The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-06-21
An Interval
BY F. a. Mitchell
Copyright hy Ahegiean Psess Avsor
clatiou, iall.
BY F. A. MICHEL

II citation, 1911. II
Its queer how little difference ten
years win make iii the look of persons
when your with EN- all the time
and how much difference 1t makes
when you don't see EN-. And II YOU
don't see EN- for matter of twenty
year, why, you don't know EN- at ALL"
The words were spoken BY Joshua
Sparks to his friend. Muhulda Stckler
Yes. Mr. Sparks, and that's the
reason don't take stock In the idee
that love is anything more'n livin' to-
getAer."
II knew Of a case Of that Kind onct
II came under my own observation.
You know Martha Wrinkles, don't
you?'
YES. know her she's skinny old
maid"
"Waal, when Martha was a gnl she
was as purity as any on en-. was 4
leetle soft on her myself then, But |
didn't have no chance. She was sot
on Ben Higgins, MS fine lookin
young man as ever handled a piteti-
fork, And Ben was sot on her, They
They was goin' to git married when
Ben was Tux sick He was sick 4 long
while, and when he got well the doe.
tor said he'd better go off somewhere
else to git q change Of mir
ben, he went to Colorado. whore the
air is dry and pure. He Tux pctur
of Martha with him. and they both said
their love was the undyin' kind II
didn't matter how long they might be
separated, neither of EN- would marry
any one else and they would marry
each other when they come together
ag'in.
Ben was twenty when he went
away and Martha was nineteen. The
separation was longer than either o.
'em had any idee OF when they parted
Ben was five years gittin back his
health BY that time he thort he'a
come to an age when he'd like to have
little somepin laid up before he got
married SO he worked aud worked.
but somehow riches didn't come. It wGs
twenty -one years before he got back
Neither be nor Martha was much AT
writin, even when he went away.
First or they wrote onct a month.
then onct year, and after that II
was onct in five years. But they was
true to each other all these years.
ben was forty-two years old when
he come back. He come to me fust
before seein Martha at ALT didn't
know him. Some men looks purity
young at forty-two, and some looks
purity old. Ben was one o. the old
lookin kind. He wore specs, his head
was smooth as a billiard ball, and
what hair there was on the sides was
grizzly gray.
"'Don't yknow me, JoshT he said
I'm Ben Higgins
"Waal, to be perlite / told him id
had trouble With my eyes
'lIe told me thar he'd come home e.
marry Martha. He'd made some mon
ey during the last few years aud was
lookin' forward to the realization OF
the dream of his life. He TUX the pic
tur of Martha out Of his pocket and
showed It to me. My sakes, how far
away it seemed! There sat purity
young gal that I'd known twenty
years before, Now she was gray In
the front of her head, and the wrinkles
she's got now was begnnin' to spread
over her face and neck and arms and
hands. guess it makes woman sour
lookin' to wait for lover. Anyway
she looked just as IL she could bite
off tenpenny nail
BEN says l, 'Martha's changed O
bit since that was taken
'Mebbe' he said, she might have
changed somewhat I'm goin' to see
her tonight, and Ill see how much
she's altered
"'Come round to my house to sup.
per- said. You can go to see Martha
afterwards
"'All right he answered; Il viii
'T asked Martha to come to supper,
not tellin' her she was to meet her old
lover. / wanted to see 'em when they
first saw each other. / didn't go to
no trouble of introducin' EN- as city
folks do. Martha she sot at one end
Of the table by my wife, and Ben sot
by me, the yunkers between, Conse
quence was that Ben and Martha
didn't have Dgthin 10 any TO each
other. Fact Is they didu. appear 10
take no interest into each other
When Ben and | got up from taa ya-
BILE | asked him If he wouldn't like To
go out and look at the stock. He said
he would, and we went to the barn.
"After awhile Ben said he guessed
he'd go and see his old love Then
told him Martha had been settln' ~
the other end Of the table at supper,
You ought GO seen tue way ba look.
al at me There was panied espres-
sion. as though be- had bullt q bGauti.
full structure over him away up unto
the sky and 1t had collapsed and come
down on his head. The first thing he
said was:
Did she knew who | wasP
No. but my wife has told her By