The ledger. [volume] (Gaffney City, S.C.) 1896-1907, July 29, 1897, Image 3
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THE LEDGER: GAFFNEY, S. C M JULY 29, 1897.
L
TO A “BROWN CRISP."
Blov Scroggins and Thro a Gontle-
inon fr.m Tucker’s MU’. *
Tlie IUu TiiOftliiK at OI«l Swoct Wnter—
Sotue "I'cpvi'Jit and Mauin'illuun’’
l»ovt* IiOttt*r»—The **(Sa>- un«I
t.crKeou* WlUdcr.”
Last Friday, Jiaturday and Sunday
they hud the reg'ar three days’meet in
dotvu at old Sweet
Water church, with
three or four scr-
nioats a day and din
ner on the grounds.
The general crops
htul been laid by,fo«l-
der want ripe, the
weather was sweltry
hot, and it was a
very good time of
year for a man about
my size and shape to take a few days
off and do nothin at all for certain. So
consequentially I lit out by times Sat
urday mornin and went down thereto
mix and mingle with them good people
end hear the (lospel “dispcnseilKvith,”
as old Mises Stundenmire use to put it.
There 'Was Swultowin in It.
The first ami mnliicst preaehtr ou the
grounds was the lte\erent Luther Han
dle, and it was plum surprisin. to me
the way he could quote the Scriptures
and hand down the word. You must
recollect that 1 wan right there in per
son at old Sweet Water church on the
very day and hour when Luther Handle
got his papers of entitlement to preach
the livin truth accordin to the faith
ami orders of the Old School Baptists.
They had what 1 reckon you mought
call a committee to put the questions
and then report bark if the candidate
was worthy and well qualified nml lit-
ten for the nomination. And if my
recollection ain’t dead wrong old Dea
con Ashcraft led oil’ w ith the queslionr,
and amongst other things he wanted
to know of Luther if he believed what
the Bible said about Daniel goin down
into tiie lion’s den and comiu out sound
and well and without a scratch.
“To be certainly of course, brethren,
I do believe that,” says Luther. “I be
lieve it most in generally because the
Bible says it was so, though 1 raley
don’t see how I could worry it down
if J had found it in any other book.”
Then, they wanted to know of Luther
if he. believed the Scriptures in regards
to them three fellows witl. such hard
and curious names, which went
through the fiery furnace when it was
heated seven times hotter than any use
for. And Luther he believed it because
he had read it in the Bible.
Next then they wanted to know his
honest opinions touchin Jonah and the
whale—Did he believe all the Good
Book said about that?
, “Yes, brethren,” says Luther, “I be
lieve that Jonah swallowed the whale.”
l Sonic members of the committee saw
' whore Luther had slipped a cog and put
the question to him oncst more ns if in
the hopes that he would see the break
and mend it himself. But still Luther
maintained that he was plum satisfied
from what the Scriptures said that
Jonah did raley swallow the whale.
“You mean to say. Brother Randle,
that you believe the whale swallowed
Jonah, for that is what the Scripture
says about it," put in Deacon Ashcroft.
"Of course, brethren. I believe any
thing the Bible says about Jonah and
the whale,” Luther went on. “I jest
only knowed there wasswallovvin some-
wheres in it.”
2s’ow after that about all I recollect
for certain is that the committee found
Luther Handle firm in the faith and
sound in the doctrine. Ami from that
day henccforwards he has stood forth
as a mighty povver for good in this
naughty old world here below.
The Reverent Luther Randle-is a full
half brother—by consanguinity or
otherwise—to Billy Randle—which you
recollect Billy is the youngster who
told the preacher down at Kbenezcr last
summer that he would ruther not be
bomed again for fears he mought be a
gal the next time.
••The Old Hen AVa» On.”
Eut when I got down there to the
Sweet Water meet in Saturday mornin
who else do you reckon 1 found—both
right in on the ground floor and bavin
some “felonious flush times,’’ to heat
Ahem tell it? Nobody but Kiev Scrog
gins and Andy Lucas. With me it want
in the least ways surprisin to catek
Andy Lucas down there, since the news
had went out broadcast that there
would be three sermonts a day and
dinner onitbe grounds. Wherceoinever
you iiod a few good jieople gathered
together to hear the Word, with din
ner on the grounds, you are more than
apt, to find Andy Lucas as one in their
midst, if not the lead dog of the pack.
