Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-10-25
Boggs. storxeof Western Life.

'Once, - said Boggs, - lived on the
prairies of Illinois. tell you that was the
country for sparkling. When you went to
see gall there, you were expected to sit
up with her till near morning. The old
folks turned in and let things take their
course. They trusted their gals, they did.
When had been with my cousin, who was
a farmer, few weeks, they had Fourth
of July celebration at Paw Paw, few miles
distant The people gathered in from every
direction for twenty miles around There
was Hoosier Grafton, Hoosier dinner,
and Hoosier ball. The ball commenced
at five O'Clock i'll the afternoon, and they
! just hocd it down till five o'clock next
morning. Well, [ was introduced to my
cousins wife's cousin, and she was a stun
ner, too, [ tell ye. That girl could talk
She had just come from an Eastern board
ing-school. She knew Eastern ways and
| Western ways, and somehow she seemed to
know how to just strike the balance between
| them. [ was afraid of her at first She
was what your novelists call "regal, self
possessed, queen like But she soon put
me at my ease. She liked fun, too. She
had beau with her, but she threw him off
as naturally as possible, TO firt with me-
Then he went off and got drunk, and alb out
an hour afterward there was a horse and
buggy with Pepper drunk inside of it tear
ing through the single main street of Paw
Paw.
Well, the buggy hit post and turned
over, and out went Pepper, and when he
was picked up, his sense was all knocked
out of him. Then they carried him into
the hotel and laid him on the bed, and all
the girls and fellows came in and stood
around him, and my regal beauty bathed
his head with cologne and cried over linn
a
didn't let on when he did come to. HeI
laid there and let that girl bend over him
and cry and slop his head with spirits of
camphor [ saw it ALL He had a GOOD
thing just then. I'd have taken all his run
away chances for similar consideration
However, 1t was soon found out that moth |
ing SO very bad was the matter with him. |
and then the crying corn fed beauties
quickly dried their tears and put for the |
ballroom. [ had slight hand in that
matter, you see, for [ just gave nv cousin
a hint of the real state of things, and he
limited to his wife, and his wife to Carry
THAT was her name) and she came back to
her normal state, and things went straight
again. felt sorry for Pepper, too. He
had to lay abed, you see, just to keep up
the delusion that he was hurt I had. for
the time, the inside track of him. It's yery
nice to have the inside track in these mat
tiers, especially when you've been standing
some time on the outside.
Well, we danced and sang and made love
till near morning. They do all these things
at Hoosier balls on the prairie. And abont
three o'clock I parted from nv regal, corn
fed beauty, got on the wagon with nv CON
sin and his wife, and as we took orr wav
home, was thousand miles in love, +
never expected to see her again. went
to bed, little thinking that should see her
before arose from my necessarily virtuous
couch. There We're just two rooms in NV
cousins log-house-the front room and the
pack room. The front room was about the
whole house, IN fact, and was kitchen, par
lor, bedroom, and everything. AS the
guest of the family, I slept in the front
room. All of us slept late that morning.
The sun was high in the heavens when I
awoke. thought moment of the Para
disc had been in the night before. when j
heard buggy drive up to the front gate.
and then voices, and then a voice. Good
gracious 1t was the regal Caroline. r
saw 1t all. Words indicative of a forth
coming visit had fallen on my ears the day :
before. But l had no idea it was to be so
'oon.
And there was in bed, and the front
ioor OF the house was the front door of INV
oom' and when it opened it would disclose
me- oashful, shrinking youth of eighteen.
u ped. She was coming up the walk ,
VOW, the fact is, Western style in lust that
lelghborhood was not at all shocked at see
ng male person in bed. But I was mat t
rom the East, where such q spectacle was
opposed to knock single woman down. J