Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-06-11
BARS B%ACKSLIDING.
Narrow Escape from General Woe
Because of It

Biar Gillett-Tobiah, by baptism
drove down the muddy road and stopped
at Stephen Pinney's front gate. 1t was
a Sunday afternoon in early spring.
The first thaw had set in; the sun
shone down warmly, and the roofs of
the houses and barns and the few dirty
drifts of snow in the fence corners APP
peared dazzingly bright beneath it.
The wheels of BARS two-seated buggy
dripped with mud, and the tall, red
horse was we'll spattered. Stephen
Pinney's place vas severely neat in all
particulars. The square house was
.wingless; the yard was undecorated,
save for an evergreen bush set with
geometrical precision on each side of
the walk, and an elliptical flower bed
whose baroness was atoned for by the
large pink sea-shells which bordered it;
the green paper shades in the front
windows were rolled up as nearly as
possible to the same point, and gave a
glimpse of chair backs set close aginst
the wall. The door opened before Biar
could alight, and a girl came out. She
wore a red-and- black checked shawl
over a black alpaca dress, and she
came down the walk with a stiffness
which indicated a consciousness of
being dressed up. Her thin, freckled
face wore a pleased look.~
"Good afternoon, Louise" said
Biar.
Good afternoon" the girl respond
cd. 81 was all ready, and [ thought
there wasn't no need of your getting
out and coming in"
She climbed into the buggy unassist-
ed, and sat down on the front seat be-
side the long-legged, light-haired,
serious-visaged young man. The mud
splashed upon them as they started
away. But Biar was excepting COM
pany'' with Louise Pinney, and it had
not entered their heads to omit their
usual Sunday afternoon drive because
the going was bad. Neither were they
disturbed by the lack of a single buggy.
The two-seated n was all that Biar
possessed, except a lumber wagon, and
they would not have stopped at that if
it had been a condition of their going.
II should think this was tirst-rate SUI
gar weather" said Louise, as they Jog
ged along.
You hain't tapped yet, 1 s'pose?"
"We're going up to the sugar-bush
Biar responded.
They drove on silently after that.
Neither was much of a talker, and it
did not occur to talk for the sake of
breaking the pause. They often rode
for miles without speaking and without
embarrassment from the silence.
Biar f1icked the horse occasionally with
the frayed tip of the whip; Louise sat
quiet, her plain face lighted with a SIM
pie content.
'.Mis' Baldwin's got a visitor" she
said as they came in sight of a long,
yellow-painted house. S.She's got her
cousin from over in D%odsonville; Mandy
,Sawyer's her name. Her folks are
away from home and she's staying to
Mis- Baldwin's while they're gone. l
was down to Mis- Baldwin's yesterday
and she introduced me. She's a real
lively acting girl"
els that her:?" said Biar.
r He was gazing admiringly at a young
girl who was standing at the Baldwin's
front gate. She was fifteen at the most,
but she was tall and plump, and there
was a marked pretention to STYLE and
gayety in her blue, silk-trimmcd dress,
her white beads and the ribbon on top
OF her head. She was pretty, too, from
a rural standpoint-she had red cheeks,
sharp blue eyes and a profusion of light
curls, which fell about her round face in
the manner of an old-fashioned china
doll.
"Ho d do, Miss Pinney?" she called
out.
Biar was staring at her broadly, and
she gave him a pert little nod. He
turned to look back at her as they drove
on, and she returned his gaze boldly,
shaking back her curls j~auntily and
swinging herself on the gate.
"She's pretty good-looking,' said
Biar; but that was a feeble expression
of the admiration with which Miss
Mandy Sawyer's blooming charms had
ovcrpoweredhi him.
Biar generally dropped in at Stephen
Pinney's two or three evenings a week;
it was a necessary part of keeping COM
pany. That week he did not come.
Louise put on her black alpaca every
evening, and took it off at 1880. Biar
never came later than 1880, and there
was no need of keeping it on after that
time and wearing it out. She did not
know why he did not come, but she had
full trust in him and his non-appearance
did not arouse her suspicious. But Ly-
man Baker came in toward the end of
the week with a piece of news.
Lyman Baker had been mildly atten-
tive to Louise before Biar Gillett's sue
cession. He had not admired her par
ticularly-he tlattered himself that he
knew a good-looking girl when he saw
one; but he had established an enviable
reputation as a lady's man, and to keep
it untarnished it was necessary that
there should be no girl in the neighbor-
hood who had not "gone with' him.