But as to Blev Scroggins,'that would
be the last place in the created world
for him if it want for the fact that
the human race was horned and bred
unto sin and sufTerin mid devilment
from before the foundations. And so
when I flrrtt driv at old Sweet Water
church that day and found both Blev
and Andy there I knowed tremendius
well that the old hen was on. Next
to that I naturally wanted to find out
if I could what she was sett in cm. and
wihen she w-oukl hatch find come off.
"I have writ three letters, Hufe—
three of the gonebyest most fervent and
magnolious love letters you ever heard
tell of,” says Blev to me when we had
ambled off down 1o the spring to find
out if that water wotiltf bear a little
roixin.
*If you recollect. Rufe, when I waa
a candidate for high sheriff the aecont
and last time the delegate* from down
here in Tucker’s Mill Heat—which lleth
over agio Sweet Water church, you un
derstand—went back on me, even after
tne old cat had bnnebed her feet to
Jn^np my way. Well, the three maincst
men In that light, which cooked my
goose to a brown crisp, a* It were, waa
Buck Collins. Babe Peterson and old
Squire Leatberwood.
ar.i magnolias” love letter, tellin me to
meet her there and we would go to
church together. And in regards to the
little meisment between Blev Scrog
gins and the three gentlemen from
Tucker’s Mill—I didn’t have a blume
thing to do with that. From what I
have saw with my own linked eyesight
l couldn’t say for certain that anybody
went down to the spring branch cross
in Sunday evenin. But if you take and
add up two and two together, you arc
more than probable to git four for the
answer. And from all the signs and
outside uppearinents 1 have no earthly
doubts but what the widder, Dully
Mayfield, and Blev Scroggins, and also
Squire Leatberwood, and Buck Collins,
and Babe Peterson all went down to
the crossin, and got there about first
dusk sharp.
They had sung one old familious
hym, and the preacher had took his
text when Blev and Dolly Mayfield
come swushin through the side door
arm in arm, and took their seats right
up next to the umen corner. Dolly was
all over in a flutter, nnd lookin as pale
as a whitewashed horse rack on a moon
light night. Blev wore his best Sun
day clothes, a white neck tic, and a
smile as big as n crib door. When he
looked around and saw me his left eye
went shH slow and cautious like, and
he puckered his mouth to give a low,
soft whistle—come to his senses—
caught his (breath, and then looked
the preacher as meek and lowly and
contrite and humble as a white kitten
with the sore eyes.
Fifteen or 20 minutes had wore
off when one of Squire Leatherwood’s
boys come in, said something to old
Dr. Travis, and they went out together.
Blev looked at me, closed his left eye
and belt up one finger as much as to
fay:
"That’s one.”
Presently somebody come to a win
dow anti sent word to old Mises Peter
son—which you will recollect Babe is
her onlyest boy. The old lady caught
her breath rale quick nnd scrambled
out the door.
Blev Scroggins shet his left eye oncst
more and belt up two fingers—which
said to me as plain as United States
language could speak it:
“That’s two.”
The next minute two of the Collins
boys, both full brothers to Buck, lit out
through a window, and went off in a
lope towards the spring branch crossin.
Blev shet the same eye and belt up
three lingers—which seem to say to
me:
“That’s three, dadblame ’em, and
Rocky creek sends her doublebreasted
compliments to Tucker’s Mill."
Blev Scroggins maintains till yet that
the world ain’t square, and that three
of a kind will bent two pair.
The gay and gorgeous widder, Dolly
Mayfield, is still healthy and happy, still
single and still “supinely bciMit-iful to
behold.”
Buck Collins has got one missin eye,
whilst Babe Peter son has shedded seven
of his front teeth, and old Squire
Leatberwood has got one arm in a sling
—which all put together is a goodness
gracious plenty to make them remem
ber the time when they all three went
to meet Dolly Mayfield down at the
spring branch erossin on Sunday even
in at first dusk sharp in durin the three
days’ ineetin at old Sweet Water church.
ItVFT’S SANDERS
NEW ARMY TARGETS.
Old l!air»-E>-ea to Ulve Way to Fix-
arcs of Men.
When the trained marksmen of the
Transvaal routed the regular troops of
Great Britain at Majuba Hill by shoot
ing with such marvelous skill us to
pick off the redcoats like so many deer
on a hill, says the New York
Herald, a great outcry was heard in
British army circle* against the folly
of teaching a soldier to shoot by plac-
inghimself opposite a target and telling
him to place a bullet us near to the
bull’s-eye as possible.
