Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1873-02-22

!" Do you mind one time when he
broke up the camp meetin' at Duck
| Greek ?" asked the bullet-headed little
fellow sucking vigorously at the stump
of his cigar. That was afore he TUX to
runnin' the ingine. - a. S't - =, ~ -,
"I don't remember it, - responded an
old fellow, raising his head from behind
a barrel with n stare SO stupid that ]
imagine he had been patronizing the bar
too often that evening. la,t 1l .a...
Praps not" suggested the other.
"Like enuff you was drunk then, or you
wouldn't have forgotten it. It. was a
d-e-li-g-h-t-f-u-l sight. How the VIM
min screamed. I never heerd anything
like it afore. 1t was thing to be re-
melnbered. You see, Ike cum thar
with his gal, but he didut know she
was goin to. git religion She didn't
|, know it, either, l reckon. But Ike
spies one of the preachers with, his head
under Mag's bonnet That was her
name, Mag Brown, lold Dave Brown $
daughter, that has farm bout mile
up the creek.
"Ike went for the preacher; lie didn't t
respect preachers more AN other men
when he was mad. ..,.,,.g, ,5. .,..l., Ee
T., You're, ,takin' liberties with my gall,
he shouted ,....,s
"The preacher said sumthin' . bout
turnin' him out o. camp, when Ike sent
him to grass, In one minnit all the
preachers was ON the spot, and declare
to gracious if l didn't see him lick 10
dozen quicker than I'm tellin' you. Then
the brethren rushed in,i and they was
too many fur him. He made a good
fight, but he got the c,lssedest ickin |
ever saw ''<'. ''i' ''' '''' -.
"'I wish to heavens old Dave Brown
had been among the preachers when the
licking was going on responded a.
young fellow with forid complexion
and twinkle of humor in his eyes. Il
owe him little debt that / may pay
some fine day, and it is all about that
g
Mag of his, too ~. - .... ,
"' How's that, Josh? How's that 2
responded number of voices in uni
son. '.' '- ''
Well" responded Jashu Kelsey,
Its not often fellow tells story that
bears hard ON himself, but will repeat
it, just to let you know what an ornery
old skunk Dave Brown is,
g. You must understand at the begin
ming that l admit that told lie, but
it was an innocent one and didn't hurt
any one. Moreover, 1 told it out Of
little vanity. Perhaps if l had spoken
the truth the consequences would have
been different. But old Brown was mad,
for Mag had set his blood on fire with
the tale she carried, and he came pre-
pared to wallop somebody. =.
" Perhaps you won't believe it, but /
never told willful falsehood until l
went to live at Duck Greek. I got cor
rupted there. It's astonishing how
those Duck Creekers will lie. They
never tell the truth if lie will answer
just the same.
"Spring had set in warm and pleas
ant, when a sardine q call all those city
fellows SO, who wear their hair parted in
the middle and scented with oiD came
to Duck Greek and commenced sachay-
ing at terrible rate among the girls.
His name was Adolphus Bayne. He
talked big and gave it out that he was
rich and intended purchasing land.s -
"Now, old Dave Brown was mighty
particular about Mag, and didn't allow
her to keep only certain sort of COM
pany, and Mr.. Adolphus Bayne' wasn't
the kind of man that would have pleased
Mags father. She had sense enough to
know it, too !; so she never told the old
rat that Adolphus was playing sweet on
her, but used used to meet him ON the
sly and take long walks with him, and
all that kind of thing. made up my
mind from the first that the fellow
wasn't much, and, like the Duck Creek
ers, was good at lying. But ] kept my
tongue quiet and thought would watch
events. .,. i.....,......... ......,.a.. .-,t
"Well summer came, and Mr.. Adol-
phus Bayne still hung about the place,
doing his best to get all the girls in love
with him, and to his credit must say
he succeeded pretty well. It1 'tiI o.. ~
"You know I'm fond of fishing. So
one day I took my rod and went up the
creek and sat down under n willow to .try
for trout The sun got mp pretty high
before 1 got nibble-in fact that's all
II got.
"Now, 1t appears that Mr.. Adolphus
Bayne. unknown to me, came very near
the spot where was sitting, dressed in
a velvet coat, with red necktie. and all
that sort of rigging, and set himself
down to fish, and, suppose wait for
Mag Brown to come and see him.
The old proverb says, "a fool for luck,
etc. 1 don't suppose he knew much
about fishing, but it seems that it didn't
make any difference, for he caught the
biggest trout I ever saw come out Of
that stream.
Pretty soon Mag Brown came along,
and they somehow or other gotinto a