The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1913-03-13
HAD PLENTY OF TIME
BY CHARLES PLEiNs.

Don't waste any pity on us for be-
Ing up here in the woods at this sea-
son of the year." wrote the girl to
/ her best friend in town, who had
been sympathizing with her by letter.
1--WE are having a perfect time, and
I'm beginning to find out what leisure
is-at least i should be finding out
If l weren't busy every minute. That
sounds contradictory, know, but the
truth is that / am reveling in the
kind OF leisure that gives me oceans
of time to do all the things that I've
always been wanting TO do.
Just fancy the delight of having
four solid hours of reading every
night and then being in bed at 1890!
You see, we have an early dinner and
the evening begins promptly at g.
and mother and sit with our needle
work in hand while Brother Will
reads us chapter after chapter. Don't
you wish you had a chance to get &C.
quainted with Little Nell, Colonel
Newcome and Maggie Tulliver again!
while mother is working on her
silk quilt in the mornings l take an
hour or two for magazines and mod.
ern novels and I've actually found
that have a taste for poetry.
You mustn't think, however, that
reading furnishes our only amuse-
ment, We have a great deal Of other
entertainment. The bird banquet
which we have set outside our dining
room window is a constant source of
interest. We haveNa piece of salt pork
tied to cedar bough and every morn.
ing as we eat our eggs and bacon
black and white woodpecker with a
dash of scarlet In his topknot comes
and pokes his beak into this brand
Of breakfast food, which appears just
to suit him. He is usually followed
by two bluejays that, not being adept
at pecking, content themselves with
the crumbs which mother keeps I'm.
der the cedar tree for them.
1--WE feed the squirrels also. They
fash back and forth in front of ouI
windows all day long, jumping from
roof to bough and scampering across
the snowy lawn with their tails high
in the air, like graceful red plumes
Brother Will declares that mother and
l are pauperiZing these little neigh.
bors of ours, but we insist that oul
donations will not interfere with their
self-reliance.
But the recreation that Brother
Will and i enjoy most is mothers
talk! Think Of it, in all the years
that I've been her daughter l never
realized until this autumn what &
brilliant talker mother is. Until now
we have always been too busy with
the everyday affairs of life to con
verse about anything more important
than clothes. housekeeping, entertain
ing, lists of guests and all the other
never ending details of existence. II
we hadn't stayed in the country this
autumn l might never have known
what a wealth of Renaissance and
anecdote is stored up in mothers
memory. She remembers the stirrins
days of the Civil war, she passed
through the great Chicago fire and
she pioneered in Alaska before the
gold rush. Brother Will and ! have
heard some thrilling stories these aft
ernoons when the snow or rain has
kept up close to the wood fire.
"You mustn't think of us as entirely
cut off from the outside world. Every
once in while we see some one from
the village. 1t was only night before
last that man went by with Ian.
tern. Brother Will and I had heat.
ed argument as to whether it was the
hired man from the nearest farmhouse
or the village clerk who is said to be
waiting on the farmers daughter
This morning Brother Will called
me from my book to look out of the
window to see how congested the traf.
fc was on the highway with the rural
free delivery mans cart and wagon
load of hogs, both in sight at once.
$50. you see. life is far from dull
Brother Will has just interrupted
my writing to tell me that his morn.
ing mail has decided him to move
into town early next week.
"Of course I've enjoyed every min.
ute of this long autumn here, but now
that I know I shall be back in the
midst of things SO soon I can hardly
wait. Why, haven't even decided on
winter suit yet, and as for hat,
or. dear! l suppose the shops are
crowded to distraction with Christmas
buyers, but / shall not mind that In
the least. shall enjoy mingling and
mixing with my kind.
THE country is all right, but
well, it seems a century since I've
been to the theater." Chicago Daily
News.