Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-10-01

Tie mas lIltcllocC vi ITO cO1lInOH OTucf
It's only his great bashfulncss tha
keeps him back now"
"Now, Kitty, you are too absurd,
and Hetty laughed as though sh'
thought her companion in jest "Wel
it is leap year; you had better ofe1
yourself to this paragon. dom
think he will refuse"
81 know no one whom / woulG
sooner marry so, thcre3' AnG
Klttie's face was scarlet with blushes
rs she made this frank acknowlcdg
ment.
But John was not looking at hen
now. He was crouched in the mos1
remote part of the hogshead, trying
by various gestures, to drive away q
huge mastitf which threatened to
make his whereabouts known.
The sun had gone down, and Johns
hungry horse had quietly walked of
home, and still the two girls chatted
away.
"Well, Bruno, what have you got
in there? Pm sure you've been
whining and paving there for halt
an hour, at least" And Hetty came
forward and patted the dogs hairy
back with her hands.
"Why, Kitty, there is some dreadful
animal in here. What pair Of eyes
it has! Are there any wildcats in
the woods? Thank my nerves If
uncle and Charley are away, l can
fire gun. I'll soon know what that
horrid creature is. In my opinion,
here is where your geese have gone
to. I'll warrant the ground in there
is strcwn with bones. You and
Bruno keep watch while run to the
house for Il gun"
Hetty had ratified all this off in Il
breathless fashion, and before Kitty
had time to look at the "dreadful
ANIMAL" only the great, luminous
eyes of which could be seen, her
cousin was on her way to the house.
What was John to do now? Stay
where he was and be shot by that
courageous Hetty, or crawl from his
lair like a Hottentot from his hut,
and right before Kitty too? The
faithful dog began to wag his tail
and whine with renewed animation,
and John thought the gun must be
coming surely. Life was sweeter to
him now, since hearing what Kitty
had said OF himself, than ever before
and, creeping to the opening, he be-
gan the getting out process.
Kitty, who was peering anXiouslsy
in, saw that 'the creature" was NOV
ing-that it was coming toward her
and giving Il spasmodic little
scream she sank helpless to the
ground, and covered her face with
her apron.
kittv's distress made John for the
moment forget that he was the most
bashful man alive, and surely the
arms which Kitty felt encircling her
waist were not those of a wild beast.
Knowing this, it did no need Il great
of courage to enable her to
uncover her face and see that the
great eyes which had so frightened
her belonged to John Patterson.
1t was strange that neither she nor
John, during the half hour they tar
ried together under the apple-trec,
thought Of Hetty or the gun she had
gone to bring. Perhaps neither
would have remembered lletty's
boasted ''nervc" in connection with
the use Of that weapon again had not
that young lady herself two years
later reminded a certain happy bride
groom and his equally happy bride
of the incident, and informed them
that she knew all the time that John
was in the hogshead, as she saw hlm
put himself there, and that her part
of the conversation under the apple
tree was INDUCED in solely with Il
view to encourage the baShtul lover
to propose.
Mrs. John Patterson scolded her
cousin-bridc-maid for her duplicity,
but for all that it was plain to be seen
she was not angry, especially since
IIetty had that very day acknowl-
edged that she was proud to class her
Cousins handsome husband with her
friends.