The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-03-24

One evening crowd of young people
congrcgated at Bill Burton's ranch, and
when the first quadrilla was over he took
stand in front Of the fire and parting his
coat tails in a comfortable manner rem ark
cd:
"That was rurly neat dancng; you all
know the step and handle yer hoofs purty
pccrt, but some ofyou young folks can't
hold cr candle to sum old 'uns I've seed.
an that kinder reminds me of old Widow
liarkiEs | knowed back in Gcorgy, when
WAS boy.
''Oh, tell lis about her, Uncle Bill" ex-
claimcd chorus of voices.
"Wail, she wus thcr all firedest ac tivcst
Old hcifcr | ever knowcd She lived up in
the Peach Branch settlement nigh to Bill
Browns an was kin--aunt or suthn'-to
thcr Millcrs from Alabamy. When |
knowcd her, she was crawlin' on to eighty
years old, but she was tougher'n 'er pecan
sapling, an the way that ere old critter
knocked dust that June dav was 'cr caution
TO 'er mustang colt"
"Was she scared, Uncle Bill?" in uuircd
the crowd.
"Wall, now, l guess she was kinder
skccrt. You see one day had les cum
outer the field from plowin' an turned old
Job i'll thor lot. Darn that old mule, he
had ;;cs' busted Il new pair of traces to tiln-
ders tryin' to kick 'er parcel of humble
bees ot'ern his hind legs. He was alters
gettin' III yallcr Jackets nest or suthin
else, an consarn his ole pictur; he busted
my leg outer iint jc,' when camp meetin'
was cumin' on bout er week artcr that. AS
| was goin' OH to say, wus huntin' round
'cr stable gcttin' up 'er new set of gear
when hccrd the derndest yellin' an cr'
bclowin' up thcr lane, an it pccred to me
it wus cumin' closer all the tho time, an |
elm on the fence an 'gin to look. Their
tust thing seed wus 'er big cloud 'er dust
an ther next thing my eyes lit Oh wus Bill
Browns Ole brindle bull jcs 'cr rippin' an
'cr rcarn' an 'cr lIllin' up his tail an 'er
chasin' old Widow Iarkins fur everything
she wus worth. Thar wus ther bull with
his head down an tail up, an, thar wus ole
Widow llhrkins with hc baimoral histed,
jez' 'er clattcrin' down ther lane like Ter
| couple OF race horses. l warn't much
pious in those days, al get tin kinder ex
cited l tux of my hat an yelled, Sling
out yer best hoof, 90 it, old gal, till you make
ther gap III the calt-pen an thar you're
safe When l holercd to her it braced
her up. She puckered her mouth like ther
butt end of 'cr pcrsimmon, histcu her
balmora 'cr little higher, 'an tell yer it
fairly made me sweat to see thcr way that
ole citizen did climb over dirt. She sorter
looked back over one shoulder an saw tina,
bull about ten feet behind her an still 'cr
cummin' 'cr rippin' an rcarin'. But feel
IN she wus safe, she jest pulled the bal
moral over her head, AN the ole bull stood
still, astonishcd, nm went oil kinder'n n
kitten. l would Jest like to see some of
you quadrille dancers try to take the rag
OIL Widow Harkins."
'You Bill!' shouted his wife in i ismay.
He stopped dead short, and there was a
pause-a long, dreary pause, until one OF
the young men looked out of the window
and said he thought 1t would rain before
morning. The young ladies said they
thought it would, too, and Old Bill Burton
went down to the cow-pen to see if the
calves had been turned ont, ard never came
back III the parlor again that night.