Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1909-11-26
AN ODD D. COUR1 | !.
]. BY NJ. QUAD.

BY NJ. QUAD.
copyright, 1909, by Associated Literary
4 Press.I
The wife of Deacon Hiram Plat had !
been dead three years when it came
to his ears that people were wonder.
! ing why he didn't place a tombstonei
at her grave. At her death the sor-i
rowing husband had fully intended toI
give her monument thirty feet high:
three months later he had reduced theI
height to fifteen feet; then he had goneI
down foot by foot until he figured thatI
a common gravestOne would be ALL
. that was expected. One may have hisI
own ideas about such matters, butt
when people begin to talk he mustI
consult the ideas of others to a GER
tain extent. Therefore Deacon Platt
hustled around to put up stone.
About the time the deacon lost his
, wife Mrs. Samantha Taylor, living in
the same village, lost her husband.
She also had thirty foot monument
! in her mind, and she also scaled it
down to a plain, cheap stone. Fur
Their, there came time when gossip
criticised her for the unmarked grave,
| and she set about doing something.
She had removed to another village,
| but gossip follows one everywhere. 1t
| thus came about one summer day,
! when the deacon drove out to the
country graveyard to fix up things, he
| found the widow there for the same
i object. The graves of their dead were
i not fifty feet apart. The deacon had
| look Of sorrow on his face and the
/ widow had tears in her eyes as they
| shook hands.
He was noble man." said the dea-
con, referring, of course, to the lament
ed Taylor.
| "And she was all that wife should
be-" replied the widow, referring, Of
course. to the lamented Mrs. Platt.
! Il am glad to know that you mourn
! him.
"And I am glad to know that you
| mourn her."
| Her time had come, and she had to
CO."
"And the same with him."
! The weeds had to be cleared away
and the mounds rounded up and sod
ded and the stones set. They worked
together at this. They sorrowed for
! about half an hour, and then it was
something else. When their backs ach-
ed and they were ready to quit work
| for the day the deacon helped her into
her buggy with the remark:
! Il have seemed to feel Mrs Platt
looking down on me this afternoon"
"And have felt the presence of my
dear lost husband" she replied.
/ Then they both looked very solemn,
and she drove away to return on the
morrow and find the deacon there be-
fore her. He repeated that her Ia
mented was a noble man, and she re-
peated that his lamented was all that
= a wife should be. They cut down and
logged away weeds and briers and
brought dirt and sods. and when they
rested they sat close together on an
old bench. 1t was during one of these
! resting spells that the deacon sighed
three times in succession and said:
! '*Widder Taylor, when night had
come and you were sitting alone in
your lonesomeness did you ever think
1t possible that you could find another
man as good as George WASP"
"Why. while he was a noble man,
there must be other noble men in the
| world" she replied.
| eyes, wilder. and other noble wom-
! en-, though l never had no fault to find
with Hammer. am sure we loved
| 'em'
eyes, we did,
"And it grieved us to see them CO."
''It did"
"But they are better off in that
! brighter land.''
! Then they parted and went home,
! and it was noticeable that neither
: looked as solemn as before They were
not smiling. but the solemn looks had
somehow chased themselves away.
/ The next day was to see the end of
their work, and they both got there
early. The deacon seemed to press
| the Widows hand when he helped her
! out Of the buggy, and she seemed
; bit confused over it, but this may have
been all ilnag ination. BY midafter-
noon the stones were in place. and as
| they retreated a few PAGES to survey
them the deacon solemnly said: q.
"Widder, if your lost husband can
look down on earth he is seeing that
stun and saying to himself that it's
good enough for anybody" i.
EYES," she sighed, land your Han
, ner must say the same thing. We
;; could have got monuments, of course,
! but"-
"But monuments attract lightning"
finished the deacon. AZ
"And are blown over in high Winds"
"And crows use them to roost on.
Yes, think our lost ones ought to feel
quite chirpy. We have the best two
lots here
"And they are picturesquely STU
0ted deacon"