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THE COURIER
WATKIN'S QUEST.
HE traveled east in a Pullman car, on a matrimonial quest,
a man of innocent, child-liko mind, from the primitive,
simple west. He camo straight out of a .mining camp,
where women are seldom seen, and bo. as a judge of woman kind,
you'll fancy him somewhat green. He said, in his vulgar, playful
way, "ho had hustled and made a pile, and now ho wanted to find a
wife, and put on a little style." A wife with a pretty face and form,
to decorate hearth and home, and a permanent decoration, too, that
never would wish to roam; who could sew and darn and sweep and
cook, and not be ashamed to scrub, and whose eyes would open in
shocked surprise at tho name of a Women's Club. For before ho
left his lonely camp, he'd been told by those who know, the kind of
a woman he ought to shun that our grandfathers called a "blue;"
and if on a charming woman's breast ho should over chance to see
the terrible "Federation' badge, ho must simply turn and flee.
"For there tho women are two to one," they said, "and they've
grown bo high, if a nnn would know their tricks and turns he has
got to be very spry." But Watkins thut was his name just
laughed, and "Dont you forget," said he. "that if tho women are
two or one, they're going to smile on mo!"' So on ho came like a
hero bold, in bis curious western rig, with his curling locks, and
his great felt hat and his beard and Bhoulders big; and tho girls
did smile, I'm bound to say, for novelty suits them well, besides,
he'd another attraction, one that never fails to tell, with silver and
gold, and bills as well, his pockets were stiflly lined, while those of
other youths bulged ont with bills of another kind. But, ah! as I
said, the ways and wiles of girls to him were new; and if made for a
conquering hero well, ho was made for a victim, too. And down
he went in a great limp heap, before the first sweet eyes that looked
at him over a feathery fan, in a wistful and rlirtful guise. Before he
could think of pros and cons, the pangs of love ho felt, and his
was one of a hundred scalps that dangled at Madge's belt. Pretty
she was, and foolish too, that nobody could deny, and thero wasn't a
trace of blue in her, but the blue of her laughing eye. Men she held
at the turn of her hand to blind; to elude, to snub; and he couldn't
connect the thought of her with the thought of a Woman's Club.
But Joo was a man of cautious mind; his head he had not quite lost;
and so it chanced one day his ardor was turned to frost. He saw in
the lace that nestled round tho pretty white neck of Madge a silver
object of strange device; it was, without doubt, a badge, the badge
of a club, a flattened sphere. He didn't know what it meant, but
woman's growing sphere ho felt 'twas intended to represent. So he
just dropped off to think a while, his heatl was in Buch a whirl, and
he called on her cousin Matilda Brown, different Bort of a girl,
She was older, but fairly good looking, too, not to be won in a day.
But Watkins was much to her liking so manly, so big, and all that,
with his breezy laugh and his Buffalo Bill-like hat. And so, being
only a babe, you see, though somewhat largely planned, he wilted
before Matilda's charm saying, "here was a girl with sand!" Sand
she had, and of feminine traits a marvelous list as well; and she'd
learned to cook and sew and sweep as soon as she'd learned to spell.
So all went on like a pleasant dream, till he thought, "Ah, here's the
rub! Suppose, (for I never asked her) she belongs to a Women's
Club!" That very night he went to call, and asked with an artless,
air, If man's prerogative club and vote she ever yearned to share.
''And what do you think of all these things. I'd like to know?" said
he. "Why, of course," she said, "I want to vote. And clubs? I be
long to three!"
Now never a word Joe Watkins said, so strong was his self control,
but he walked away from her house that night with bitterness in
his soul. And so badly he wanted comfort, that in spite of the little
badge, before a week had passed away, he was flirting again with
Madge. Cne day as they sat together, ho saw again on her breast
that sphere of strange device perhaps 'twas the family crest!
"What badge do you wear?" he asked her, her eyes showed such a
gleam, "Oh, that," she said, "is a football, its the badge of the college
team. I lova strong men! I'm dying to seo Corbett fight, you
know, but when only two are sparring, why, 'tisn't proper for girls
to go, but when twenty-two are at it hard, then it isn't quite the
same, and somebody's sure to be badly hurt, its a perfectly lovely
game, and I often wear this little badge because it belongs to Harry:
and when he graduates, I expect he expect we expect to
marry." That was Madge's revenge, you see, wasn't it neat? And
off went poor old Joe again, to fall at Matilda's feet, for after all if
a girl looks well, and cooks and sews and scrubs, she is good enough
for east or west in spite of women's clubs.
Now Tillio was dowered with common sense and her training had
taught her this, that though a man is a right good thing, ho doesn't
make all earth's bliss, and if he knew his mind no more than to drift
from Madge to Till, and from Till to Madge and back again, ho was
rather too weak of will; he thought too much of his own sweet self,
and needed a good take down; and if any girl were to sigh for him,
it wasn't Matilda Brown. So when at her feet she had him twas
easy to bring him low she brought him up to his feet again with
a good strong bracing "NoT Ho traveled back in a Pullman car,
on his matrimonial quest, resolved to dwell where girls were few in
his wild familiar west; he said ho wouldn't go east again, for ho
couldn't stand the weather; and ho felt that tho end-of-the-century
girl was too much for him altogether, for some were the wickedest
little flirts, just lying in wait to snub; and when you found an all
round prize, she belonged to a horrid club.
Marion C. Smith.
THE OLD HOUSE.
Cold and cheerless, baro and bleak,
Tho old house fronts the shabby street;
And the dull windows eastward gaze,
As their cobwebbed brows they raise,
Just as though they looked to seo
What had become of you and me,
And all tho other children.
The garden at tho side you Itnow
Where mother's flowers used to grow,
Has run as wild as we'd have grown
If we had not her training known.
The vines she bent still twine each tree,
As cling her prayers to ybu and me,
And all the other children.
Over tho eaves, wrinkled and bare,
Tho gray moss floats like tangled hair,
If we had heard these echoes flung
Down the long halls when we were young,
We'd have scurried off to bed
You and 1 through the gloom o'erhead,
With all the other children.
On our wide orbs the eyes of night
Gazed softly with mesmeric light;
When mother bent above our bed;
The silver moonlight touched her head,
And in my dreams her faco I'd see,
Madonna-like, shine over mo
Shine over all tho children.
The dust drifts o'er the garret floor,
Tho little feet tread thero no more;
But o'er the stage still standing there,
The muse first stalked with tragic air,
And whispered low to you and me
Of golden days that were to be
For us and all the children.
Good-bye, old house! Thy tattered cloak
Is fringed with moss and gray wif h smoke,
Within thy walls we used to see
A gaunt old work named Poverty;
Yet from thy rafters' dingy bars
A ladder stretched up to tho stars
For us and all the children.
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Don't Delay.
It is your duty to yourself to get rid of tho foul accumnmlation in
your blood this spring. Hood's Sarsaparilla is just tho medicine
you need to purify, vitalize and enrich your blood. That tired feel
ing which affects nearly every one in tho spring is driven off by
Hood's Sarsaparilla, the great spring medicine and blood purifier.
When the ice man comes be sure the name LINCOLN ICE CO. is
on the wagon, they have no pond ice. 10J0, 0 Street.
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