The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1919-02-22
"Acting Up"
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B- LINCOLN ROTHBLUM

Copyright, 1915, by Mcclure Newspaper


tucling the corner in at the belt, rest
cd her arms on the fence railing.
, II was summer time in the outlying
farm districts of the town OF Carroll-
ton and the air was redolent with tle
green odor of alfalfa. Mirandy dis-
tended her nOstrils to get the dlffuSlhs
fragrance. On the crest of the mn,
topping the road which led past the
house, appeared a none too strong
horse. 1t dragged with tagging feet
rig of doubtful origin. 1t would nave
been difficult to tell the occupation OF
the driver who sat beneath the ragged
and sagging top if not for the sack
which lay at his feet labeled in letters
of warning size, ~. S. Mail" AS the
outfit started down grade the man
raised his crushed hat and made an
effort to brush the outstanding hairs
into place. A ribbon" tie was next
adjusted and to its already numerous
stains were added few more from
the dusty hands. When these offices
had been performed, he shifted the
reins from his right to left hand ana
waved in recognition of Mirandy's
nuttering handkerchief.
"Mornin. Mandy" was his greeting,
as he drew up before the gate.
"Mornin, Seth. Any mail for me|
"Nothin', 'cept the county newspa-
per. How's y'r grandpaw?
Poorly, poorly, Seth. The doc says
49, 1,S.t
"Then We'll get married, Mandy, and
no putin it off again. Eh?"
Mrandy blushed as if this were the
first time the subject had been
preached to her. La, Seth, how you
do talk" was the firtatious response;
but it just seems like Wen never get
there. First it was grandmaw VINO
kept us from getting married, what
with being so sick and cantankerous,
and then you lost y'r job-and OF
course we couldn't get married til you
was appointed this route, and now 1t
be my grandpaw sick and ailln' ana
eatin up the revenue"
Seth spat out generous quid or to-
bacco and after replacing it with
fresh supply, shook his head resigned
". "Well, I'll be round tomorrow,
Mandy-so long,"
$50 long Seth. I'll be expectin'
you"
And Mrandy's workwOrn figure
dropped as her eyes followed the de-
parting buggy. Sentenced to the hard.
manual drudgery of badly managed
farm before securing even such ele-
mental education as the village Of
fered: saddled with aged grandpar-
ents who fought off every innovation
which might have lightened her Ia
bors, and forced by eternally present
financial straits to fOrego any pleasure
which involved the expenditure OF
money, Mirandy's youth had slipped
away almost without her knowledge,
until she found herself well on the
road to forty with vapid complexion
and tOil-hardened hands as her only
assets.
But in this sacrificing and unher-
aided martyrdom, to which she had
given herself with neither complaint
nor hope for reward. there were two
pinnacles of JOY. One was Seth, TO
whose everlasting credit must be sald
that none of the obstacles which had
delayed his wedding to Mirandy had
lessened his fidelity.
Mirandy crept into bed, where des-
pite the straw tick she soon fell asleep.
She arose unrested. The morning sun,
scarcely awake, suggested announcer
round of toilsome tasks. Perhaps
every morning it was the thought or
Seth which hasteppd the always RAPID
dressing and the chores were well
completed as she retreated to her bed
room to fuss up" before waiting ut
the fence.
But this morning Seth was destined
to wait himself into Impotence, for
no aproned figure leaned against the
gate as he drew up. So he walked to
meet her.
"Mornin', Mandy"
.Mornin', Seth. Any mail for me?"
"Nothin' 'cept the county newspa-
Der. But i got iettcI, Ill SScih as
you might as well get used to openln
nv mail now, brought it to you
Mirandy smiled at the subtle COM
pIiment in q style Seth dubbed ''prit-
ty."
"Why, it's from the government
M:randy exclaimed as she took the
envelope with it's franking privilege
stamp. Anything official frightened
her, but perhaps it was woman's in
tuitive premontion which foretold the
bad news her face so patiently reflect
ed. st says. eth" she muttered, ut
says you got - get-you got to get an
auto if you want to keep y'r job"
And so to meet the governments
changes for efficiency went Seth's en-
tire savings. And though the new syS-
TEN augmented his salary, he soon
found that the price of gasoline ran
higher than that of oats.
It was again summer in Carrolton.
Mirandy was very happy this morning,
for had not the wedding date been set
lust six months off? Six months is a
very short time when one has been
waiting nigh on twenty years.