The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1897-08-31

Well, after Bert went homo an
that feller stayed on, my troubles | O.
gun. l watched him, did. Ha
read poetry to Jane M"~;'~, an WINS
ns perlite rs q duck in mud hole (.
They took walks together, hunted
flowers and the like, and 1 saw that
he wus progressin' finely in the art
OF courtin'. But wus he in earnest
or flrtin'? That WIS the point I
wus bent on unriddlin'. He got to
callin' her "Janio" an she called
him "Tommy" when ,hey thought
they wus alone. Before no an
Jeems it wus alters "NIiss jones'
an "Mr. Smms." Well as | WIS a
sayin', | watched em; an [ was soon
convinced that he wus ilirtin', an
soon convinced tothrr way. Pm n
purity good judge Of character an
nature fer common, but 1 own that I
couldn't understand that fol!er. He
had guitar an could sing the
sweetest [ ever heurn. He would
sing an play fer Jnno Marier a
mighty lovin' song. fHrgit how it
went, mt it had these words in it:
ono promise need bc spoken
Breathe no broken sishs,
If you love me darling,
Tell me with your eyes"
But Jane hiarier acted Sensible
an kept her eyes in her lap md did
not tell him. But that only made
him moro anxious to find out her
feelin's, an he'd. sing tho most pa
thetic au' sentimental stuff that l
ever hearn. One song made It ap-
pear that Jane Maricr had tirtcd
with him.
1t was:
"Oh! yes, it was only flirting,
Only playing II part,
Only Il life made weary,
Only Il broken heart"
l admit got sorry fer him, an |
thought I'd give Jane Maricr II
piece of my mind. But somethin'
turned up before l got the chance
that completely turned mo round, so
to speak. That feller lost leaf
outen memorandum book of his'n
an found it-an', yes, 1 red it. At
top was these words: "A list of the
girls to whom I have proposed and
been accepted. 1 will marry the one
whose na1ne occupies tho last limo on
the page"
Well! There wus IS names on
that page an two lines at the bottom
still empty! My niece's name, Mary
Jones, was in the list an the pro.
posal wus dated fer the same day me
n Jr"ms went to Newberry, an 1
Se' II at once that Tom Simms wus
the fell l. had heard making love
to Mary that night | wus taken fer
ghost. There wus one name be-
low NJ ry's an still two moro lines!
Well, vowed that Jane Marier
snonidn'i be on the line next to the
last, an [ vowed it should be on the
last, but that ho shouldn't have hor.
I didn't khow how | wus ,roin' to uc.
cumplish my revenge on tia, hateful
male ilirt, but l knowed I wonld
somel. .ow, ul' I'll tell you how for
tune he}re' me out.
III, ro WIS goin' to be Il maske-
rade party that night about three
miles from home, at Squire Fenton's.
a maskerado party is where every
body is disguised an wear masks or
dominoes over their faces, an you
don't know who nobody is. 1 had
done told Jane Marier that she
couldn't 60 to any sech carryin' on,
an she had been poutin' about all
day. AS | went back in the house
overheard Il few words that made me
stop an listen. Tom Simms WINS a
saying to Jane Murier:
"Janio, L do want you to go so
much. | think your mother is an
unreasonable old ,al, anyhow. l
want to tell you something tonight,
jamie, and l want to tell you as we
como back home from the party.
Will you go, dearS I'll get you n
mask, a wig, and stylish dress, long
white silk gloves and everything nee
essary for the occasion. I'll bring
them in while your mother is about
supper and you can hide them in
your room. 1ll 80 off and she'll
think I'm gone to the party, and you
can retire early, dress in your mas
querade and I'll place ladder I'M
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