The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-07-19

it warn't the most trustworthy feature
L ever saw In woman's face. Mister,
when you go to git a wife, be keerful
about the style of her nose. I'd as soon
buy horse with a blaZed face and four
white feet as to marry a woman with
one of those high-bred. raZor-backed
noses. Ten to one she'll kick the dash
board off your affections afore you've
lived through the honeymoon with her
well, sir, Bill kept followin' long
after Babe, and because she didn't set
down in the middle of the road like a
tame fowl and wait for him to come
and pick her up. the dern fool thought
she didn't keer for him. Showed no
more Judgment about the heart of that
woman than he'd showed in estimatin'
the goodness of God. One day. not
long after the revival, seen Babe
down the road apiece. and not far be-
hind was Bill Meeks ridin' in his top
buggy. Directly he come 'longside of
her, and invited her to git in and ride
Always. Then they come on slow. ana
1 breathed a prayer that Bill moughr
have the spunk to say what a man
ought to say and do under them cir
cumstances. But before any guardian
angel in heaven could a-had time to git
the answer ready. / seen him scotch his
wheels and she flung out of the buggy
like she didn't keer whar she went
Then he whipped up his boss and come
stavin' by here like he was headin' fer
a far country. After a while Babe come
on. and when she seen me standin' at
the gate. she stopped as If she couldn't
90 10 further. Her cheeks were jest
mad with color. her mouth was
drawed down till the corners looked
like the sad ends of a smile, and the
tears were runnin' from her eyes like
rain.
Honey seq /. what's the natter
Pappy.' SEE she. Then her breast
begun to heave, the tears come faster,
rose in a storm.
'Pappy,' seq she again-then busted
out cryin' good fashion.
Come in, set down, and tell me
what happened seq l, leadin' her TO the
bench by the door. She laid her head
against the water shelf and cried all
the top off her feelin's the way women
do when they air mad or hurt. Direct
ly she lifted up her face, smoothed the
hair outen her eyes, looked at me. ana
l be goldern if she didn't give me the
sweetest little sobbin' laugh you ever
heard. Then she puckered up her face
and fixed TO begin over again, but /
seq:
Don't Babel You've shed more
tears now than any sorrow you've got
ought TO come TO. Jest tell me what
happened. Hain't Bill treated you
right?
No.. seq she, he hain't'
'What'd he do?'
Asst me TO marry him.
That warn't so bad seq I, very
guarded. because you never kin tell
what the female pint of view air till
the woman gives il to YOU
But, Pappy, seq Babe, with a
storm gatherin' in her quiet eyes. he
hain't never said word of love to me-
It's scandalous TO asst a gal to marry
him where he hain't tried to make her
love him. Either he don't keer whether
she do or not, or he've got the impu-
dence TO think she do 'thout him court
in her to it,
Lord, son, don't you believe that the
dullest woman you ever saw haint got
more delicate primrose paths to her
garden of a mind than the wisest man
that ever lived. And. we have to re-
spect their little poetry notions of life
because they air finer than our'n and
they keeps us from turnin' back to
beasts.
What answer did you give him.
honey?' / asst her.
L lowed to him that a man didn't
git a wife Jest for the astin', but he
had TO win her against her will
'What'd he say to that?'
" 'Nothin'-jeSt set thar and looked
at me like he didn't know what to do.
Then I told him to let me git outen the
buggy. which he done 'thout a word.'-
could see that she were madden with
him for lettin' her git out than any
thing else.
Babe seq I. fit to bust with laugh
ter. but keepin' a straight face. you
done right. Bill air a dad blasted fool.
But don't worry; he'll learn the per-
likeness of love after a while. And
git the idea that he don't love you be-
cause he hain't the manners to say So
'She was comforted by my advice
when she got up to go home. 1 could
see that.
well, sir, the two were at every
frolic in the settlement after that, but
they didn't come toether nor git to-
gether. Bill always looked sulky, and
wish you could a-saw Babel When
a woman takes a notion to put you in
the wrong by behavin' her own self
right, she kin come aggravatin'ly nigh
bein' a angel IN her ways. And that
gal had a natural talent fer the Dart
she piayed--never so much as fung her
eyes on Bill Sometimes he'd prowl