The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1897-12-25
RUFE'S ~LOVEMAKING.

II was the year l DullC my store anu
got the Corners Postotfice, which, by
the good will of Providence and my
friends, I've held ever since, no matter
who was I'm at Washington, that l
first took notice of Shiftless Rufe Dun
ming. He lived with his father and
mother just across the fats at the foot
of West Hill, in the edge Of the big
woods. You know, all this region was
pioneered late, and although nearly
everything was cleared up on this side
of the valley and the pine timber had
long been cut off the flats, there vas
a heavy growth of mixed hardwood and
hemlock to the west that stretched
miles. Here and there In the little
Openings on the side Of the West
Hill log houses were still to be seen,
and the folks living in them were some
times pretty primitive.
The Cummings were probably the
most n%O-account of the lot. They lived
in Il little shanty old Rufe had knocked
together out of slabs given him by the
sawmill boss. They had only a little
patch OF ground, and they lived on
what they raised, the fish they caught,
and what they trapped and shot. They
didn't steal, as l know of, but they were
all mortal shiftless. and young Rufe
was worse than either his father or his
mother. In fact, he was 50 ALFRED lazy,
IL l must put it that way. that even the
old man felt discouraged about him.
Young Rufe was % before anybody
suspected that he could possibly have
any ambition al all. But one day he
says Kitty Sylvester. But was the
daughter of the first manager.o of the big
Barkley estate. Old man Barkley-the
grandfather of the present Barley,
who never near the ~estate-had
just put the place in n managers hands
and moved away with his family. Now,
Kitty was u real sensible, go-ahead girl.
She knew the Sylyesters were as good
as anybody around the Corners, IL not
a le-etle better. and she tried to live I'D
10 the family reputation in all ways.
When a girl, her mother had been ia
nous for the work she could do, and
Kitty was not n bit behind. Every
morning in the winter she was ND early
and got breakfast by candlelight. All
day long h wove carpet. or quilted
comforters, or spun stockings yarn, or
did something else that counted. Ev-
cry morning in the summcr she was IN
with the II n and every day when It
went dow she had churned and work
ed moro butter or made more cheese.
or in some other way done more work
than any woman anywhere round could
do. And she was the sayingest girl In
the county. Everybody said she was
the smartcst young woman going. and.
naturally, she was considered a highly
desirable catch. But she held herself
mighty shy of them all FOR awhile. and
1t was regularly given out that no
young man need ever think of keeping
company with Kitty Sylvester who
wasn't fully her match, both at work
Ing and saving. So when It was noised
about that young Rufe, of all the world.
had got him n pair of fine boots. n
rltfied shirt, docskin pantaloons, and a
b~roadcloth coat. and had begun to shine
MP 10 Kitty. there was Il general un-
roar. Folks couldn't believe it at first.
but ii wasn't anywhere near as hard To
swallow 3S what came afterward.
You see, The o%utgivlnS that had been
made abont tie kind Of chap Kitty's
husband would have to be had shifted
the young fellows ont a whole lot. Most
of them were willing 10 work and Will
ing to save, and they all admired Kitty,
for she vas a. good looking as she was
industrious GEd frugal, but her stand
ard was so high 1t scared the boys, and
bcaux got to be mighty seldom Oh the
estate.
Now. as 1t turned out, Shiftless RUFF
thought more of Kitty than any of the
others. and at the very beginning she
gave him a little encouragement. Not
much. TO be sure. but enough 10 reform
him completely. He WAS naturally
mighty bashful when he called at the
big house, all fixed uD In clothes he
wasn't used to. and Kitty at first pre-
tended she didn't understand that he
had ONT 10 see her.
III cali my father" she said. "Per-
haps you want 10 talk about cutting
some cordwood."
$50 said Rufe, directly, II want TO