The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-10-16
MARY
SIM MONS
By 7. L. BURBANK

! was the only unmarried man in
the settlement and | was powerful lone
some. When evenin' come on each
! family got under their own roof and
sot around the open adobe fireplaces
and was comfortable. didn't have no
! fireside and IL I'd got one I'd had tp
set by 1t alone, not havin' any wife or
children. Consequences was | was
thinkin' o. diggin' out when sumpin
happened to keep me.
was ridin' along a road when
seen a gal on horseback ahead o. me.
caught up with her and said, How
de-" and ITS fine day." and neigh;
borly things like that. She was good
lookin' and cottoned to me to onct,
askin' me where come from, where
was goin' and all that l toe her I'd
come from the settlement and / was
| goen arter some hosses that wus need
ed there and I'd bought 'spectin' to
make reasonable profit on 'em.
Waal, we talked lot, and got
kind a confidential. told her that
was alone in the world and livin'
among married people. She allowed it
was kind a lonesome livin' alone.
a1ed her If that was her fix and she
allowed it was. We got thicker and
! thicker, and at last | up and fred a
question at her If she would hitch onter
me and set up home with me.
She said it was kind o. suddent, but
want bad idee, and she'd think it
over. She was livin' with an aunt on
sheep ranch and was goin' there
then. If I'd wait spell she might
decide to double up, and if she did I'd
hear frNl her. When we come to the
cross roads we separated and l went
on and bought my hosses.
Comm back with a dozen hosses, l
brought some men with me, well
armed, for boss thieves was mighty
thick thereabouts, and | didn't know
what might happen. Sure enough,
when we got to the crossroads, lookin'
down the road we crossed, we saw a
lot O. men gallopin' toward us. But
we was too quick for 'em and reached
wood before they could git near us,
and in there we had the advantage
over 'em. for we could see 'em and
they couldn't see US. So we got our
bosses away.
The day arter got back Mary Sim
mons. the gal overhauled on the
road, come into the settlement and
when she found me said she'd been
thinkin' o. my proposition and was
favorably inclined to 1t, but it seemed
unnatural to make up with a man on
such a small acquaintance, and she
list thort that If she could get some
sort of. a job in the settlement for
awhile SOS we could do some courtin'
it would be all right. tole her the
only thing l knowed there was plenty
of washin'. and she said she was a
good washer and ironer. So l got
board for her at Mrs. Finnegan's, she
payin' her own board and keepin' in
dependent.
There had been so much boss stealin'
goin' on that we concluded to keep all
the hosses in the settlement in one
barn when not usin' 'em, and we
wouldn't keep 'em in any one barn
two nights runnin'. We thort that in
that way we'd keep the thieves from
findin' jist where the hosses was and
they wouldn't know where to go to
get 'em. But one night they run in
on us and made straight for the barn
where the hosses was. There hap
pened to be only six hosses in the set
tlement that night but the thieves got
'em all.
There wasn't no more hosses tooken
for ten days, and then we lost anoth-
er lot, the thieves goin', as before, to
, the barn they was In. We knowed
that they knowed where the hosses
was, cause none O. the men near any
of the other hosses seen or heered any
thing Of 'em. How they'd come to
find out where we KEEP the stock no
body could imagine. There wasn't no
body In the settlement but owned
some stock themselves. and they
wasn't likely to give Information to
rustlers about 'em.
l, bein' some'at In the boss tradin
line and havin' lost some hosses, al
lowed I'd go and get some more.
seen Mary the night afore l went and
, got her to promise that when l got
back she'd marry me. So ! went
: away feeln' better'n I'd felt for a LONG
: while.
Waal, l bought my hosses and start
ed back alone with 'em, cause
couldn't get no one to come with me
I allowed I'd sleep in the stable with
em till the stealin' was over and get
bead on one on 'em. When got
near the crossroads I sor a woman
there, and when / come near her who
should 1t be but my promised bride
didn't have time to ask her what
she was doin' there when some mer
rode up from different places, ant
Mary said to me, motionin' to one OF
'em:
"Allow me to introduce my hus
band"