The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1896-06-05
DR.. BUCKLES ADVENTURE,

ties. | would have declined the mouldy-
looking weed that the doctor held toward
me-.
Il only smoke Il pipe" said, stretch
ing the truth little that he might not
feel offended Then pressed my face
against the window and peered out into
the disma country through which we
were running. Now we were plunging
through lonely stretches of dark woods;
now running across wide reaches of new
ly-cleared fields. with here and there a
losh"use rising above the waste of fallen
trees. just visible in the half light of
the moon which was rising above the
mountains few miles away. Follow
ing us as we spun along was Il white.
smooth road that glistened in the moon
llgh1 close to the track. Once in awhile
we lost 1T in the darkness of the woods.
but as quickly as we emerged into the
more open country we could see it at our
SIDE again. hugging us close. which. I re-
land
Fine country, eh?" said DR.. Buckle.
,a, do N . think us my third son. clever
iau. II there ever was one, saws. II
pretty wei. There! Did YOU see that
place where the road crossed a creek on
wooden bridge. That was where they
dropped me.
Dropped you:" ventured inquirng-
"fardon me-. l thought that l had
been telling you about it." returned The
minister, fitting his tile still further back
on his head. what memories the sipht
OF that place cngendcrs! You see, Sir.
some ten years ago l had charge in
TINS very, locality-,at Poleville, five miles
o6wn the road: There were two
other back i'll the country some Nix miles
anu l aiterna:ed between them. The
charge was indeed poor one. but was
struggling young divine then, with n
wife and four little ones to support, and
was glad enough to have Il snug par
sehaSe. il salary of 5000 per year and
an average Of three donation parties per
annum Il was the salary question that
eventually drove me away from the
piare-a change for the better, to he
sure as have now splendid church
Ill Huntington. BY the by. l wish if
SoH ever stop there YOU would give us a
car anu see our new pulpit furniture'
saw that he was prone to wander from
the subject Of his discourse.
An. there | was forgetting nv tale
to speak Of pulpit trappings Your oar
con. The trouble was that fully four
hfthS OF my salary was paid by two
I Rnn,'nrs pom n, wealthy farmers: the
unately for me these families had been
ut ODDS tor years over matter of a
line fence. in the West there wonld
have been some lead exchanged, but
this is Il peaceable country, and so they
contented themselves by uuarreling in
court ana never passing a word else
one exception-Henry Bunder and Kate
Springhouse."
The doctor was evincing such garrulity
that felt little uneasy and broke
again the thread of his story.
,r Nee here. ] think I know the rest
They sang i'll the same choir; they loved
you married, them clpndestinely: salary
cut off; left YOU parsonage, $500 ner
year and three donation parties"
.Irue, true said the divine, stroking
his long beard. ''but that was not what
l was going to tell you about. I pro-
posed to relate the events as they af-
fected me and not the young couple; to
tell you how the wedding ended where
on?'' VAN ~ 7e' "' ~
:. by all means Your pardon I be-
lieved that l had OWNED your tale
I'm general, yes; in detail. no. Bnt to
continue. l was not aware of this OK
ception until one October night just
about ten years ago, when a loud hang
ing at the parsonage door awakened my
wife and me from our sleep. At NY
request Mrs. Buckle went down stairs
to see what it was.
"'Who is there?' she called through
the keyhole.
"'John Bunder.' came the answer.
and he wants Preacher Buckle pretty
quick, too
believing it a matter of Importance
my wife rashly called me down stairs to
attend to the matter in band, while she
retired. And still more rashly, l oDened
the door crack and demanded to know
what was wanted at such an hour.
Its John Bunder and Kate Spring
mousse wants you to marry EN-, preacher
said the big fellow whom 1 saw stamp
have to do it quick
"Indeed,' says l. and this is = nice
hour to wake an honest preacher for
such purpose
And then my curiosity getting the
better of my discretion l unclaimed the
door and opened wider the crack that I
might obtain good view Of the party at
ting in light spring wagon, to which
were attached two lively mules In the
moonlight [ could just discern the small
form of Kate Springhouse, clad in white,
and seated in front beside her burly
lover, young Bunder, realized at once
that this wedding was fraught with not
little danger to me, and hence decided
to act cautiously.
II would prefer that you and your
friends would go elsewhere said % the
man outside. For instance. over the
mountains to Brother -
Before 1 had finished my objection
the girl screamed, They're coming!' The
against the door with such violence that
l: small man as l am, few backward to
the floor with such force as to partially
stun me. When l recovered nv senses
l found myself OIL the hind seat of the
wagon, with a man at either side, and
Henry Bunder, his sweetheart c1inging
to him. before. me, madly lashing the
mules.
"'He has come to- one of the men
whispered.
Kate Springhouse gave little scream
of JOYS which was followed by another
of fear, and an involuntary seizure of
her lovers arm.
~ hear Them he said, but we will
be married before they can catch u.s.
"As 1 sat there in that rough rush
ing: bounding wagon, hatless, with no pro-
lection from the autumn winds other
than light horse blanket my kidnapers
had thrown about me, the words of an
old sermon of mine came back to me,
bringing endless comfort. 1t was from
the first clause of Proverbs l., 17-'Better
is dry morsel.' In that discourse
made point of the fact that anything is
better than nothing; that as we are is
better than not being; that better is a
dry morsel than no morsel. Now if you
refer back to First Kings ii"
Excuse me for interrupting, DOCTOR"
exclaimed. But 1 shall certainly at
tend church in Plunkington to hear your
discourse, but for the present about this
elopement.'' ....~~.
Pardon, PARDON said the minister,
relighting his cigar. Il was wandering,