Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-06-23
A DOUBLE WEDDING.

Ills lace Is long, ike that OF morse, ana he
has black hair, streaked with gray, on his
head, with tuft of the same ON his chin.
Old man String.ellow wears neither
mustache nor whiskers, being very par
ticular to shave himself at least twice u
week, undergoing some pain, and twist
ing his long face into all manner Of con-
tortions-which circus clown would
give 81 900 to he able to imitate-during
the operation, owing to the stiff nature of
the crop, he is reaping and the dullness of
the instrument with which he works. He
seldom wears coat, going in his shirt
sleeves summer and winter, only chang
ing the garment of hickory for the gar
ment OF wool as the seasons vary-his
jean pantaloons being hoisted up with
uspenders-gaIluses he calls them-al-
most to his armpits, making him look ut
little distance like some queer animal
with very long legs.
He lives in log cabin of one room,
with q shed attachment, and has wife
and six children, equally divided as to sex.
In the room, which is roomy enough, he
and Mrs. Stringfellow occupy one bed,
and the three girls-Nancy, Gin, for Jane,
and Merier-another, and here all the
cooking is done in the wide clay fireplace
of the stick and mud chimney. The shed
attachment accommodates the boys, Bill,
Ben and Jim.
Occasionally belated traveller will stop
at the Stringfellow mansion and ask for
n nights lodging. He;will be invited to
"'light an come in" aud when he has
done so will be treated with primitive
hospitality.
These people are poor and uneducated,
but there is spirit of independence about
them that nothing can conquer, and so
long as their potato banks hold out and
their razor backs come home, to pick up q
pick up a little fat in the field after the
crop is garnered, and then pay tribute to
the larder, they care not for king nor
kaiser. They never treat anybody, no
matter who he may be, as anything more
than an equal, and would show no diff
ference to the car of all the Rus
sias should he chance to travel their
way, with all his cortege. Should
he stop he would be invited to
light" and the boys would ask about
the price of potatoes in town, the old
woman inquire as to market value of
eggs while the girls stood by and giggled,
and the old man put in request for a
chew Of tobacco-that is, if they did not
mistake the whole affair for a circus as,
like as not, they would. They had walked
fifteen miles once to see q circus-all eX-
cept the old woman, who rode o shaggy
pony about as big as yearling calf, and
with more hair on his hide than flesh I'M
der it,
happened to be a guest of the String
fellow family once. Finding myself near
their residence one night, when it was so
dark that that / could see nothing but the
glimmer of the light in their cabin, l rode
for it through brush and brier, and when
reached it halloed in the usual country
style. Immediately the light, which came
from the open door, was shut off by two
human forms, and / was bid to "'light
an come in"
The family was just preparing to eat
supper, and n savory mess of pork and
potatoes was being dished up. was in
vited to join them Ii their meal, during
which was pumped pretty dry of all l
knew about the affairs of the town, which
was too far off to be visited by any of
them very often. But to this l did not
object, knowing that such information as
could impart was all l would have to
pay for the entertainment of myself and
beast-which had been led off by one of
the boys to share the stable of the shaggy
pony-so let the ripple of my talk flow
in IL continuous current, turning on my
inventive valve at the same time, to give
IL sparkle to plain facts indispensable to
make them enjoyable.
During the evening gathered from the
whispering and giggling going on among
the young folk that there was some
mystery understanding in which they
all seemed more or less interested-and
when they had gone to bed the old wo-
man had retired Immediately after sup
per, getting into one of the beds without
my knowing anything about it until
heard her snoring old man Striugfellow
enlightened me after q rather peculiar
fashion Of his own.
!'Well, stranger" he said, ~ disre-
member yer name. reckon you'll
stay"
had already told him my name half O
dozen times, and he had as often disre-
Ecmbered it, so did not repeat it, but
tolu him proposed to stay-a fact which
supposed he was already cognizant of.
Yes" he said, rubbing his long jaw
bone thoughtfully, II lowed yer w'uld,
an I'm glad NV it; yes, am; fur the mo-
compny the better on SIGH 'cashin.
Ye'rll be welcome, stranger, an hon
ored gues'."
was little puzzled, and began to
think the old man was not exactly in his
rig:it mind, but / said nothing, and he
went on.
''You see," he said, looking at the fire,
while he talked, '1gals an boys will git
married sooner err later, an thar amt no
use THROWN obstickles in thar way, an so
when Alerier, thet's the younges', an
Name she's the oldes' come an tole me
tibet they lowed to take unto tharse'ves
he'pmeats, which waz Dick Dander an
Pete Pringle, why, says /, all right; jes'
go ahead an fix it to suit yerse'ves;' fur
though nyther one NV them boys comes Nv
es good stock as the Stringfellers, l reckin'
they's bout es good es yer'll pick up here
abouts.' So they done like 1 said, an ter
morrer's the time it's to be.''
"Ah," | said, $50 there's to I've a we'd
ding"
''Yes," he replied, still looking mus
ingly ut the fire; "the marrige garments
heve been prepared an the guess heve
been bidden an though you wuzn't bid
den, yit, es | said afore, you'll be welcome
nm honored gues'."
AS was in no particular hurry / con.
c1uded to accept an invitation so cordially
given, and laid down on the mattress that
had been spread on the floor for my ac-
commodation, thinking Of the happy go
lncky way in which people in the country
get married.
About noon the next day the guests
who had been hidden began tie arrive
some on foot, some on long legged horses
and some on short legged ponies, while
others came in rickety wagons drawn by
oxen that looked as though they might
have been imported from the kingdom of
Lilliput, and from that time out there
was fun and feasting-that is, il potatoes
and pork served in various ways can be
said to constitute feast.
About sunset q man Keeling drunk rode
up and was helIe off of his horse.
''How are yer jedgef" said mine host.
"H'llo, Stringf'ler," said the jedge,
looking around stupidity at the assembled
guests, who were laughing and giggling,
''which's tn 'cuseds'
'Why, you amt in co'rt, jedge," re-
piled Stringfellow. "This here's mar
riage feas' yer've come to-yer've come
here to marry my two gals, Name an