The Sauk Centre herald., 1911-03-30
pra nS. from The ll,ggy and looked Il,


Yes she said. ",his is The place
Will you come IN. Mr. Ranss: You
can put your horse III that barn. I'm
sure. if you want to :
But Bailey declined. 10 go in He
declared he was going CD TO the black
smiths shop to have that wheel fixed
He would not feel safe. 10 start fol
home with il as il WIS He drove off
and Miss Dawes kntpwing from life
long experience that frunt doors ar.-
merely for show. passed around the
main body OF the house and raped nl,
the door in the eli The rap was not
answered. though she could hear some
one moving about within and a shrili
voice singing "'rhe Sweet by and BY
So she raped again and again. hut
still no one came to the door At last
she ventured to open it.
A thin woman with her head tied up
in colored cotton handkerchief was
in the room vigorously welding a
broom. She was singing in high
cracked voice The opening of the
door let in gust of cold wind. which
struck the singer in the back of the
neck and caused her to turn around
hastily
Hey" she exclaimed Land sakes
You scare body to death. Shut that
door quick. amt hankerin' for il
iuenzy. Who are you? What do you
want? Why didn't you knock? Where's
my specs?"
She took a pair of spectacles from
the mantelshelf and set them ons the
bridge,o her thin Nose
: II beg pardon for coming in!' shout
ed Phoebe. You are Mrs. Beasley.
aren't you?"
II don't want none" replied .Debby.
with emphasis $50 there's no use
your wastin your breath"
After some strenuous minutes the
visitor managed to make 1t clear to
Mrs. Beasley's mind that she was not
a peddler She tried to add a word of
further explanation. but it was effort
wasted
""Tain't no user snapped Debby.
sI can't hear you. you speak so faint
Wait till get my horn. It's in the
settin' room."
Phoebe's wonder as to what the
''horn" might be was relieved by the
Widows appearance moment later
with the biggest ear trumpet her caller
had ever seen.
There. nowr' she said. adjusting
the instrument and thrusting the bell
shaped end under the teachers nose.
Talk into that. II you amt peddler,
what be yOn-sewin' machine agent"
Phoebe explained that she had come
some distance on purpose to see Mrs.
Beasley She was interested in the
rhayers. who used to live in Orham,
in Mr.. John Thayer. who
lied in 1854 She had been told that,
Debby formerly lived with the Thay-
ers and could no doubt remember
great deal abont them.
Mrs. Reasley, her hearing now with
IN forty-tive degrees Of the normal,
grew interested. She ushered her WIS.,
tor into the adjoining room and prof
fered her chair. !
what you so interested in the
rhayers forY' inquired Debby. "One
If the heirs. be you? They didn't
cave nothin'."
No. the schoolmistress was not an
heir. was not even relative OF the
'amily But she was-was interested
lust the same A friend of hers was
/ relative and
"What is your friend" inquired the
man?"
There was no reason why Miss
Dawes should have changed color. but,
according to Debby's subsequent tes-
she did; she blnshed. so the
widow declares.
NO." she protested. "Oh. no! IT'S a
she's child. that's ALA little girl.
Mrs. Beasley remembered many
.hings. but nothing at all concerning
John Thayer's life in the west
: "He never wrote home bnt once or
.wice afore he died." she said. land
when be did Emily, his wife. never
old me what was in his letters. She
always burnt 'em. guess. | used to
hunt around for 'em when she was
,ut. but she burnt 'em to spite me,
.allate. Her and me didn't get along
my too we'll She said talked too
much to other folks about what was
zone Of their business. Now. anybody
hat knows me knows that amt one
IF my failin's. told her so; says
-
And so on for ten minutes. Then
Phoebe ventured to repeat the words
out west" and her companion went
,ff on new tack She had just been
west herself She had been on a visit
% her husbands niece, who lived in
Arizona--in BlaZeton. Ariz ITS the
incest town ever you see." she contin-
led. land the smartest. most up to
late place Talk about the west bein' !
,ncivilized! My land. you ought to
lee that town-electric lights and tel
,phones and-and-I don't know what
lllr'
This was but the beginning. 1t was
evident that Mrs Beasley had thor
,ughly enjoyed herself in Blazeton and
hat the sorrows Of the bereaved De-
ire Higgins had been one Of the prin-