The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-09-08
MIR. BowsER's RARE sUNFLoWEk'
II Lived and Bloomed and Theh ~
Took a Sudden Departure.

Bowser began spading mp portion "
the back yard for garden Nnch =.
had the ground turned mp he made WV
beds. and early in MAY he planted ms
seeds. About the middle Of the month";
when he had begun looking for green
stuff, the cats had battle royal on nis
beds and everything was seIaleh'u ~
of Tho pround, He had, however, acel'
dentally dropped a sunil0wer SEED ciosc
IN the fence, and this was spared ~
thrive and grow. .,.ri.
Every morning before gong 70 WoIh
Mr.. Bowser went out 20 have look az
and 10 measure that suniloWet,, anu ha
every evening after dinner ne diu ny
same His standing instructions 10 Tue
cook were: .s
eff You see eat proving near II
hustle her, ,.,..,. on
uif Won throw ashes or dishwater on
il YOU will be promptly discharged ~
"If Won see Mrs. B0wser take Tue
axe to il and do not at once INFORM he
YOU will be liable for conspiracy
'What / am growing thar sunHoW.I
for. he said 10 Mrs. Bowsef' Is "
give this place homelike appearance:
]
nv boyhood DAYS. / don Z believe that
a man that has been brought up among
them can ever turn out bad. IheTe
should be a law 10 grow them IN the
wards of prisons. | would 90 turther'
and let every prisoner have one IN MS
cell - ...
Mrs. Bowser would 90 into no argu.
ment about il, and that suniioWer shot
M al a great rate. 4 few days ago "
showed It's yellow face 10 the sun ana
Mr.. Bowser stood IN front Of II LOT
full half hour. ..t.
"You can 90 out and look AZ H. he
said TO Mrs. Bowser, put STAND AT
least 10 feet away. | don expect II 70
impress You at all, as you are naturaily
cold hearted and without emotion II /
was TO marry again II would be 10 some
woman who couldn Z look AZ sunilower
without a swelling heart and tears com
ing TO her eyes.
That evening when he came home from
the office Mrs. Bowser saw at once that
something had gone amiss, lie had a
face that was the picture OF melancholy
and he simply picked AT his dinner IN.
stead of eating. To the questions OF
what had gone wrong. or whether ne
was feeling i'll, he replied by solemn
ways of the head. 1t was only when
the drcary meal was finished mat ne
said:
Mrs. Bowser, if I seem sorrowful
this evening il j. because ! have GOOD
reasons. | saw in the paper TO-DAY that
Bob Shanks was dead. -.
And who on earth Is Bob Shanksi
she asked.
my second cousin. out in California.
II was Bob that taught me to swim.
"But YOU can Z swim any more than
a bag of sand, and ! haven Z heard Won
mention Bob Shanks s name in Is years.
He may be dead but ! see ne occasion
for tears.
- And Charley Doods is dead. -
" Another of your second cousins
"No. Charley was the one who
learned me to skate. He was like q IA
fher to me Yes. he s dead and buried.
just the other dav | was thinking OF
writing to him. and now ! never can.
tell YOU. Mrs. Bowser, il s tu1-tuff -
u don I see il that way she re-
piled II don Z believe YOU had seen
him in 40 years, and maybe he hadn I
even given you 4 thought for hundred.
Let s sit on the front steps and get the
air
Sit on the front steps with the tears
rolling down my checks, Never, Mrs.
Bowserl Do YOU think have the heart
of fend2 There S more to come. Ny
old school teacher is dead. Met a man
today who told me.
- How long ago did she die?
Thirteen years. Passed away as
peacefully as child.
Thirteen wears, and YOU are shed.
ding tears over il now Mr.. Bowser.
you come in rather late, don't youi
But / lust heard of il, YOU see, She
used to slide down hill on my sled AT
noon and pat me on the head. Good
woman. Nice woman And now she s
dead
''Well, YOU couldn t help it. Shall
we run into Green s for an hourf''
Run into Green's Is, and am so
choked mp that ! can hardly speak!
Woman, what kind of heart beats in
your breast
Have Won finished the list OF your
sorrows
No. You remember Bill HAYNES,
don I your"
mo, don I.
Boyhood friend. Me n Bill used TO
steal apples together. He's dead, too
Went 10 Africa, and a great big lion ate
him up. III bet his last thought was of
me- -
Mrs. Bowser leaned forward and gave
MI DONstT sHdIp lOoh' sulHtu at his
breath and then asked:
Have YOU had any root beer to-
dayl"
''No, of course not Too late in the
season for root beer.
You Just feel sad, Ell ~
Eyes, Just feel sad Heard today
that old Elder Bronson was dead. The
elder was the first man to tell me when
| was little boy that if | was good ID
90 to heaven. 1t Is tuff-tuff. / don t
know when I've been so broken up
" You must have one or two more on
the list. "
Eyes When | was 10 years old I
fell into the river and it was little Susie
Ball that pulled me out and saved my
life
"And Susie is dead with the rest of
Eyes. She got hold of some poisoned
few days ago and they
killed her. If it hadn't been for her /
would be dead and now she s dead her
self Mrs. Bowser, | wish you would
think of these things and let them melt
your heart. Here / sit with tears in my
ewes, and you sit-sit-'
and who else is deadq' she inter
rupted
"Nobody that | know of, but ism t
that 'nuffG On the street car, coming
home, couldn 7 keep the tears out of