Catoctin clarion., 1910-03-17
WINNING J..
A WIDOW
BY Nj. QUAD
BY Nj. QUAD
Copyright. 1910, by Associated Lit
e.ary Press

tiellcllt OF farmers. tnere were tnite
widowrrs and sevCl young men who
We're looking for wives. At the slime
time there was Il scarcity Of maria. e.
able girls. and The only widow for five
miles around was thv Widow Harkins,
who had safely bought II farm ull
moved no he cumnnni v
The WilrW liarkinS WAS thirty-tive.
She WAS 90 Il looking and smart. She
had captivating way. ANA she hrl
only got settled Gown when the wiI-
overs AID the young men began 70
prick u,, their ears. 1t WIS COMMON
sense to figure that the widow wuu.d
marry again if The right man came
along.
one Gf the first Rerchcrs to ca!l WIS
Lyman. I.r WAS one Of the wiuow"rS.
Fer two yc';rS he hal hid his eye out
for Il .tuw VIA; 1t well stOri:el farm.
He w:lH lv r.ici in IL very friendly
spirit The wi'rw looked neat Ard
tri.n an! s!n s.nici an liu:E!ed and
thaltid in u WHY t,ilt ulHdr his h"'rt
90 tun%in',. She referred To her Tone
ly S!iuaiio;. aiN, then referred 10 the
fat that / = hired man was behind
with H.! w@r::. There wI% psowf1% to
hr GONE. but >'!e WIS Nfraii h. WoUii
not st 10 il M,i too lAie for corn
planning,
LYMAN Epp>htr had never d0i" any
th.n@ f,r an, b0dE w.th"Ut pt%. bat On
thi, ogc.,: ion! uin b TO his surprise, lie
= 4, ri Il
ploWin% as IL ntiGhborly act. He
hru.l.. ht over his teams and prepared
ten acres for corn. Ike WorHed SD
lnrl an,i the w!ow was 50 thankful
that ne was encouraged to state his
case. He had farm. four children,
eleven hogs. five COWS. forty sheep ana
several other things. and he would of
fer his heart and hand to the woman
before him. He wasn't thrown over
the fence. but was told that he must
wait year for his answer. lie didn't
like it at all. but the plowng had been
done. ana ht. had to grin and bear II.
Next came Goodheart Beecher. wild
over ana cousin Of Lyman. lie
creased his boots and made an even
ing call A gallon of hard cider and a
pan of fried cakes were placed before
him. and the widow got his heart flut-
tering. There were times when she
was. oh, so sad and lonely. and this
was one Of the times. That corntleld
was ready for planting, but she was
afraid the hired man could not get
around to It, Goodheart Beecher had
work enough Oh his own farm. but
there was a sad mouthed little widow
looking him straight in the eyes. and
he almost begged that she would per-
nit him to plant that field. She hnal-
ly consented. She also consented that
he should buy the seed out OF his own
pocket. When the work was finished
he went up to the house and asked the
woman to be his'n, and she put him
off as she had the other His BACK
ached as he walked home, but what
could he do about it!
The third man was Moses Beecher
In the same way she induced MIN 10
plant five acres Of potatoes for her.
Then he proposed and was put OF for
u year.
The young men had been consider
atcly waiting for the widoWerS to try
their luck. and now it was their turn.
Young Christian Beecher came for
ward. He was twenty-three years Old.
weeded her corn for her, proposed aid
waited year.
The fifth was young John Beecher
He was called John the Baptist Beech
er. He calmly suggested that she
hire a man who could hustle. lie
called again and again. but he did no
work. He advocated kicking the hired
man. but did not offer to exert himself.
Things were thus. and the widow
was looking around for No. u. when
one day she started for the cross
roads store. Il mile away. She cut
across lots to shorten the distance, and
an old bull took after her and drove
her up Il ladder leaning against hav-
stack. He hooked the ladder d0WA,
but she had gained the crest OF the
stack. She was roosting there, and
the bull was galloping about and max
ing the dirt fly. when John the Bap-
fist Beecher came along III his pug
py. The stack was within talking dis
tance of the road and the young man
halted to ask what was the matter
although the question was superfiuous.
OF course the widow wanted the bull
driven away and to come down.
Look here, widow" replied the
young man as he got out OF his buggy
and found a comfortable seat on the
fence. 81 am head over heels In love
with you"
Eyes. but shoe the bull away"
"And III make you good husband"
"Yes. but want to. get down."
"And III run that farm bang up.
wouldn't hoe the taters, but l believe
you love me Bit
"Oh, Johu. John"
"And now you are either going to
marry me or be left right up there. |
see SGuar Beecher coming in his bug
gy. and he's got one Of his girls with
him. WIN you marry me or stay up
there?"
.Must-must !. John?" asked the
widow In trembling voice
Z Cant got out Of It. I'm not taking
any chances. though, You don't come
down until you are my wife"
When til, squire came up the situa-
,fon was explained ana With John
the Rsntis on the fence and the Wild
ow on the harstack they were made
onc und insepasable and the bnll was
drivc" nwur a!a the honeymoon be-
gan 7aill the taters were taken care
Of
~