The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1909-01-20

heard the same thing and are aware
Of the fact that In the morning the
pond is to be dragged for the body.
'There may be some among you that
think Joel has taken a skip and is still
alive, but | am not of the number.
There Is no doubt in my mind that we
shall fish him out of the water and
that his face will wear the same pitt
full expression that we have seen rest
Ing there for the past I'VE years.
1.-THE question among us is why Joel
should want to die, and It Is a ques-
ton that most Of us can answer to
our own satisfaction. He has simply
got tired of life. He could look back
for five years and see nothing but
ashes. When he looked ahead into
the future he could not see that 1t held
anything for him. He has been gath
cred to his fathers, and, according to
my way of thinking, he is now draw
ing long breaths of relief In that other
land.
Gentlemen. what was the matter
with Joel Taylor? Why didn't he go
around whistling Yankee Doodle and
feeling that this was a good old world
to live In? The answer is not far
away. He married the wrong woman.
Some of us who knew what he was
planning to do argued and rastled with
him, but 1t did no good. Joel would
lend a plow, hoe or a shovel as quick
as any man on earth, and he was hon
est from head to heel. but at the same
time he was sot In his ways. hain't
saying that II wasn't the right thing
for him to fall In love with and marry
a widow, but what I'm contending is
that there are several kinds Of wild
ows, and he ought to have taken ad-
vice. If he had married one who had
been a widow only year or so, with
the tears Of grief still in her eyes,
he'd have been alive and happy today.
what sort of widow did he mar
ry2 I'm not going to say anything par
ticular agin her. I'm jest saying that
she had been widow and bossed
things for 1eyen years. She had got
the bossing business down fine. Even
the ducks and ROSTERS around her
place would jump at her call, Joel
had come up by himself without any
bossing, and he was one that couldn't
take kindly to 1t. And he didn't know
womankind. He thought every man
was an oak and that every woman
was vine that wanted to cling to him
and ask nothing better than to have a
master.
> "Well, as said, 1t was no use to ar
que with him. He was sot and went
ahead, and most Of us here know what
begun to happen almost at oncet The
widow had farm, and she didn't turn
1t over to him. No, sir. She kept 1t
right in her own name. She told him
she was perfectly able to boss that and
his, too, and she went ahead and did
1t. Joel hadn't been married three
months when his days work was
planned out for him. He couldn't buy
nor sell without his wife's consent. If
he got roasted on the fence to chin
with tin peddler or a lightning rod
man, he'd hardly get his mouth open
before down would come the wife to
hustle hlm Dack 10 WORK.
Occasions When Joel Rebelled.
81 know there were occasions when
Joel rebelled, same as any man of
spirit, but rebellion was crushed al.
most IN the bud. His wife had
way of looking at him that set his
knees to wabbllng. If he still held out
she starved him into submission. I've
known, him to live for four days on
raw turnips before he gave In, but
knuckle he had to. There was even
lngs when we used to see him here
He'd slip In with jug or q can for
Iasses or kerosene, and II no couldn't
be waited on right away he was In n
sweat. No matter how good story
anybody was telling, he never dared
; to Eton and listen. On Eve or six dif-