Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1897-02-25

they married. Indeed, 81 was sort az
condition precedent to- the holy estate. !
Both happened before the snbjeot Of
them was one md twenty. Consequently
there was Q mild surprise through the
Asbury neighbor that Stephen, at /
IS. was still singh ard asinner. "a sin.
xner, too, of deepest dye, as the people,
called Methodist reel oned such things
He knew several games At cards, owned
the best quarter horse In the county.
was suspected Of having been to more
than lone cock lght--above all was q
dancer Of renown. And dancing was in
Squire Hughes eyes the abominationi Of
desolation. He knew 1t only By hearsay.
1T was his proudest boast that he had
never been nearer than 100 yards to
such carryins on. Notwithstanding,
he said no word to. Stephen. His boys
once set free were free. he was wontito
remark. But on his own plantation he
was master. Once, when Stephen went
across the yard whistling 4Old Dan
Tucker, !" his father called him indoors
and asked the circuit rider who hap.
pened to be visiting them to .'hold
prayers IN behalf Of this especial sin
and sinner. Stephen knelt through tin
! outward calm, id inward fury. His an
swer to twas bran dance in the grove
adjoining his fathers farthest outlying
lands That was three years back Ev-
cry summer since the dance had been
repeated, with Stephens name heading
the list Of managers In fact, it came
to be q recognized social event and di-
vided honors fairly with the other great
occasion-Asbury protracted meeting.
4 The two assemblies indeed fairly marked
! the line Of social cleavage betwixt goats
] and sheep. The young folk, left to
themselves, would have been nobly i'm.
partial Few pious elders, however, had
Squire Hughes habit Of letting children.
E; 60 their own gait. There were many
freethinking followers Of Tom Paine
among the settlers, who came thither
from Virginia and the Carolinas. Dane.
ing was their chosen pastime,s and came
to be to their pious neighbors symbolic
of unbelief. ". -. ( !:
: That was busy week for Stephen.
Besides his own crop, lie had charge of
the plantation Work was pressing on
every hand. In addition, the bran. dance
was nearly all on his shoulders, and
that meant at least three days ont Of. the
crop. He rose early and lay down late
and by dint of doing two mem g work
himself got affairs in such shape that
the most critical could not say he had
not time to 60 a-pleashring. The strain
made him only intensely happy. His
heart was in it all, and he had much
ado to keep reels and breakdowns from
bubbling constantly over his lips There
was very much more in it than days
merrymaking. Until two months back
he had never; seen; q girl that could
make his heart beat faster. One look at
Nancy Eton: sent him head over ears in!
love with her: She lived ten miles
away, but Stephen managed to cross.
them at least once week. In reward,
he saw Nancy, sat opposite her at table,
maybe exchanged a@dozen words with
her.. The rest Of the. time Major Elton
held the floor. He was Nancy's uncle
and guardian and had no other thought
than that Stephen came solely for the
benefit of his understanding through the
majors elegant conversation. # Nancy
herself was wiser, she made no sign Of
it She was q bit Of round, dark, rosy,
dimpled prettiness, with a small,
sprightly wit and full Of gay good hu.5.