The United Stales array officers have
just come to the same conclusion as
did the British after the disaster of
Majuba Hill. As a consequence of this
awakening, there will shortly be is
sued a set of targets to be used at the
various rifle ranges, that will revolu
tionize the old system of training sol
diers to become marksmen. Instead of
the bull’s-eye in the center of a square
target the object to be aimed at will
be a black mark representing, as near
ly us possible, the figure of a man as it
appears when he lies prone ou the
ground, rifle .presented, in the act of
taking aim.
A second target will show the figure
of a man taking aim while in u kneeling
position. The figure is ( mounted ou a
square background of white, and is
carefully drawn to measurements so
as to iM-esent a mark as nearly us jhis-
sible like that at which the soldier
would have to shoot were he fighting
for his life in actual conflict. This fig
ure will be used us a target at medium
distances, fsom 500 to 000 yards. n
Still another target represents the
full figure of a man standing nnd firing.
This is for long-distance practice, and
will enable a marksman to see exactly
the effect produced by his skill in firing.
Every shot that hits the figare would
kill or maim were the target u living
mark.
The largest target of all, and the one,
luPrefors, that will be used at extreme
range, is intended to represent the fig-
sire of a mounted man. This is more
particularly designed for carbine prac
tice by cavalrymen. The troopers will
lie taught to shoot at the target from
horseback as well ns ([ismounted, and,
os in the ease of the standing mail tar*
grt, will he instructed to aim at the
••enter of the masa, the idea being that
killing the horse of a cavalryman does
no less damage to the fighting effeetive-
n-ss of an enemy’s force than shooting
the rider.
A project for introduring moving tar
gets based on the same system as that
described above is being considered by
the military authorities.
ARP OX INFIDELS.
Ko
Roads What They Write
Now York Papers.
In
Ills Fenllnsrs Are Shocked, nnd
He To Ik* of the Mysteries
of Xntiire, nnd Says He
Is Sntlsded.
These modern agnostics, skeptics,
atheists and infidels are having a lively
time in the New York papers. The col
umns are open to them, and it keeps our | in
Christian and God-fearing people busy
in replying to their assaults upon the
Bible and Christianity. No two of
them seem to have the same faith or to
be fighting under the mine general,
but they are all engaged in storming the
citadel, some on one side and some on
another and with different weapons of
warfare. They are pull-downers in
stead of build-uppers. One set assaults
schoolhouse on top of the hill, but th»
Bores got well and no bones were brok
en. If the calf was in front the bruise
would be as bad, and it would make a
man’* pants bag at the calf instead of
the knee, and a woman’s calf when rid
ing a bike would look awful. About
that third eye in the back of the head,
it would very much interfere with our
sleeping position, and give no room for
a woman’s back hair, and utterly para
lyze her devotions in church. If we are
to have a third eye, the optical nerves
and muscles should be so arranged that
when the two in front are open the one
the rear should be shut, and vice
versa. But this third eye would, of
course necessitate a larger ceiebellum
to hold the machinery, end that would
give a man the big head. As to the
double-jointed elbow for scratching
purposes, I’ve no particular objections,
though on a pinch a man can do lihe
Sidney Smith’s pigs: He can rub up
against a post or the edge of a door
and get relief. As to that Manchausen
business of sunning and swimming and
I
MAYOR FOR ONE NIGHT.
the miracles, and seem to have a special
spite at Jonah and the whale. Another j flying, it is folly to discuss. Man has no
set denounces Jephtha for sacrificing | need of such powers, and if he hud four
i legs like a horse and tins like n fish £nd
1 wings like a bird he wouldn’t be a man,
but a sort of quadruplex amphibious
i acrolie, too smart for this wqfld an(J not
good enough for t ^
his daughter, and denounces God for
permitting it. They are equally indig
nant against David for having Josiah
slain, and against Samuel for ordering
Saul to slay the women and children
and cattle of the Amalekites. They de
clare that all these stories are fakes or,
if true, that God is a brute for allowing
such outrages.
