The Jasper weekly courier., 1918-01-18
Frsfdeuce 0nd
Zobed. -
Hy NJ. QUAD. ,
L, 1928. by T. c. McClurel


Prudence Smith and Zabed Winters
met at spelling school and were i'm
pressed with each, ,othsE zabsd would
have married hertz the Widow Pen
rose hadn't mixedsip. She wanted the
young man~for khxsSaf. and IN awe
some whizpers AAearparted the ,infor-
nation that sFs6ferfce Smith was
knockknesd and would <nsver Be able
to stand at , washtub or.run mp and
down the cellar stairs. The yoGne man
vas at once impressed he ceased to
upsrk Pru1ence On Sunday nights and
assure har tnat he lonsed % Jump
ever precfpiees for her eake and Of
course she resenAed 4 She west about
wtt6.hss chin In the an md aaked fer
no~sxpaanations, and 90 reas0ans weas
strained for many long monsAA Thsa
Zabed's mother found. out wantAS~az
the matter WITH him and sst hin
right. The wloX had tsd. zabed
made rs up Win tne girl Tn dovea
came bsek again and turted. q new
date was set for the marriage. asd
Farmer Smith reached,out his horny
hand for a shake aud said;
"zabed, gpl ,lurn your buttons. you're
gittin' the real thing, and you ortel
be the happiest man IN weodchucs
county"
Zabsd was for about two Keeks
Then Deacon Gray. who was q widow
er and wanted Prudence Tor his pecont
wife, gave Up some infermatlDnia iabCn'
zabed When he had sworn her to the
most awful secrecy he confessed tha'
the young man had live frog IN hti
stomach and would probably 20 mad
within two years and cut the. throat q
his wife IL he had one. The frog bad
Jumped down Zabeds throat one da1
when be was drinking from the h0o'
pond. and, though thouSands Of In
ducements had been held out to him
nothing could prevail upon him t.
Jump out.
Well. where Is the young girl. d
matter how her heart tunks With love
who IS going TO marry a young mar
with a live and growing frog in BIZ
stomach? She can't be found. Sh
wasn't found ia this case. Prudence
Smith cooled off on Zabed Winters
and he went about with his chin II
the air and was too proud TO ask TO
an explanations. It was year befor
one cane Then a lightning rod NAL
stayed ~ ern.sht at Smiths, and ate
supper he got to taking about frogs
Seeing he was posted On tho subte1
Prudence made bold to ask him IL h
had ever heard OF frog taktng up in
!, side qparters, and he answered tina
\ such q thing vas absolutely impessi
BILE sCd beyond belief. Zabed WhteP
had probably swallowed a sqsall fa
and the fsh might be growing. but
I beft alone he could in, tture ke nshe'
sCr and caught That settle4tthe fro
question, and Zabed was MvfteA t
come around and make up.1He got
hustle on him, and the turtiedoye
sang soft and low. new date was ar
pointed, and Farmer Smith stoppe
chopping wood long enough to extern
a hand and say:
"Zabed, you god burned idioS Coz
, you know when you've got = goo
thing? Don't fool around any more"
Zabed didn't want to, but before
, had been decided which ministe
should marry them old Mrs. Snyde
struck his trail She was too old t
marry, but not too old to utter warn
ing for the benefit OF young ma
who had put In q day hoeing her gal
den and refused 10 take pay for Il
} She told him right straight out tha
Prudence Smith snored like q stear
, engine, that she had six toes on he
right foot and only kur on her lef
that she had had ST vitus' dance whe
q baby and that IL WAS sure to com
back on her some day. II might not b
year after marriage that Zabe
, would come up from the cornfiei
, some afternoon and find her dancin
all around the eooryard and kicking q
high as q fence. That settled Zabet
He wanted Prudence, but be didn'
want danting dsCvish More cXl<
1 ness. more strained relations. 1t wSs.
full year before old Mrs. Snyder VA
pfoved a liar, aad' It took three month
: loag.r 10 make up sHd set aaothe
1 date. Things had re smoothly
withIn a fortnight OF the date when
: tin peddler came along and bought
sheepskin OF Zabed and then told hiI
> that. Prudence Smith was deaf In th
right ear. nearsighted In both eyes an
J would be tongue tied before abe wa
two years older. Zabed hadn't notice
the deafness or blindness but he b,
3 lieved In tin peddiers and at once gre
r frtgid. Result. another year lost
Fate was still i4the game. howeve
and when every body. including Il
: two PRINCIPALS. had made up tbs
minds that there would be 10 msrriag
f, she came foafng around TO 40 hs
!, 0Bty. Farmer Smith and his daaZats
, were IN the village one day huytn
e1ftco and brown sugar when xAbs
WINTERS appeared. lie had eggs - 8
fsr hickoV shirting The lcsers vS1
brought face TO face. but thy nan
speak. They thought % frogs and 8
vffus' dance and str toed feet an
were turning away when Fathe
Smith reached out one. hand for b,
@ho g. r.