Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-06-27
it's TO be A pienic. and everybody TO bring

You have 20 sell your horse at a sacrifice-Tl
buy him. guess that's all now. except you
want to say that I'm in il with all my might
was the first man that gave you any encourage
ment and that I've promised to see you through
| no matter how much trouble il takes. mus
make sure Of the extra trade, You know. We
can talk about the rest in the morning. Better
find time along about the middle of the even.
ing to drop in at the old mans and let Luce
know what you're doing. and that it's being
done to please her father; that sort of thing
don't do any harm when a fellows making ~
to gal. The thing will work all right if its
managed according to business principles"
'Leatherton," said the young man, you We
been taking my breath away, but now that I'm
beginning to get it back want to say that you re
the most hard-hearted, practical fellow that
ever heard of. l do believe you'd be equal to
the job OF starting revival of religion in this
town, just for the sake of waking up trade"
Good idea First rate 1 never thought Of il
before but III do it as soon as cool evenings be-
gln- Much obliged to you for the notion; L II take
you into the scheme as soon the time comes.
Now hurry along and get the boys walked up.
Say. i wouldn't waste any time over Luce this
| evening. Here she comes down the street; Just
leave her to me and I'll explain everything to
| her"
Clay Burnitt started of in what is known as
! a state OF mismind.' He had long thought
Lucia Purley the only woman in the world
whom he could love, and he sometimes had
! dared to think his regard was returned in some
measure. but the girls father had often de-
clared that his daughter should not marry until
there came along man who was like what men
used to be-a man who was not at all likely to
appear. Sleepy and out Of the way though
Bcrryburg was it had not been off Of the route
OF the march of progress. The young men had
learned to play croquet and forgotten how to
pitch dollars. They had neglected the local
| half-mie race track of their fathers, where
every man rode his own horse and bet upon it,
Placing the money in a friends hands; now
they trained horses only to sell them and the
only races they bet upon were run race
tracks IN cities hundreds of miles away by
horses they never had seen: they sent their bets
by mail or express to men whom they had never
| seen-Inen called bookmakers whom they
never wanted to see unless to punch their heads
lor suspected tampering with owners or jockeys
to make the right horse lose. Truely such
times were evil and made young men good for
nothing, Luce Purley with her splendid face
anu inquire and heart was much too precious o
creature to be given to any man who had not
heart enough to love horse for its own sake.
How Clay Burnitt got through that after
noon, and successfully, too, he never under
stood until he found time to think which was
not until the Fourth had passed He had the
pleasure, however, of assuring himself, as he
went to bed, that nearly all the young fellows
In the village had fallen in heartily with his
plan. and were willing to take part in a Fourth
of July celebration or anything else that would
vary the monotony of village life, and that the
plan OF having lot of the prettiest girls in the
village to pose for the various states of the
mon went right to the hearts of all. For a
little while there seemed danger of everything
going to pieces through the insistance OF each
young man that his favorite girl should repre-
sent the state in which Eerryburg was situated,
but Clay settled the matter automatically and
without giving himself away by showing that
the honor of posing for the state belonged by
rlght to Luce Purley, whose father had origin
ally suggested the celebration. When all tine
young men agreed with him Clay suddenly
found himself frightfully jealous. for Luce ap-
Peared to be everybody iavorite. Clay never
had talked love to her. for it seemed unfair, in
view of her fathers ideas. and because she Was
the Old mans all. Could it be that others had
not been SO fair and honorable Of spirit?
During the next few days he did not have
much time for either love or jealousy. Leather
ton had assured everybody that Clay Burnitt
had assumed entire management of the affair,
ana that he was the proper person to be con-
suited by any one who wished to ask questions.
30 the young man was consulted and driven
half crazy by villagers and farmers who wanted
To do something but had not the slightest idea
rs to how 1t should be done. He appointed
committees. passed subscription papers, head
ing each one with a liberal sum, he drilled the
mounted guard which to escort the stars
and stripes III the procession, he wrote invita-
tons to distinguished men in the country
round, including one to the governor of the
state, he made business lively for the local
telegraph operators while searching the state
Tor cannon and brass band, and he talAed
With women who came to tell him what
Treatments they would provide until he felt
that the leading features of tine Fourth would
be mountain of home made cake and young
man VINO had lost his mind.
In addition to all this there were two great
and special burdens from which he could not
Tree MS mind, sleeping or waking. One was
the duty OF properly reading the Declaration
OF Independence and the other was that Luce's
father had treated the scheme with apparent
coldnesS and suspicion from the moment he
heard OF It. His daughter was his informant
bringing the news direct from Leatherton's
store and embetlishing it somewhat with the
treasures OF her own Imagination, but the old
man listened critically and replied that no
young fool nowadays could manage such q
thing In the oid-iime style. Afterward he lis
tened to whatever might be said about it by
his neighbors and the loungers at the store
and nobody talked of anything else in those
few eveutful days-but he gave no signs of APP
proval and it appeared from what Clay could
gather at secondhand that the Old man really
| resented, on the part of past generations, the
| attempt to restore the Fourth oil July as he had
known il.
10 make matters worse. Luce also acted
| strangely. Hitherto she had been among the
most enthusiastic Of the great body Of young
women who welcomed any change that Glanced
to disturb the placdity of life in the sleepy old
| village, and she always had been frank and I'M
embarrassed when she met Clay Burnitt but
now she was as reserved and non-committal as
If the proposed celebration had been devised
by rival belle. Clay could not understand it,
| nor could he look to any one for sympathy, for
Lea.herton, who was the only sharer OF his
| secret, was giving his entire mind to his own
personal interest in the celebration.
The young man forced a stiff upper lip and
determined to succeed in spite of everything,
even should he afterward be obliged to leave
the town with light pocketand heavy heart.
| II the old man and his daughter held them
| selves aloof lie would have the sweet revenge OF
showing them that they were alone. He sue
ceeded in interesting all the local pastors
and politicians, secured the Judge of
the circuit court and even found o Con-
gresham from another district who
was willing to deliver an Grafton. A Jolly
| southerner who had strayed north after the
| war and married at erryburg suggested that u
| bar becue would not be a bad thing at an out
door celebration of the Fourth Clay promptly
| supplied at his own expense q fat OK to he
| Roasted whole and spent day on the Kentucky
side OF the river in searching for men who were
equal to the task of preparing 50 large a morsel
| for the table. As he returned from his quest,
successful but weary, and stopped a moment in
| front of l.eatherton store he heard the voice
| of Luce's father saving:
barbecue! Don't tell me anythin' about it.
Nobody nowadays can do anythin' Of that kind
| without maxim fizZle Of it,"
| clay slipped nolselessly and deiectedly away
| and repeated the entire Declaration of indie
pendence before he got his heart back into its