Some believe in the New Testament,
but not in the old, while others sidicule
the miraculous conception of the Vir
gin Mary, and pronounce it a woman’s
trick to hide her shame. Some write
from a medical standpoint, and assert
that man is by no means a perfect crea
tion physically, but could be improved
on in many particulars—for instance,
the calf of the leg should have been in
front and there should have been one
eye in the back of the head, and the el
bow should hare had a back action, so
that a man could scratch his back and
a woman button her dress or fasten her
skirt more conveniently. They declare
that u perfect man should be built to
run like a horse, and swim like a fish,
and fly like a bird. Shakespeare, they
say, was only indulging in a little taffy
when he wrote "what a piece of work
is man. How ncfole in season; how in
finite in faculties; in form and moving;
how express and admirable; in action
bow like an angel; in apprehension Jiow
like a god!”
Some of these writers talk about sa
cred and divine things v\ith the most
shocking contempt and intimate that
nobody but cowards and lunatics be
lieve in them. They would make Vol
taire and Tom Payne ashamed of them
selves. Now, if a man has doubts about
the miracles or the divinity of Christ
and is really seeking after the truth
and expresses himself in language that
shows respect for the faith of his fel
low men, it is all right, but v.e are too
helpless to be vain or conceited. If I
knew where I came from, or where I
was going, or what would be my fu
ture state, or if I could prolong my
evistence or could foresee the calami
ties of life nnd prsvent them, I could
afford to strut around and play Sir
Oracle. Rut I feel my helplessness
more and more every day, and like a
child in trouble I want to go to my
father. Whether there Ik* a God or not,
all the good people I have ever known
or read about believed there is, cod it
Is disrespect to them to take His name
in vain. Addison, says that Sir Robert
Boyle, who was the greatest naturalist
that England ever produced, had the
most profound veneration for the Su
preme Being and never mentioned the
name of God without a pause—a vis
ible stop in his discourse. No well-bred
man is ever profane or speaks the
name of God irreverently. I cannot
understand how medical men who have
studied the anatomy of the human
body—this complex and wonderful ma
chine—should ever be skeptical about
God’s existence. If I knew how my
will, which is immaterial, controls my
muscles, which are material, make
me ex<end my hand or my foot or Hose
my eyes and open my mouth. I might
boast of a little knowledge; but ns it
is. the raising of my orni or Hie writ
ing with this pen is a greater miracle
than Jonah living three day’s in a
whale’s belly. Every seed that ger-
minntes end makes a flower is a miracle
to me. Sometimes I wonder if 1 had
a glass that would magnify a million
times could I see the embryo oak in a
little acorn; could I see the orange
tree in the seed of the fruit. All na
ture Is full of miraefas. Winding up
the canes in front my veranda are
madeira vines that climb one way and
hop vines that climb the other way
nnd jnsmlue vines Unit climb both wnys.
Every plant has its own laws, and
they nre unchangeable. Just so with
the hrnsts and birds ond insects, nnd
I almost envy them in their happy ig
norance of death nnd a future state.
Hundreds of katydids nre singing in
the grove while I write. The males
are making music for their ynmusbrU
mates. They will sing on and be happy,
fbr three months and die. The form
and structure of their little bodies lb
a miroele, for the utmost ingenuUy of
mnn could not make one. The two
little drums that every cicada carries
for sounding boards and the tiny frets
on their wing* that scrape each other
with inconceivable rapidity mnkcH a
musical note that can be heard half
a mile on a still and quiet night. And
then their sense of hearing is so won
derfully acute! For what child has
not tiptoed to the tree an 1 touched
it ever so gently and closed the or
chestra? I>r. Holmes call* the katy
dids “this testy little dogmatist.” for
they never tire of saying “katy did”
and “katy didn’t."
But about this improved mnn and
woman that theae ftkqptics would make
if they could. Sometimes a man doca
fall over a wheelbarrow In the night
and bruise bis shins, and I remember
well how many hard licks we boys got
when we played rbinny at the old
Moody Stands by Jonah.
Moody is no half-way believer in the
Bible and he stands by Jonah. In his
address at Northlield the other day he
said: “I want every college man here
to know that I believe hi the story of
Joiuih ond the whale. Reporters, put it
•low a that I w ill never let a man come on
this platform to sjieak if he doesn't be
lieve that the whale swallowed Jonah.
The devil is never so happy as when he
gets a mnn not to believe in any part of
the Bible. If you are going to over
throw the story of Jonah you haw got
to overthrow the story of Christ’s res
urrection.”
The Honor Was Groat, But It AI30
.Was Very Expensive.
INTERNATIONAL COURTESY.
An American XavnX/antaln Takes the
Lend In Snlntlng; the Qr.ccn.
