Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-03-07

up W tnt ElOufueIb USuSut ah NL
riz, so dignifed, an went for'ard, !
tuck a trifle int'rust myself an went
up with a passle o. men fellers to be
prayed fur.
'fAtter meetin' / fined House out.
side; l felt just as BACKYARD bout goin'
nigh his daughter as before. AS l ex-
pected, he axed me to dinner an l
went long. There were three or four
feflers, mostly from our settlement, the
| last one of EN- a-hankerin' arter Mary,
jist lack so many bees a-buzzin' around
o fresh flower.
Il said nothin' to her nor them
mother. | was a layin' low-some'n'
toll me that when it come to q stretch
Wouldn't be no furder behind AN any
the rest. The other fellers went ON
ahead 18th the two women an / shuttled
my deck O. guards with the ole man-
you fellers II see how the game was
played out
Purity soon Mrs. House she drop
ped back with us, said she couldn't
stan Their foolish chatterin'. Then !
proceeded TO git better acquainted
with heH l talked to her about the
preachin' an SIGH matters as women
o. her age most generally keer fur.
when we got TO the cabin we all
went in an tuck seats. / don't think
! ever sot down to a better dinner, un-
less il was at camp meetin' whar
people them times usu1ly tried their
se'ves.
'Well, after that I went han toler'-
BILE often; mighty nigh ever time
meetin' some other fellers q hangin'
round.
when they was present / made a
pint to have mighty leetle to say to
them. ! ginerilly put in my time a
| conversin' with her father or mother,
an / did the right thing sartin, fur
they was most al'ays a-praisin' OF me
in M way or a mother.
"An' moreover, q blin' man could q
seed that Mary wasn't satisfied with
that sort o. arrangement As soon as
/ tuck notice O. her oneasiness / got
wuss at il. Every blessed time the
| other fellers nd swarm aroun' I'd de-
| liberately move my cheer across TO the
old folks, or ef they wasn't convenient
I'd git squar up an light out.
But on the other han, when me
and herd be alone the best of 'em
couldn't ahead me off.
well, things rocked on in that way
for a month, they'd progressed fur
enough, / lowed, SO ! considered I'd
fetch IN TO a focus.
Zone night in August think it
was about the third Monday, if / rec
ollect right came by to take her TO
a big party at Ford's. II was a leetle
furder'n two miles; we was a-goin' TO
take it afoot. II was a cle'r, moon
shiny night-jest ftten fur what / had
in mind.
II never seed 'er look as fine sence
I'd been a-knowin' of her. We went
down the big road, her on one side an
me on tother-about the length Of a
wagon axle betwixt us; she wasn't
willin' fur me to get higher. In fact,
she seemed to be more TEDIOUS AN I'd
ever seed her before.
Boys, / want to remark Jest here
that thar is a mighty big difference in
the way town people and country peo-
pie do their courtin'. I've seed both
sorts. Town folks always have plenty
to say, an are easy enough about it,
but when a country gal on a fellerg git
ready to pop the question they are
more tongue tied n new born babies.
Lord, I'd thought up the most
natcherl kind Of speech to say, but !
couldn't do it TO ave me.
"Fust thing / knowed we'd done
passed the forks, not far from Ford's,
and i hadn't opened my mouth; more
over, the road seemed to be a-passin'
under our feet same as eff ives behind
O trottin' boss. / knowed that
wouldn't do, but ! didn't know how to
better II.
I'D crossed over on to her side o. the
road, but that was as fur as ! advanced.
/ felt powerful inclined 10 drap back a
step behind 'er, fur it vas mighty
tieklish to be a-walkin' so nigh her,
an her nor me mother alalkin, when
/ knowed she was sartin o. what l
wanted to say.
II seed the light at Ford's on the
rise ahead, an she stopped at the
branch that run across the road TO put
on her shoes an stockin's that she'd
been a-totin', wrapped up in a towel.
In them days it was mighty common
fur gals to presarve their shoes by not
wearin' 'em when they tux a long
walk.
Il drapped back a rod or so, out of
pe~rliteness, pertendin' ter be i~nspectin'
Ford's chance of a corn crap t'other
side the fence. When she riz from
the log she was a-settin' on l fined 'er
agin.
THAR was jist one leetle more shady
stretch betwixt us an the house; so /
knowed ef twas ever done on earth ii
had 10 be then. Suddenly a thought
struck me. | made up my mind at
I'd grab her an kiss 'er smack dab in
the mouth; she'd understan' my mean
in an thar wouldn't be no particular
use in mother one o. us a-talkin'
over il.
II changed sides with 'er an got q
trifle higher. An, jist before we
re'ched the end o. the shade, ! flung
my left arm aroun' her an'drawed her
squar ngin me; an, fore she knowed
what was up, Id slapped it TO her
right in the mouth.
'She turned on me an'clawed wuss'n
a wildcat. an jer0ed out'n my holt. i
couldn't a belt her no more'n n baby
could a eel in water. Then she went
on ahead O. me likc a tornado, thout
loodn' back, an went into the front