Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1886-03-20


shed. TWAS followed almost instant
ly by fearful clap Of thunder, and
as we shot under the frienly roof Of
the shed the big drops came rafting
down upon it. The man came hur-
rying out with a lantern, and with
out waiting for an explanation or re-
quest from us, he said:
81 heard you go by, and should
have hailed you had l been in season.
Lost your way, | guess"
"Yes," said / tive must have
taken the wrong turn in the roak."
"You are all right now; you seem
to be gentlemen, and you may con-
slider yourselves entirely welcome
here for the night"
| replied that such generous hos
pitality was seldom to be met with,
and that it should be met with an
open and honest statement of whom
we were and how we came here.
eve are from D, bound to
P, and l am the publisher of
the Daylight and my companion is
my foreman"
81 take the Daylight myself"
said he :; my name is Evans. / knew
your father, and a brother of mine
married your cousin, Irene Chase"
"Miles Evans ?"
"The same, and l have often been
to your fathers when you were q
small boy, probably"
By this time the horse was cared
for and we entered the house. Mrs
Evans welcomed us cordially, and
before we were aware of it supper
was prepared for us, though it wa;
now between nine and ten o'clock il
the evening. The tea table was a sur
prise and revelation. The family
consisted of three daughters and two
sons. One son and one of the daugh
tiers were young, and were abed fol
the night. The two older daughters
and eldest son were up. Mrs. Evans
presented her two daughters, and tn,
father the son, and all was done will
a grace and easy dignity which onl!
intelligence and culture could hav,
done. The eldest daughter was per
haps eighteen, the son sixteen, ant
the younger daughter just enterin!
her teens.
There was no show of formality q
the table after short blessing, asket
in a devout tone by the father. w
all became engaged in conversation
without effort, and wholly withou
reference to personal affairs, eXcep
reference to some subjects suggestev
, by the daylight"
J The eldest daughter asked me if
J was allowable to ask who was tn
J author of a story which had bee
2 published for few weeks in tn
r Daylight" and was still continued
f / replied that the question was a fai
t one, but that it was hardly in orde
to answer it now, but that / woul
| answer the inquiry atsome time, an
, glanced significantly at my compar
: ion, who was just then too much Ell
l gagged upon some topic with M,
S Evans to heed the question.
The contents of the table were sin
t pie but varied, and yet nearly all tn
products of the farm. The bread We
: superb, the butter beyond praise, an
< such splendid Strawberries and rasl
e berries. The tea was excellent an
e sugar and cream abundant. The onl
meat was some slices of cold lamb {
V mutton that was the best, l think,
$ ever ate. could not resist the tenn
y tation to ask Mr.. Evans where /
: found such mutton.
S "In my yard" was his smiling r.
: ply. 81 see by the Daylight" /
n continued, "you take quite an inte
" est in husbandry, and if you are n,
e in too great haste in the morning
e will show you my flock"
q GLOW many have YOU" aske,
|, "Two hundred" was the repl.
d 81 keep them in three flocks, neith
n of them far from the house."
t The next morning was SUNDAY, al
, we were looked for at P ar
. were obliged to leave early. Mr.
Z Evans insisted that we remain uni
: after breakfast, but l told her if 81
IL would excuse us we would leave vel
/" early, by four or five in the mornin
and / assured Mr.. Evans that he w
q right in supposing | was interested
4 !. 4