The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1915-01-28
Good Morning"
And Sweetheart :
b. SAMUEL E. a

mingle with one another socially.
| was getting old-that is, what /
thought was old in those days. 1 was
thirty-four. and / didn't like the pros
pect before me. I'm a domestic man,
and home is the only place for me
when I'm not busy. l used to envy
every snug cot l passed on my line,
and my heart sank that couldn't have
one OF my own l had the money saved
up. but IL l got the house had no
woman to put into it and what's a
house without a woman7 And, what's
more, there's no use in a mans trying
to make a home without a wife.
There was one place beside the road
that / thought If | got a wife | would
like to buy and fix it up to live In. 1t
wasn't far from my starting point, and
between runs l could spend my time
there In comfort Ever since l had
gone on to the route 1t had been shut
up. 1t was a two story cottage with a
big porch. thought how nice it would
be TO sit on the porch In summer and
smoke my pipe while my wife was
cleaning away things after getting sup
per.
But one morning when I passed the
house saw that my dream had been
spoiled. Some n had taken my pro-
spective home away from me. At any
rate. a a was repairing ii, another
was painting 1t, and a third was mend
ing the fence. A few days later when
| went by saw an old lady sitting on
the porch.
One Sunday l saw a young woman
fixing up the grounds. l concluded
that she was the old lady's daughter
and was at work in q store or an of.
fee. leaving Sunday her only day free
for working about the house. When
July came on she used to work about
the place Saturday afternoons, but
when September came she stopped
this. l didn't see any man about the
place and concluded the young woman
was a spinster.
One day during the winter she was
starting out from the house just as
was drawing near it didn't give her
time to cross the track. for ! wished
to see her close by. When / reached
her she was waiting for my train to
pass. and l looked right down on her
from the cab window. It happened
that she looked up and saw an e K
preston of admiration on my face. 1t
was only a passing glimpse for either
OF US, but 1t was enough
After that 1 saw the young woman
quite often when / passed / noticed
-that on, my outward run on Sunday.
when I passed her house about II
o'clock, she was always on the porch
with the old lady or working In the
garden. But this was when the wealth
er was warm. And | could see that
she knew my train. and l fancied she
was looking out for me.
When spring came on ! noticed her
out making a flower garden. When
she had got the ground in order she
put in some seed In March the plants
began to come up. and it looked to me
And so they did. They were tulips
and spelled Good morning"
Now. there was no reason to sup
pose these words were intended for
me any more than any mi else. but
somehow | couldn't get it out of my
head that they were. At any rate. l
just thought I'd risk making some
sort of reply. There was an embank-
ment not far from the house and in
plain sight from it. One night I went
out with some seeds and. making a bed
on the side of this embankment plant
ed them. In q couple of weeks they
were up and spelled Sweetheart"
| took my train u m Sunday
morning about the time my letter
flowers got big enough to be read from
the house. The girl was on the porch
and as ! passed threw me a kiss and
ran into the house.
This was all the flower counting
there was, for 1t vas too slow. At
any rate, it was too slow for me. l
didn't want any more encouragement.
The first spare time 1 had ! got my
self up in a clean boiled shirt and a
decent suit of clothes and went to the
house to get welcomed or snubbed. as
the case might be, for there are girls
who will be up to a lot of skylarktng
that won't stand to be approached ex-
cept In the regular way.
The only weapon l took with me to
make a fight with vas a posy. !
knew she was fond OF flowers. and i
relied on this considerably.
l went to the door and knocked. 1t
was opened by the girl herself, and
when she saw me she sort OF shrieked
and was going to shut it when | held
my posy under her nose.
That did the business. She laughed
and blushed and invited me In.
The old lady was there. and the girl
introduced me to her. calling her moth
er. | began by saying a lot of nice
things to the old lady. telling her
what a coy place she had and how Of
ten | had admired 1t.
Well, there isn't much more to tell.
The rest of the courtship was very
rp,,1h IL