Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-10-07
Tue CYCLONE DID IT.
ByoIe1 Waters

acre anu LoN EuCn At pala 4ul ass etS-N
clothes. 1t was the accepted belief that u
Bud ever got up spunk enough" to pro
pose before Betty got tired Of waiting for
him. there would be a grand wedding IN
due time. and they. the lovers, would live
happy ever after" But girls have resented
unreasonable delay In such matters. and
feminine pique Is essentially pure contrari-
Mesa humor in which young women do
that which they would rather not do and
which nobody expects them to DO, for the
simple reasons that they would prefer not
to do It and that nobody expects them to.
The proven, about cutting OF ones nose to
spite ones face. undoubtedly owes Its
origin to this trait Of iemlninity. and is
strictly applicable TO but one sex.
Not that there was any urgent need for
haste. or fixed limit OF option. In the par
ucular case with which mis- narrative has
to do. Betty was IS. It was simply fact
and the fact that 1t was a fact is more or
less pertinent. that Bud Strickland, though
on more than one or two occasions he had
made honest and deliberate preparations for
proposing. had never proposed marriage to
Betty Pittman. So far as results went be
might indeed have in mind all along. as a
rule 0; conduct, the old nursery rhyme:
The King Of France,
With forty thousand men.
Marched up the hill and
Then marched hack again"
The only popular doubt in connection with
the AFFAIR. aside from that based upon Buds
absurd bazhfulness. was as 70 the form Of
ceremony whether 1t would DO Methodist or
Baptist. The Widow Strickland vas de-
yout partisan Methodist and the Widow
Pltman an uncompromisiug Baptist. II
was hard to imagine a compromise between
them. Airs. strickland had recruited for
her husbands regiment = company which
was all Methodist. hJn he's brother. tue
captain 10 the last private in the rear
ranks, and she mad fought every one Of her
own battles Ia life upon ilentlcally the
same principle. Mrs, PllJmau Aoped she
vas charitable. but it was beyond ner CONF
prehenslon nov Methodist could really and
] truiy nope 10 get 20 heAl Ell, a. least without
some SORT OF special. post mOrtem disponsA-
| ton.
| Yet there were no better ueighb5rs in the
/ world than these same women. They nursed
| the sick. they gave TO the poor, Insy prac-
/ uced the same true religion. only calling II
] By different names and eXagserauus. as
/ me best OF human Kind are prone TO do, the
| importance Ot name. They were friendly
| toward eAch other. and even in the mater
/ OF churches and doctrines each had re-
spect, not to say admiration, for the other S
! honesty IN error. II was a cherished hope
! with each. u At so good woman as the
| other might yet be led into the true gospel
path and die u a proper faith
| betty Putnam IVES a picture It would do
/ ones heart good 10 look upOn-a 1.-The bodied.
! bu ght-eyed bit OF a gTl. radiant Of youth
and health. She haa big blue eyes and
waving brown hair with a CLINT Of sunshine
| In Il. a face that dimpled and rippled even
/ m enfarfh--yarv d4n4raugly "a nttt
something about 1t which conveyed the i'm
| preston that. II she happened not TO be
singing, she was always upon the point Of
! turning her happiness into song. She rather
| affected big glnghsm sun bonnets, as II only
TO chow that, even In a sun bonnet, she was
the prettiest girl in Fayette County
bud was twenty -one years old and a frac'
tion OF an inch more than six feet tall
| possessed OF musclcs and endurance thai
| made him worth three ordinary men at
| log-roling or u house-ralsing Hn had
| generous endowment Of common sense III
was the "Arst vale man" in that section o.
| Georgia: his corncnb Was a type OF plenty
his stock and his cattle and his pigs all bu
monopolized the blue ribbons annually a
the tri-county fair.
Yes" Mrs Pittman would say OF Bud
"he comes Of good stock ef he is Of
Methods. which likely he wouldn' be e
he hadn' ice been born so, an as llkell
bein' In er church with no bottom to it,"
Err good p0ert GAL Mrs. STRICKLAND
would say Of Betty, an but fer her beln
or Baptls', which aint so bad as 1t nigh
be, seeln' as she is too young TO raj
know, Elizabeth PttmGn will make som
man or mighty good wife"
The Widow Strickland, II may be noted
always referred to Methodists by the name
and pieces Of names by which they wer
commonly knOwn-llke Jim and Bob an
Joe. In speaking Of Bspusts, as In refer
ring to Elizabeth Strickland. she woul
use the full name given at baptism, a
| though the Formally. discriminating some
what after a fashion which she believe
would be made on the last day. when IN
sheep are TO be separated from the goats
gave proper notice that she was not OF thel
oread--;hat her acquaintance with them wa
not so close as that which might. ant
indeed. should, exist among Methodists
Bud was "venturesome" and ''gallus
enough In the company Of men, havln
ready tongue and the assurance Of ma
tive wit, but in the presence OF women b
was difldent even to awkwardness. An
OF all women, most dlfident. most awk
ward In the presence OF wee sweet Bett
, Pittman. wLe-weli, who liked him yer
. we'll, indeed
The Pittmans lived in little white hous,
nearly covered with vines, on the north
east corner OF the square. In the cento
OF the square was, OF course, the court
, house. The stricklands lived two mile
out on the old Carrolton road, just be
yond Ginger Cake Creek. Bud was 1
, town every day or two and nearly Away
, on Sunday, invariably with some pre
text OF a mission for calling at the Wido,
+ Plttman's-a Jar " honey or a bag Z
, roastn' ears for the mother, popgun or
WHISTLE Tor Parks or pocketful of sweet
shrubs for Mary Ellen. He didn't deceiy
himself by Imagining that these clrcui,
, and pretenses deceived anybody; no, nc
, even Parks or Mary Ellen.
so amt as sensible IS a ostrich" Blu
plainly declared TO himself, cause / kpo,
] amt hid when l stick my head down /
the sand. and 4 ostrich does that wa
! cause he really don't know any bc,ts,
! guess I'm small potatoes and mighty fe,
In hill when 1t comes TO women"
, He Determined a hundred times TO driy
, right up to Betty Pitlman's house. wal
. boldly in and say;
, Betty, marry me-"
Or something equally abrupt and to III
point. with some such idea Ia view h
had whipped UP hls horses a mile our I
town, BY way Of getting good start. ouiet
eniug the pace most valorousIv a. n
. nearcd the scene Of action, trying not !
think In order not to hesitate. ard ali
, urging on the dorsey as II he fancied n
: momentum got up on the way would fse
I him going over obstacles To conclusIop a
the momentum got IN running aiuot helu
one In making a jump. He Mould ~
! leap out OF the wagon hurrieily as N nfrsi
, OF losing, by senond's delay. the imnof,l
! OF What he had already accomplished. and
and thon suddenly decide 10 son a, ~
4 post office to get Mrs. Pittman's man ,
carry over, og 70 stop and buy parks son,
marbles which he had promised or /
= stop and brush tho dust or mpd IN ~
. elpthes. Ihe continuity OF his purpose b,