Cut Bank pioneer press. [volume] (Cut Bank, Mont.) 1909-current, 1915-04-02
CHAPTER nl--contlnued.

Now the Amazonian Mrs. Holman, q
widow for the third time, made sturdy
retort:
That's jest like yew old maids-al-
ways a-blamin' the men. Yew kin jest
bet l never would have let one Of my
husbands go ter the poorhouse. 1t
would have mortified me dretful. It
must be a purity poor sort of a woman
what can't take the care Of one man
and keep a roof over his head. Why,
my second, Oliver G., used ter say
"Oh!" Miss Ellie wrung her hands,
cant we do somethin'?"
Il could do a-plenty," mourned Miss
Abigail, "ef / only had been savin'.
Here l git a salary o. four dollars a
month. an not M penny laid away"
"Yew fergit," spoke some one gently,
that 1t takes considerable ter dress a
matron proper"
Aunt Nancy, who had been s~neezing
~furiously at her own impotence, now
found her speech again.
We're a nice set ter talk erbout
dewin' somethin'-a passed. O. poor ole
critters like us!" Her cackle of en-
Filtered laughter was interrupted by
the low, cultivated voice of the belle
Of the home, Butterfly Blossy."
We've got to do something" said
Blossy firmly.
When Blossy spoke with such de-
cision every n of the sisters pricked
up her ears. Blossy might be "a shall
ler-pate;" she might arrange the
golden-white hair of her head as be-
fitted the browning glory of a young
girl, with puffs and rolls and little
curls, and-more than one sister sus-
pected-with the aid of rats" she
might gown herself deliberately in the
mended finery of the long ago, the
better years; she might dress her
lovely big room-the only double bed
chamber In the house, for which she
had paid a double entrance fee-in all
sorts of gewgaws, little ornaments,
hand-painted plaques of her own pro
ducing, lace b~edspreads, embroidered
~splashers and pillow-shams; she might
wen permit herself a sutton who came
twice a veal punctually than the
hne-storms, to ask her withered little
hand In marriage-but her heart was
In the right place, and on occasion she
had proved herself a master hand at
-fx1n' things"
YES" said she, rising to her feet
and fiinging out her arms with an elo-
Quent gesture, we've got to do some
thing, and there's just one thing to do,
girls: take the captain right here
here"-she brought her hands to the
lacee on her bosom-"to our hearts,"
At first there was silence, with the
ladies staring blankly at Blossy and
then at n another. Had they heard
and EXPLANATIONS, with Miss Abigail's
voice gasping above the others:
What would the directors say?"
What do they always say when we
ask q favorf" demanded Blossy
@How much will it cost?' It won't
cost a cent"
Wont, eh?" snapped Aunt Nancy
How on earth be yew goin' to vittle
himf hain't had a second dish o
peas THIS year"
Some men eat more an some less
remarked Sarah Jane, as ill-favored 9
spinster as ever the sun shone on;
generally 1t means so much grub tel
so much weight"
Miss Abigail glanced up at the cell
ing. while Lazy Daisy, who had re
fused to tip the beam for ten years
surreptitiously hid an apple into which
she had been biting.
Les have 'em weighed" suggested
. widow. Ruby Lee, with a pretty
w~ell-preserved little face and figure
FAN ef tergether they don't come III
to the heartiest mi of US"
Miss Abigail made hasty Interrupt
ton:
Gals, hain't yew never noticed tina
the more yew need the more yew git
Before Jenny Bell went to live will
her darter / didn't know what / SHOULD
dew. for the Eaters was gitttn' pooty
low. Yew know she used ter ca
twenty ter a meal, an then look hun
cry at the platter. An then eff oil
Square Ely didn't come a-drivin' III
one mornin' with ten bushel in tn,
farm wagon! He'd been savin' 'en
fer us all winter fer fear we might rul
short In the spring. Gals, thar's one
thing yew kin depend ON, the fore
~sightedness Of the Lord. | hain't afrait
ter risk ~a-stretchin' the board an
Ssep O. thirty ter pervide ample fsi