The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-10-21
The ROMANCE OF
FARMER DALE
Lost Faith In Womankind and
Then Regained 1t.

prised to see no woman about, all the
work being done by the owner of the
place, Ezra Dale. After supper i light
ed a pipe and sat on the porch smok-
Ing. Dale came and sat beside me.
you have finished your evening
chores early" I said. when my wife
is without a servant she never gets the
dishes washed before 8 o'clock.
""Waal, you see, I don't do it that
AWAY. I wash dishes oncet a week."
Don't you think a wife would be
handy? She could do your mending."
Don't need no wife. / got needles
an thread an buttons" :
where's your thimble?' I asked.
"Don't need no thimble."
"Did you have a love AFFAIR.""
Eyes, oncet. 1t was when I was q
young feller-very young an very
green. I used ter look on a gal as a
heather would look on a sacred image.
There was a little n Twin across the
creek, Farmer Owens daughter Daisy.
Purity? Ye bet, an gentle as a kitten.
She TUX a shine to me. I was a fair
lookin' young Teller then, straight an
slim an light on my feet. One evonin'
I was a-passin' Farmer Owens, an
Daisy come runnin' out with her finger
a-bleedin' an asked me to tie it up fur
her. / had ter git her arm under mine
somehow an hold on ter her hand an
wrap the linen strip an wind the
string an a lot Of things all at the
same time. While I was a-doin' of it
her hair got ag'in my cheek, an'-waal,
I lost my head an, %turnin', put an arm
around her an kissed her.
"Do ye know, stranger, I've since
made up my mind she done 1t all a-pur-
pose. I b'lieve she cut her finger on
~tentionally. I tell ye, women folks is
tricky"
IT think that was a very nice fem
mime way of catching your attention."
I remarked. go on"
That's jist what I did do. I went
IN from day ter day, week ter week,
till it seemed ter me IL anything hap
pened between me an that gal I'd col
lapse. Somethin' did happen. Farmer
Owens TUX a farm ham fur the haytn',
an what did Daisy do but take /
out in her buggy that her father be
fur her at Christmas an drive !:
by that house a-purpose ter show
Off ter me. I tell ye, stranger, q
had the wickedest eye In her ye . e
see."
Another feminine trait" I observed.
Miss Daisy was evidently a woman"
"She was a woman, stranger, an the
worst kind Of a one," Dale went On
lugubriously. "She broke me all up. I
jist rented this farm an went away.
I didn't come back fur ten years. Then
I made up my mind that women folks
wasn't rwuth worryin' about, an I TUX
my farm ag'in an began ter work 1t.
The fust time I went by Farmer
Owens Daisy come out-she had
grown ter be a fine lookin' young wo-
man Of twenty-six-an' what do ye
suppose she did," .
"I can't imagine"
ASKED me IL I wouldn't tie up a cut
finger. She had the same wicked look
in her eye she had when she drove that
lopsided farm ham by my house ten
years afore. Women is the persistent
est critters I ever see. 7 jist squared
off an said: 'Ye don't git me that
away ag'in. Ye done it oncet. an
that's enough But. do We know, stran-
ger, she was so slick about it that in
five minutes I b 1 my arm about her
an she was a-restin' her head on my
shoulder. She was a-cryin', too-cryin'
crockerdile tears, no doubt.
"Waal, we was engaged, but 1t didn't
las long. The question come up as
ter whether we'd DO married by a JUS
tice or a parson. 1 don't like parsons
myself, an l wanted a justice. Daisy
wanted a parson, an she was SO blame
set about it that | reckoned if she was
as obstinate about O small matter like
that she'd be wanten' ter run the farm.
so I called the thing off, an I've been
Twin alone here ever since"
"Mr. Dale" l said. you have mis-
taken natural feminine traits for gen.
eral cussedness."
That's what they is, / tell ye. stran-
ger. Ye don't understand"
LOW NOSAhAAOu ~ SAVV NP eAdS
which to a woman is a great deal.
while to you 1t Is nothing. Miss Owens
was right to insist on being married
by a parson, and you were ungenerous
to refuse her. Now, let me give you a
bit Of advice. Miss Owens is still
single? Yes. Wall, go to her and tell
her that when you first met her you
were a laundering idiot and that later
you were an obstinate brute. Say that
If she will overlook your past errors
you will spen@ your life in doing
penance."
"Why. stranger, IL I was ter do that
I'd eve have any own way about
anything afterward."
1T lis the only way to have your
own way about everything with a wo-
man. Toss it all into her hands, and
she'll toss 1t right back to you. More
than that, she'll expect you to lead.
and IL you don't lead she'll not respect
you"
"Ye don't mean it! Say, stranger,
what sort Of a mabaup do We call that
anyway
The next summe / rode past Farm
err Dale's place. 1t was the trimmest
looking farm In the county. After
supper the farmer told me how much
better contented he was while Mrs.
Dale was washing the dishes.
plain Talk From Home.
'sI ought to be supremely happy" tho