Graham guardian., 1911-07-14
THE PRIZE
CUCUMBER
By M. QUAD
BY M. QUAD
Copyright. 1910. by Associated Lit
erary Press.

On the 10th day Of June of certain
year. at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. wher
he was hoeing In his garden, Deacon
Amos Gray Strengthened up to rest his
back and then and there decided thai
he would marry the Widow Spooner
He had been widower and she Q
widow for three years. She lived neal
him In the village, and they had known
each other before marriage.
Her garden needed hoeing. He sci
about 1t. 1t gave him sort Of sense
of proprietorship. II was her garden
now, but after awhile II would be his
He had been at work for quarter OF
an hour when the widow came to the
open kitchen door and discovered him
and called out:
why, deacon, this is truly good OF
you. was just wondering who
could get to hoe my garden"
When he had been at work an hour
the deacon uttered few grunts and
signs and came to anchor on the step
The widow was looking fine for wo.
man of forty. She was robust and In
good health. The services of doctor
wouldn't be needed for many long
day unless she fell down the cellar
stairs. And she looked like a woman
who would esteem it a privilege to
build the kitchen fire every morning
for four weeks after the grounding
had come out and seen his shadow
Yes, she was all right, and the deacon
opened his mouth and said:
"Widder spooner, me an you have
known each other long time"
Eyes, deacon"
Long before either one Of us was
married"
Eyes"
"And guess we allus sorter liked
each other"
yes" .
"And now Abe is dead and Martha Is
dead and we are lonesome. wilder.
Why shouldn't we"-
She waited, but he stopped right
there. There was Sister Nancy. Hadn't
he better sound her and see how she
was going to take It? Yes. that would
be the wisest way. He therefore be-
gan to talk about the drought and
other things. and after working for an.
other hour he went home. He didn't
speak to Nancy-n on that subject.
She was trying to get supper with green
wood. and she was hopping mad. He
split up a dry board for her and blew
t1,n hut hn hod lS.a1 ~
enough to know that when a woman
gets real mad she must have at least
day to get over It. Next morning
Nancy was so clipper that he decided
to take his chances without speaking
to her on the subject. g..
In the afternoon the deacon did
some more hoeing. and there was an
other talk OH the steps. Yes. the Wild
ow Spooner well remembered his tax
ing her to spelling school IN the old
days. She remembered their sliding
hills together; she could recall the red
apples he used to give her.
Happy days them was. wilder
happy days." he sighed.
"Yes, they were" .
"But now you are wilder and am
a widower."
EYES,"
And both Of us goldurned lone
some" s>
II am sometimes very. very lone.
some"
But we needn't be. widder-wc
needn't be- S'posin' .a
"WellT'
He couldn't 90 ahead. The thought
had just struck him that she might
have wooden leg or stiff knee and
would make that an excuse for not
doing the washing and ironing He
could dimly remember hearing that
she had fallen from an apple tree and
broken bone somewhere. He would
wait and make inquiries. II thus came
about that he went home again with
nothing decided. Now. the deacon was
great county fair man.. He always
had an exhibit Of chickens. eggs or
vegetables. He believed that If any
fate Of Sodom 1t was the Methodist re.
ligion and county fair held every Oc-
tober. At that very moment he was
raising prize cucumber to exhibit. 1t
was only foot long now. but 1t would
be rod in length before time for pull
ing.
Deacon Gray let week go past with
out seeing the Widow Spooner He got
up one morning and stepped outdoors
to inhale the fragrance Of the air be-
fore sitting down to breakfast. About
the first thing his eyes lighted on was
woman standing over his prize Gu
cumber. 1t was the Widow Spooner.
She had an ax on her shoulder. and her
Jaw was set.
"Why. wilder. what does this mean p
asked the. deacon as he sauntered ont
to her.
"You have the same as asked me to
marry you." she replied as she spat on
her hands and fiourished the Ak.
"But not right out"
nBut near enough. Deacon. when Is
1t to be7''
II can't say. What are you doing
with the axT'
I'm two weeks. deacon, or chop
your prize cucumber in two!
"Lordy, womanr'
"Do chop?"
nYoY wouldn't go to chop that cu'-
"fwo weeks. deacon: or three or
four? Speak quick"
"Waal, say about three.
And three II was. and. though Nancy
raised fuss and had to be carried out
and dumped over the fence. the couple
have lived happily together for -ears.
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