“Not often does a United States man-
of-war pass the Fourth of July in a
British harbor,” said one of the older
naval officers on reading about the
Brooklyn’s .stu}’ in Southampton water.
“It is our practice to save the Britishers
the necessity of firing three 21-gun
salutes on that day, as necessarily they
remember what happened on “the glo
rious Fourth,” and naturally they don’t
feel like celebrating the anniversary.
So before the Fourth of July our men-
of-war almost never fail to leave a port
where the British have jurisdiction.
“But, speaking of national holidays
and salutes, I recall an amusing inci
dent that happened in 1S70. The United
States flagship Franklin was at anchor
in the harbor of Malaga, Spain, in com
pany with a large British ironclad.
( apt. ‘Carp’ Rodgers commanded the
Franklin, and I will call the ironclad’s
commander Capt. Dun. When one man-
of-war in a harbor celebrates u national
holiday it is customary for all other
war ships in the same harbor to cele
brate it also. Consequently, early in
the morning of May 24 the Franklin
was prepared to dress ship in honor of
Queen Victoria’s birthday, and at day
break our quartermasters were watch
ing the British ship, ready to ‘follow
her mot I one,’ as we say in the navy.
“Presently a puff of smoke belched
out from the Briton’s starboard bow,
and, supposing it to be the first gun of
the national salute, the executive of
ficer of the Franklin cracked off 21 guns
from her nine-inch maindeck battery,
liiid broke all his flags in yardarm and
rainbow dress, but when the salute was
over and the smoke was lazily drifting
away it wav. seen that the British sl^p
was not dressed and had not fired*a
salute.
“A few minutes later a gig came
alongside the Franklin, and an English
lieutenant came on board with this
message:
“ ‘Capt. Dim presents his compli
ments to Capt. Rodgers, and begs leave
to Inform him that if he hod known
that this was an American anniversary
ho woulddmve been ready to salute and
dress ship. As it is, lie will do so at
eight o’clock.’
“Capt. Rodgers, on receiving this mes
sage, saw that Capt. Dun had forgotten
that May 24 was the queen’s birthday,
and he so worded his reply as to save
Capt. Dun’s feelings as much as possi
ble.
“Present my compliments to Capt.
Dun,’ he said, ‘ooid tell him that if I had
known that he did not intend to dress
ship and salute for her majesty’s birth
day until eight o’clock I would have de
layed my own salute until that hour.
Your morning gun was taken for the
flist gnin cf your salute and the Frank
lin went ahead without you.’
“By eight o’clock the British kbip
banged away 21 times and the FrankHn
•lid likewise. But didn’t the other Eng
lish captains in the Mediterranean
roost pcor Dun when they learned that
he had to be reminded of the queen’s
birthday by an American! I believe he
had to give up his ship and go home.”
—N. Y. Herald.
next.
Good gracious! w hat a world of new
theories about man and the creation
these modern thinkers have got up.
They can’t fool the old folks, but I fear
they do demoralize some of the young.
Young man, stqp and think before you
desert the faith of the fathers. It is
safe to say that such great and gocxl
men as Calvin and Luther and Knox
and Wesley and Whitfield and Hir
Isaac Newton and Addison and Pope
and hundreds of others who lived and
died in the faith were not mistaken.
Walt until these agnostics and skeptics
all agree cn a religion that will give
comfort in adversity and peace in the
hour and article of death. No, don’t
wait, for they have had time enough
and offered nothing.—Bill Arp, in At
lanta Constitution.
It is difficult to say who does the moat
mischief, enemies with the worst in
tentions or friends with the beet.
IKS&I
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V M
IQ ^ —
An Experience In Town-Site Ruom-
Ins; on the Cherokee Strip—Ula-
posaesneil b> a Detachment
of Soldiers.
A. V. Alexander has sold yellow pine
shingles to Kansas boomers, smoked
the calumet and Cheyenne and Arae
pahoe braves iu their tepees, drunk
alkali water at critical times in the
opening of the Cherokee strip, has
walked into a Chicago drygoods store
while he was wearing the big boots and
spurs and sombrero of a cow boy cos
tume and excited the curiosity of the
Jaily clerks by buying three dozen of
Mother Hubbard wrappers, and has
the distinction of having served as
mayor of a “sooner” town that lived
but one day.
