The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1898-03-16
A Frontier Wedding.
By Lou v. Chaplin.

THERE amt no accountin' fer
tastes" said Silas, thoughtfully,
/" specially when it comes to marry
in"
Silas had been Illuminating for an
hour or more in perfect silence, chew
ing straw, and sitting with his back
against stump. his legs stretched out
on the grass, his hat tilted over his
eyes, and a look of contentment upon
his visage. He selected another straw
with great care, and as he cleaned the
stem of his short, black pipe with it,
looked sagely at his crony, Bill, who re-
clined in the shadow of the great oak
tree, his arms crossed under his frowsy
head, and his gaze directed upward
through the pickering leaves to the
lazy clouds floating in the blue sky.
Bill turned upon his side and looked at
Silas, who settled himself back for
his smoke, and continues:
Now there's Mary and me. There
amt one person in thousand who'd
a thought it good MATCH and when |
popped the question Mary tot me her
as shif'less as shifless can be- Mary
said, an I'm a fool, Silas Martin, to
lis'en to you minute Mary didn't I'M
derstan' me very well then, you know,
an fer fact, don't yit, fer she some
times thinks I'm idlin' when I'm work
in my min at a perfectly eNhaustin'
rate"
Bill disguised grin by prodigious
yawn, and Silas meandered on. We'll,
as was sayin', Mary said: You're shift
less, but I'm forehanded myself, an if
you go an marry some woman that's
JUS as shif'less us you are, mischief's
boun' to come of it. You'll be sure to
do JUS that, if l don't have you; it's my
plain duty to take you,' and she did, fer
Mary amt one to snirk duty.
You see in the five years I'd been
courtin' of her she had come to believe
that it was a chance whether knowed
how to look after myself or not an had
got used to bossin' me. Now my gran
dad, the one that rode from Virginny to
Illinoy horseback through the Injun
country, way back in the thirties, he
didn't believe in courtin'."
Didn't" drawled Bill, with just the
proper show of interest.
No. Silas replied, drawing his legs
up and clasping his knees for greater
comfort in leaning against the stump,
IAN gran'dad lowed that courtin' was
'gainst nature and bad fer character
Bill stared at the speaker in some sur
prise, and encouraged by this sign Silas
explained, He looked on it Just as
honest folks looks OH lawn and lowed
that lovers is just like lawyers. They
CANT be homes and win their case.
They JUS bring forward all the facts
and arguments that are in their favor,
and keep back all that amt, even if they
don't lie right out, and most of them
does"
That's human natur, anyhow" pro-
tested Bill, land so your gran dad was
wrong"
Yes, maybe, but he lowed that court
in was investin' lot of time and some
times money and gamblin' on the out
come. He used to say there wuzn't any
more reason why man and woman
shouldn't make a match of it without
any nonsense than that birds should fool
around half the season and lose their
rest at night singin' an twitterin' afore
they mated and built their nests. The
best way, he thought, was to mate first
and get in the habit OF courtin' after
ward. 1t makes marryin' more salts
fyin' if it was understood that the court
in'was to last life time, and no gam
bin on the result of the sparllin'. lido
just believe there would be fewer I'M
hitchin's and breakin' away from the
married traces if there wuz more court
in afterward and less before. Now,
gran'dad had experience, and expert
ence counts for something, don't it?"
''Never been married myself" grunt-
ed Bill, so | cant say"
"Gran'dad was great believer in first
impressions. He said that folks has
kind of instinct, like cattle and horses,
and it guides us best in first impress
sions, and if we'd only remember that
there would be fewer mistakes in mar
ryin'. Now, when he was maxim that
ride from Virginny to Illinoy he fell
in with circuit rider, camped with him
that night and travelled on with him.
The next day. they came to settlement
where the preacher was goin' to hold
quarterly meetin'. 1t was down in
Posey county, Indiany, in clearin' in
the woods, and all the houses was log
cabins with puncheon floors and stick
andmud chimleys. They was the first
houses gran'dad had seen in four days.
travel, and they looked mighty in
vitin'.
THE preacher went to one house and
top gran'dad he'd better go to another
that he pinted out, for it might not be
convenient for one family to entertain
them both. Backwoods folks was
mighty clever, but sometimes they was
scarce in the matter of pilates and