The Topeka state journal., 1914-02-03
The Eue1ling Story
An Uncomplaining Husband.
(By Don La GranHe.)

ter and had arrived at the age Of
"a when he decided to marry.
Moses was known to be eaSygoing.
He never kicked, nor complained. and
he never refused to do q favor for any
one. no matter how much 1t tncon-
venienced him. The girls said OF him:
why, he'd never even take his wife
out to sit on the fence and see the cir
Gus parade!"
And the married women said Of him:
There is q man his wife will never
have to yell at to get him to bring a
pail Of water"
Moses was slow and easy about his
counting. He had read in a newspaper
that girls didn't approve Of sudden
declarations OF love. but wanted to
hover around on the edge Of suspense
and romance for a long, long time. In
the same paper he had read that a girl
in Ohio who had weak heart had been
killed almost instantly by a sudden Of
fer of marriage.
The name Of the girl who had attract
ed the carpenters attention was Mar
garet Deacon. She was away from
home and working as a hired girl. She
was also rather slow, which means that
while other girls were going to dances
she sat in her room and mended her
dresses or darned her stockings.
There was some little romance about
Margaret. but not much. Romance had
been killed out when she had to leave
| lOAN0 aI dII carly A8O anu ~ u WVIA
for other people. Dishwashing and the
washtub are not encouragers OF that
sentiment She regarded Noses as q
good young man, but had no feeling be-
yond that.
At the end Of seven or eight months
Moses was ready to propose. He had
made cautious inquiries about the sta
bility Of Margaret's heart, and while
she had assured him that 1t had never
ceased for q moment to beat and had
@w~v~w DIr~kA> - -
the size OF the Monday wash. he took
no chances. He was all Of half an hour
getting around to say:
We'll. Maggie, I bought that Smith
place today
"Uh-hu?' she carelessly replied.
tomorrow
"Yes?'
Pm going to make . nice house
Of it,
"U-m-m-m!"
"And then I'm going to get married"
Two long minutes of silence, during
which Moses held his breath, and then
he continued:
eff anybody will have me-
There was the proposal. and Magg1e's
heart did not skip a single beat. She
may have blushed, but IL 50 she sat in
the shadow and he did not detect it.
In truth. she had expected q proposal
sooner or later, but had finished her
weekly ironing on time just the same.
Her mind had not been made up until
that day when she had received q letter
from her father calling her an ungrate-
full daughter. A matter 0f conscience
held her silent again for q spell, and
then che said:
II don't love you, Moses.''
But you kinder like me. don't your
IT guess i do"
Then We'll git married.
And six weeks later they were mar
ried and went to housekeeping.
They had not got fairly settled yet
He was a middle aged man who had
had lame back for twenty-nine years.
He had generously permitted his wife
and Maggie to support him.
Hello, my boy he greeted his SON.
in-law. when Maggie wrote me that
she had married the best man in Hick-
ory county I says to myself, says I:
"Good for her and good for him.
He'll need his father-in-law there to
advise him. and I'll go right along down
| and make my home with them. I'm
sure he will give me the glad hand"
Moses gave it to him. He couldn't
do anything else after his wife. had
added:
the garden, you see. and he IL very
handy with tools"
He never worked for q moment in
| the gardens-he never sawed a stick
| of wood. and the only tools he was
handy with were a knife and fork.
| The father-in-lAw had been there
for about six weeks and had taken on
| ten pounds Of fat, when Moses wife
met him at the gtae one evening as
he came from work.
''Oh. the incest thing In the world
has happened!" she said.
what t?''
my sister Sarah has come to help
me do the work and be company. I
told her you'd be awful glad"
| Moses had to be. Sarah didn't SO
much as wash a dish. ana she had to
have q new dress and a pair of shoes
right away. Some men would have
kicked. but there wasn't whimper
out Of Moses. He didn't ask how many
more there were to come, though he
may have secretly hoped that the
number would fall below q d0xen-
| The next one to appear was brother
William. He was young man Of 20.
He had been born fraiL and under
the doctors orders he WINS limited to
thirty games Of pool and twenty-five
cigarettes q day.
! sPoor Willie hasn't a penny to his
name!" whispered the wife, ''and you
will have to lend him five dollars or
he'll be dreadfully Inundated. told
him you'd be glad to"
Moses wasn't glad to, not by q long
shot. but he went out and borrowed
the money and handed 1t over. It was
never repaid, or any of subsequent
nnnunn aalred for and handed 0V0r Tha