Middletown transcript., 1892-04-28

her to him and kissed her in spite 0
her struggles.
"My! amt you strongl" she sait
half-ruefully and half-admiriugly al
she shrugged her shoulders. "I
you'd use little more o. that chopin
wood, dad wouldn't "a lost 8 much
money by yeh.''
Lyme grew grave.
''There's the hog in the fence
Merry; what's yer dad goin t say
/" About what"
"About our gitti'n' married thi.
spring"
II guess you'd better find out what
I'm a-goin' t'-say, Lyme Gilman, fore
you pitch into dad"
"I knoO. what you re a-goin t say.
mo, y don't"
eyes. but I do, though"
Well, ask me and see, if you think
you're so smart. Jest as like s moi
you'll slip up"
"All right; here goes. Marietty
Bacon, amt you an Lyme Gilman
goin' t. be married ?"
"No, sir, we amt laughed the girl,
snatching up the plate aud darting
away to the house, where she struck
up "Weeyily Wheat" and went busi-
ly on about her cooking. Lyme threw
a kiss at her, and fell to work on his
log with startling energy.
William Bacon was o2e of the rich.
est farmers in Cedar county, and held
half a dozen farms in Dry Run town.
ship. He was a giant in strength
even now when his hair was getting
grizzled, and his, voice, like that Of
Jephthah, would quell lion.
Lyman, therefore looked forward to
his interview with the "old man"
with as much trepidation as he had
ever known, though commonly he had
little fear Of anything.
Marietta was not only the old mans
only child but his housekeeper, his
wife having long ago succumbed to
the ferocious toll of the farm. It was
reasonable to suppose, therefore, that
he would surrender his claim on the
girl reluctantly. Rough as he was.
he loved Marietta strongly, and would
find it exceedingly hard to get along
without her..
Lyman mused on these things as he
drove the cleaning ak into the huge
maple logs. He was something more
than the usual hired man, being a
lumberman from the Wisconsin piner-
les, where he had sold out his interest
in camp not three weeks before the
day he began work for Bacon. He
had nice " little wad o. money"
when he left the camp and started for
La Crosse, but he had been robbed in
his hotel the first night in the city,
aud was left nearly penniless. 1t was
a great blow to him, for, as he said,
every cent of that money "stood fer
hard knocks an poor feed. When |
smelt of it could jest see the cold
frosty mornin's and the late nights.
I could feel the hot SUN on my back
like it was when l worked in the har-
vest-feld. By jingo! 1t kind O.
made my toes curl up"
But like the brave fellow that he
was he went out to work again, and
here he was chopping wood in old man
Bacon's woodward, thinking busily
on the scene which had just passed be-
tween him and Marietta.
"By jingo" he said all at once,
stopping short, with the ax on his
should der. "If I hadn't "a been rob-
bed l wouldn't "a come here-I
never'd met Merry. Thunder and
Jimson root Z! Wasn't that a narrow
'scape ?"
And then he laughed SO heartily
that the girl looked out of the window
again to see what in the world he was
doing. He had bis hat in his hand
and was whacking his thigh with it.
Lyman Gilman, what in the world
ails you to-day? It's perfectly ridic-
alous the way you yell and talk t.
y'rself out there on the chips. You
beat the hens, l declare il you don't"
Lyme put on his hat and walked
up to the window, and, resting bis
great bare arms on the sill, and his
chin on his arms, said !:
Merry, I'm goin' t. tackle dad this
afternoon. He'll be settin' up the
new seeder, and I'm goin' t. climb
right on the back of his neck. He's
est gut t give me chance"
Marietta looked sober in sympathy.
Well. P'raps it s best t. have it
over with, Lyme, but someway l feel
kind O. searey about it.
Lyme stood for long time looking
n at the window, watching the light
looted girl as she set the table in the
middle of the sun-lighted kitchen
1oor. The kettle hissed, the meat siz.
lied, sending up delicious odor, a
hen stood in the open door aud sang
! sort of CHEEKY halfhuman song,