
hen / always believed that Annie was
est as crazy about Dick as the rest O.
he gyirls, but she had sense enough not
o let him know it, It's human nature.
'ou know, 10 want things that's hard
@ git Why. If heas and mosquitoes was
keerce, folks would go TO huntin EN-
md maxim big fuss over 'em. Annie
made herself hard to git, and that's why
Dick wanted her instead o. Harriet Amos.
hat was jest as good lookin' and better
n every other way than Annie was. Ev-
rNhodN Maa swim u-l..t :. 49, .l-L--..L