*T was iu Arkansas City, Kan., a town
located on the Indian nation line, when
the boomers were waiting to make the
run for the Cherokee strip opening,”
said Mr. Alexander to a St. Louis Globe-
Democrat reporter, "Everybody was
waiting until the bill for the opening
passed congress nnd was signori by the
president. At midnight one night there
was a flurry in Arkansas City. The
local paper had received a telegram
that the bill had passed and was signed
by the president. It was legal to make
the run the moment the president had
lifted his pen from signing the bill.
So about 500 people left in wagons,
on horseback and on foot at midnight
to enter the strip. I took a surveyor
with me in a buggy, nml started for
the old Standard Oil ranch, at the Wil
low springs, to have a town site located.
1 wanted to sell lumber to the settlers.
My buggy headed the procession. The
surveyor expected to make money by
getting a fee for surveying each lot.
“Well, the procession loaded at the
Willow springs about daylight. I
alighted from the buggy to hitch my
horse, when two men with Winches
ters came up and said they
had taken farm sites there,
and one said that if I attempted
to unload a town-site crowd on his
claims he would kill me. I happened
to know one of the men. who was from
Guthrie, and 1 soon argued them out of
the idea of attempting to fight 500 men.
TWO ARMED MEN CAME UP.
To make the story' short, the surveyor
drew a plot of the town on paper, the
Jots were numbered, and the slips o?
paper bearing the numbers from 1 to
500 were placed in the hat. Then each
man drew a slip from the hat, and the
number located his lot. By this means
bloodshed was avoided, for. by the
old method .of a run, a dozen men with
guns would have rushed to each cor
ner lot.
"At night about 500 of the gam
blers and toughest characters of Guth
rie came in and camped near by. They
swore they proposed to drive my
crowd out at the poy>t of Winchesters
and take the town site away from us.
We sent a committee to effect a com
promise with the invaders, but no com
promise would be considered. They
said they had corne to take the tow n
site, and they proposed to take it. All
preparations were being made for a
battle with guns in the morning. Dur
ing the night I went alone with a flag
of truce to the camp of the enemy. 1
found the leader to be a notorious gam-
blerwhomlknew in Guthrie. I told him
of our lottery scheme, and proposed to
take his crowd in cn an equal foot
ing with my crowd. That struck him
as a square deal. The enemy broke
camp immediately and came over with
us.
“That night a meeting was held in
a small circus tent that my crowd had
brought along. Everything was har
monious. A motion was carried that
each man should donate one dollar iu
cash to the surveyor as a fee for survey
ing. 1 was made treasurer, and about
$1,000 fell into my hands in a few min
utes. Mind yon, the whole town was
still on paper, and the money was to
pay for the surveying that would be
doue.
“The'n several jugs of whisky were
opened, and under its exhilarating in
fluence the meeting became so enthu
siastic that it nominated and elected
me ’mayor of Willow Springs’ by ac
clamation. and went ahead and elected
a city council, a board of public works
md a chief of police, and even granted
franchises for a gas company and a
street railway line. That night nil
fell asleep late, the majority rolled in
blankets on the ground. A cold north
er from Texas swept by and chilled
everybody to the bone.
“The next morning a troop of United
States cavalry awoke us and made
everybody skedaddle out of the strip.
It was n fake telegram about the bill
having passed congress at that time.
So I was mayor of Willow Springs from
midnight until morning, even if it
was a ‘sooner’ town built on paper.
Besides almost freezing to death that
night. 1 had to return the tl.OOO do
nated to the surveyor, and it took me
«U -noaths to locate all the maa.’’
“Now, some time last year, as you
will remember. Red Mayfield—which
in the main time he had married Dolly
Halloway—took sick and died all of »
suddent like. And right now the all-
overest most handsomest young wom
an in u’.l ilhis strip ofc country is the
Widder Dolly Mayfield. Tain’t no uso
in talkin, Rufe—when she puts on her
Sunday rigginsand fancy fixments she
is jest simply plupcrfectly and supinely
beautiful to behold.
“In these long, hot summer days it
has likewise also come to pass that
Buck Collins, Babe Peterson and old
Squire Leatberwood have all three fell
heris over appetite in love with Dolly,
the wii!tier, and—well—my time has
come. You needn’t to feel any earth
ly doubts about that, Rufe. This is
my time of year to win out even, nnd,
by gatlins. wJiut I am savin up for the
three •ger.tUtmen from Tucker’s Mill
will be a most hellatious plenty. Old
Squire Leatberwood has buried two
wives and raised nine children, but
from what they tell me he Is worse gome
on Dolly Mayfield than Buck Collins,
or Babe Peterson, and they have got it
mighty bad. The way a town hog loves
slops is nothin, Rufe. to the way them
three native-born idiots love the ground
which Do’lv Mayfield walks upon—and
—well, datTolame ’em, my time has
come.”
