Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1888-08-16

acrost. There want nothin' in it you want
| ed, was theyf' he asked, as though people
| were in the habit of travelling with baggage
for which they had no earthly use.
| Eyes, she admitted, ''every thing have
was in it, except what / have in this bag"
'JewhitakerI' exclaimed the other, ''ef
| you'd only chuck somethin' at me to pay for
bein' such loon, I'd feel better. spose,
though, you hsin't got nothin' you want to
waste on such fool"
"You see it showed, so / didn't much ex-
| pect We, though Of course I'd hev come eff it
had showed bilin' water, an ez I'd been
a-waitin' for We nigh on to three hours,
was so consummedly tickled to think you
come didn't stop to think about nothin'
else. Can you git along without it tonight ~
30, yes" she answered, II don't care, if
| it isn't lost"
''Then that's all right, " he said in a greatly
relieved tone, getting in the sleigh beside
her. "rn get it for ye to-morrer eff hev to
overhaul every train in the State with my
own hands. G'longw
| The horse moved little, but refused to
start.
''Git up'' he called louder, ''what ais
yer' Then in different tone he exclaimed
oval, by gracious. eff 1 amt the biggest
fool tibet ever-I don't know what amt
unhitched the critterp'
| While the crestfallen stranger proceeded
to remove this slight obstacle to their loco
motion, May burst into hysterical laughter.
II don't blame We none for laughin'," he
said. 81 shouldn't find no fault eff We said
you wouldn't ride one step with such a
knownothin' ez be''
As there was no house in sight, and the
srow was nearly two feet deep and still
falling, no inviting alternative seemed to
present itself, and he got back into the
sleigh, saying plaintively: 81 amt always
this way, but was so beiiggled at SEEM We
don't seem to know whether I'm a-foot or
| a-horseback"
May was too bewildered and frightened to
make much reply to the strangers self-sc-
cusations.
She supposed that he was the s'hiring COM
| mittee'' who was to meet her at Hunters
vile, where he lived, and take her to his
home, where she was to board, but her
natural timidity and morbid fear of doing
any thing to attract attention" kept her
from asking any questions.
The night was very dark. A lantern
hanging on the dashboard cast grotesQue
shadows of the horse on the roadsides, from
which, now a snow drift, now an evergreen
loaded with snow, apparently leaned for
ward for an instant, and then drew back
into impenetrable gloom.
A vague sense of horror added itself to
the inconsistencies of the trembling girl.
Perhaps the man beside her was no com
mon-place committeeman at all-indeed this
executive stranger was very unlike the idea
committee to whom she had sent her little
rewritten, re-punctuated letters, fearful
lest his critical eye would discover some I'm.
pardonable grammatical error which would
make her timid aspirations toward the
dignity of a school ma'am absurd in his
sight.
Perhaps he might be some robber who in.
habitated the Businesses of these gloomy
mountains who had left her trunk for some
not very obvious reason of his own, and
who would shortly add the contents of her
bag and purse to his ill-gotten spoils. His
features were not visible in the darkness
and might wear an expression Of inconceiv-
able ferocity, but the tones of his voice were
so sensible, kindly and whole-souled that
she felt an unaccountable sense of comfort
and security whenever he spoke, though in
the long intervals of silence that fell upon
them As they iourneyed slowly and labori-
ously through the snowdrifts and darkness,
4
''You're little thing, amt yea" he finally
remarked, abruptly.
YES" she faltered, feeling that he might
consider this an insurmountable obstacle in
the way of her managing the big boys in
| school.
"Would that be any objection!"
Land, no." he responded, reassuringly.
~ like little women"
May had a dim, underlined feeling that
when school was regulated by the likes
and dislikes of the committee, there was an
| imperative call for civil service reform
| somewhere.
a wild and improbable tale she had once
heard of a school committee who always in
sisted on kissing all the female teachers
| flashed across her mind along with vague
fear that this man beside her might resem-
BILE him in this respect, but she blushingly
dismissed it as an immodest suggestion, IN
worthy of any decorous Imagination.
Presently her companion, after clearing
his throat several times preparatory to
| speaking, but not being able to carry his
conversational attempts further than an
| abashed "Gid dap" to his horse, began with
a manifest effort and much unaccountable
confusion and embarrassment, which he
tried vainly to conceal by interpolating
various remarks of encouragement to his
horse: 1--WE got your letters an you've got
mine-g'lang-an I'm suited an pleased ez
-ez-gid dap-but, eff you haint, all you've
got to do is just to say-git out of that-the
word, an 1 shan't find no fault-what yer
doin'-nor blame you none. Pm kind man
do yer want me to hit yer again-ef / do
say it-what ails yeri-an' 1 don't think
you'll ever be sorry, but eff you should
wanter-tend to yer bizness-back out, l
wish you'd say so soon's you can conven-
lent.
May listened to this incoherent harangue
with deepeningof the confusion and alarm
with which this whole adventure inspired
her. She wished, for not the first time, that
she had never thought of teaching school,
but she answered brsvely: 81 don't know
why should withdraw now, If am consid-
cred suitable for the place"
''Thet's the way to talk responded the
| other, with great cheerfulneSS, 'au' here
we be to home"
| The forlorn would-be school ma'am was
again taken in strong arms, carried through
the snow, and this time deposited in queer
little room, with blazing open fire, pre-
sided over by an awkward boy who was the
only occupant of the room.
'Here she is" said her host to the boy,
"an' now take the horse-he amt quite tuck
ered-an' go after the minister quick He
said he'd come, rain or shine, an he's got
| to-"
The examining committee in her native
village had always been the minister, and
she realized with sinking heart that this
energetic man determined to have the CUES
lions of her eligibility for the school de-
cided this very night.