Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-03-06
...An...
"
EXperlment
BY DONALD cHAMBERLIN

Wnen | STARTED Tor NUN l met marina
Hodges.
"Bvenin. Mr.. Rogers" she said.
"On your way home. ! reckon. Ii
must be mighty pleasant to have such
a nice home as yours to go to after
a hard days work"
1T used to be 'slong as mother and
Anna lived. but now it's kind a lone
some. Besides. when a feller's tired
out he don't want to cook his supper
and wash dishes"
why don't you git married? Then
you'd have some n to do your cook
In for you and wash the dishes and
take keer o. the house"
.sWaal," | said. kind q thinkin' out
loud, II don't know but that's a good
idee. Bnt 1t amt so simple as would
appear. Furst off. a feller's got to
End the gal he wants. and to make II
a go she's got to want him. Then.
s'posin' It Is a go. It's easy and cheap
enough to git married: yon kin git a
parson to do the job for whatever you
like to pay. Now. | can't hitch two
| CTlLb6TS lOEtIutI anu AIC[l Clb "
travel easy. Furst off. n OF 'em II
plunge for'ard. and t'other II hang
back. Then one on 'em II balk when
the other is sot down to a stiddy gait.
That's the way 1t Is when two pms
sons begin to travel the matrimonial
road together. And. s'posin that in
stend of gettin' used to the same kind
- nafv.f thnu nit t1c md xrI1rc uhQf
you goin' to do them"
'Oh. Mr.. Rogers says Martha.
you're a pessimist. and the wust kind
of a one"
II don't know what that is. but !
do know that gittin' married Is like
buyin' a pig In a poke. You kin see
the gal plain enough on the outside.
but you don't know what she is on
the inside She may be white as
snow on the surface. and not two
inches down she may be a smolderin
fire. ready to burst out at any mo
ment."
"I'n tell you what I'll do with you.
Reckon yon don't want me. and I'm
not hankerin' to git married. You kin
experiment on me If you like, and If
you don't find ont at the end O six
months that I'm what you took me
for in the beginnin' I'll agree with you
that winner Is mighty deceptive"
well, now. that's accommodating, |
declare | says to her. when shall |
begin?"
whenever you like
"Ill tonight. when I've
had supper and got the dishes washed"
you needn't mind about the dishes.
Jest you let 'em alone tonight To
morrer when you're out to work I'll go
in and tidy mp for you and do your
dishes. Where'll | find the door keyY'
"Hangin' under the porch. left side
near the front"
Shed started on. and | didn't say no
more. | went on hum. got my sup
per and tux Martha at her word. leav-
In the dishes In the pan. About &
O'Clock | went over to her house and
found that she'd done her evenin
chores and was a-sittin' before a blaz-
in fire, darnin' ~stockin's. | thanked
her for the offer she'd made me and
told her when she'd convinced me
that wimmen was jest as amiable as
they looked I'd like for her to put
me onter a nice gal that | could ex-
pertinent on. with a view to marriage.
She said she would If she could hit on
the right gal.
l spent a couple of hours with Mar
tina. toppin' off with some cakes and
cider she brought out. The next day.
when | went home at noon, | found
ties shinin' like lookin' glasses and
everything spick and span. By
crackey. | hardly knowed the place.
That was Saturday. and l thort !
oughter go over the same evenin' and
thank Martha. | did so. and she
said that for a few weeks she'd clean
cp for me every Saturday.
After that every Saturday mornin'
Martha put everything to rights. and
| dropped In to thank her Saturday
evenin'. She said she'd do 1t for q
few weeks. but the few weeks growed
into a few months.
Meanwhile / was a-watchin' her to
see II she was good all the way
through or only vanished. At last /
told her that | was well satisfied with
the experiment and l didn't think
wimmen was so onsartin' after all. I'd
been so encouraged by her goodness
that l concluded to git married. She
looked very much pleased after this
and asked me who ! was goln' to
marry. | hadn't any one in view; but.
thinkln' | oughter name somebody. in
asmuch as | said | was goin' to git
married, | said the gal was Matilda
Blake.
"You jist oughter seen the change in
Martha. Her face got red. and her
avas fairly snit fro