The Three Love Letters.
In the next place Blev then showed
me the three love letters which he had
writ—all iu a little,scrawny,crumpled-
up female handtvritin. The one to
Squire Leatberwood went like this:
My Duckydaddle Dear—Buck Collins
and Babe Peterson have both been
lallygaggin around here two or three
days, tryin their loveliest to get my
company to ineetin Sunday night. But
they are so young and fresh, and salt
is skeeroe at my house. If you will
be so kind, condescendin and obligin
as to meet me down at the Spring
branch crossin late Sunday evenin £
will go with you. Come at first dusk
sharp.
Yours fervently,
DOLLY MAYFiELD.
P. S.—Remember what the book says
about the still pig and the milk.
DOLLY.
The letter to Buck Collins run along
as follows below:
Dear Buck: Old Squire Leatberwood
and Babe Peterson have all but pes
tered the life outen me for the last
three days. Both of them want to go
with me to church Sunday night—
which of course you know full well
who I would ruther go with than any
mortal man in the round discovered
world. Meet me down at the spring
branch erossin Sunday evenin at first
dusk sharp, and I will let you go with
me.
Yours serenely,
DOLLY MAYFIELD. '
P. S.—"Roses red, violets blue,
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.”
DOLLY.
The one to Babe Peterson was a tear
starter and a heart smasher:
My Ownlyiest Own: You don’t know
how bad your Dolly wonts to see her
Baby. Buck Collins and old Squire
Leatberwood between the two have
beeh such a botherment to me this
week till life ain’t scarcely worth the
livin. Buck wants me to go to meet-
in with him Sunday night, and the old
squire wants me to give him the pleas
ure of my company. But I want to go
with you. And if I can’t go with you
I can go by my lone and lonely self.
Meet me down at the spring branch
crossin Sunday evenin at first dusk
sharp. Don’t fail, and don’t forget.
Your sweetheart.
DOLLY.
‘•When the Widder Heaves In 8|sbt.**
“The mail to Tucker's Mill goes by
here this evenin, Rufe,” Blev went on,
“and all three of the letters will go
through to their proper places to
night, or in time for the old squire nnd
Buck and Babe to put on their Sunday
best and meet the widder at the spring
branch crossin to-morrow evenin at
first dusk sharp.
“How do I know that Dolly will bo
there? By the 12 epistles she has prom
ised to meet me there nnd let me have
the superb feloeity of her company to
church and back home. You will please
keep in mind that I have set up the pegs
and fixed the triggers. Rufe, nnd if
I don’t win out even with the three gen
tlemen from Tucker's Mill, then the
world don’t move and fits must run in
the Scroggins family. I will be there,
but not at first dusk sharp. I will pur
posely hang fire somewheres around in
that neighborhood till the widder
heaves iu sight. And then, when the
old squire and Buck and Babe meet
and mix and tangle up together in the
open field of combat, me and the wid
der we will cross below the crossin
and let the best man whip the fight.
“You eon bet your qjiin whiskers und
your Sunday pants on one thing, Rufe.
When old Squire Leatberwood and
Buck Collins and Babe Peterson all
three go down there to the spring
branch «*rossin to meet the widder—
and when the widder heaves in right—
the next thing in order will be a free-
for-all fight. Somethin is bound ta
happen, and somebody mu*t consequen
tially suffer. They on n’t blame me if
I happen to come along in the pinch
of time, and they can’t say nothin to
Dolly if she run* away from a free
fight ond tend* night meetin with the
fourth man. All you have got to do in
the main time, is to sing the song soft
and low. After to-morrow evenin st
first dusk aharp it mought be that you
can bear the wounded from off the
field, or go ond fetch the doctor."
“Twe and Two Make Foar.**
In the general settlement of the
country Sveet Water church wa* de
signed nnd built about a mile from the
Mayfield place, and the spring branch
crossin is about half way between.
Now, as to my own individually self.
I didn't go down to the spring branch
crossin Sunday evenin. Dolly Mayfield,
the widder, didn't write me no ''lsnen%