The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-11-07

he got from any of the rest. He would
do anything for Mary, and when = Ger.
tain Mr.. st. Leger in the neighborhood
took fancy to her it was amusing to
see how Sam resented the engagement.
This Mr.. st. Leger had lately come in
to the neighborhood, no one knew where
from; but he had plenty of money and
very agreeable manners, and was a
general favorite with the Frere family.
Sam, however, never liked him from
the first, and when at length he became
Mary Frere's accepted sutton, Sans
aversion to him became intense. Ii
must be owned that MIR. St. Leger took
no pains to win him over to q more
friendly state of mind. He had fallen
at once into the habit of making light
of the poor fellow, which, as we have
seen, was the family custom, and, when
he saw how Sam shrank from him, had
certainly gone out of his way to poke
fun at him. 1t was an amusement and
quite in accordance with the general
practice.
The day was fixed for the wedding,
and the Sunday had arrived when, in
Difference to Mary's particular wish,
though very much against Mr.. st. Leg
er's inclination, the banns were to be
published in church.
The Fre-es were all in their place, a
great square pew in front of the pull
pit. The names were read out in due
course. Mary was recovering from the
electric shock of hearing them; the viii
layers were interchanging Chances, some
even cautiously rising 4 little to peep
into the square pew, when voice was
heard all over the church, saying in
the most emphatic way, II forbid the
banns.''
Surprise was on every face, but it
quickly gave way to sense of the lu-
dicrous as Sam was seen standing up
in the middle of the pew. looking the
clergyman steadily in the face, as
much as to say, "There now; get over
that if you can!'' The clergyman was
so amused that he had to rush on with
the service to prevent an unseemly
display, while Sans kindred in the
square pew were in every attitude of
painfully restrained amusement. And
there he stood, unabashed and defiant,
until his father plucked him by the arm
and made him sit down. But none of
them for one moment thought it was
anything more than very unaccounta-
BILE freak of 'poor old SANS"
| No sooner was the service over than
he was assailed on all sides for an ex-
PLANTATION. Two only were serious
about this father and Mary. "What
is the meaning of this, STRIP said his
father, sternly: ''what could have pos
sessed you to make yourself SO ridicu-
lous?'
He has got wife already" replied
Sam, doggedly.
"Who has?" was the general excla-
nation.
st. Leger."
"Who told you so?''
"Tom Tylerr' Tom Tyler was the
village letter=carricr.
There was shout of laughter at this
piece of information.
when did Tom Tyler tell you
this?'
Yesterday. He brought letter for
Mrs. St. Leger."
| Another shout of laughter greeted
this; but Mary looked very grave,
while her father said that, of course,
the letter was for St. Leger's mother,
of whom he had more than once
spoken. So Sam was sharply rebuked
for listening to Tom Tyler's idle tales,
and ordered to hold his tongue.
You'll have ST. Leger try his horse
whip across your shoulders, if you
don't mind" cried his eldest brother,
and they all laughed again, but Sam
was very unlike himself, and did not
join in the laugh, but maintained a
grave composure they had never noticed
in Linn before.
Nor was it a laughing matter some
where else. The news of that morn
ing 5 interruption flew apace, with vari-
Gus additions and amendments. Thus
improved upon, they reached the ears
of Mr.. st. Leger, who lived but a few
miles of, and they created a profound
| sensation, SO much SO that instead Of
spending the afternoon with the Freres,
as expected, he took himself Off, and
was never seen by them again. 1t was
discovered that Tom Tyler's version
had been correct after all. Good rid
dance for Mary Frere; but q heart
tritled with and wrpnged can never
quite recover ITSELF
For time Sam was almost rever-
emily treated at home. They felt the
force of his simple explanation, WHY he
had chosen such sin gular way of ut.
tering his suspicious, that it was s'be-
cause they would only have laughed at
him if he had told them,' and were a
little ashamed of themselves. But the
old habit revived after awhile, as old
habits, both family and personal, so
easily do, and Sans brains were held
as cheap as ever, except by Mary, who
was drawn to him more than ever, and
by his mother, who never ceased to
ponder in her heart, as only mothers
DO, the meaning of that display of firm
intelligence and almost fierce affection.
"I'll tell you what it MEANS" said
her brother to Mrs. Frere one day,
when she was talking to him about it
he was lawyer in London, old John
Quicksett, of Gray's Inn, who could
see thing as shrewdly as most people
-"it means this, that Sam has got q
heart and a head, but his head is more
out of the way than usual, and can
only be got at through his heart, like
an old-fashioned bedroom that can
only be reached by going through an
other. Look here, sister, like amaz-
ingly that story of the banns- s
grand. Not that there was anything
clever in what he did, just the reverse,
it might have been most stupid mis-
take; but this is what takes my fancy
50, the tirmness of purpose, a far high
er quality of mind than mere clever
ness, that could make the poor fellow
face everything he did for the sake of
the sister he loved. There must be
something in one who could run the
gauntlet like that, when his heart was
once fairly unlocked; and l think
have the key"
81 always thought So" cried Mrs.
Frere, greatly delighted.
"Well, let me try. I'll run away
with Sam, and make a lawyer of him.
What do you say?"
The grinning was epidemic round
the table after it was known that Sam