Evening star., 1900-07-07

Par-son Gentry was, after a sort. king OF
the grass country. In all the length and
breadth of ii only one man dared to make
head againsf his benevolent despotism. lie,
however. stood out stoutly, his conta-
macy Was the fly in the ointment He
was the parsons next 2c.ghbor. ana
like himself owner of a big grass farm AMI
breeder of r.ce horses.
P.arson Gentry loved his horses next TO
his God and his daughter Pcgsy. In
spite of his cloth he trained the bes- of
them. and entered them imparrally for al
the big events. lie made you see a nice
distinction with regard TO the sport o.
kings a horse. he held, might run fo'
money as iEnocently plow for IL Sin
came in with The betting. That was dis
tinctly among diversions which could Re
used in the name of the Lord
Lawson C0Cke. the contumacious one,
was painfully given to it He would bet.
indeed. upon anything. from the speed of
lis best four-ruiler. to whe,he7 the corners
in a given string of fence would count out
odd or even. He was :. handsome fellow
slim. blond. well set Cp, dead shot, hne
dances. possessed vital CT Si:.guiarly
winning tongue. Half the caps in the
county had bs~n set for him ever since he
left off ruulabOutS. but ne went scot nee
until he saw Peggy Gentry. who was as
dark a gypsy, and as IiInplet. as q
cupid
The main line Of social cleavage in grass
country society was religious The larger
Part of the N-iESinians and CarOinians who
had come across the Blue Ridge to occupy
and possess it had been either devout
churchmea or shouting Methodists or Bap-
lists or f'rcSbyierianS. A smaller moiety
held that there was no God. and Tom Paine
q prophet. 1t fiddled and danced and play
ed cards as euergetically as the larger half
prayed and sang The race course was a
sort of neutral ground. where those VINO
yal DllEcI could
without loss Of caste
Peggy and Lawson. however, cid not meet
there but at one of the pioIs Christian
parties where Old-fashioned kissing games
We're the only diversion When 1t came
Peggys turn. she chcse out Lawson 1t
aSjoundad her a little that he would n5i
kiss her lips. but only her !;Ind. After
that neither Of them played again. When
they parted at her fathers door-he had
insisted upon riding home beside he Gentry
carriage-h= took her hand and said i'm
pulsively: Promise me that YOU Hill never
play again
Peggy smiled at him saucily and mur-
INJURED: Il can't promise Sitting out is so
AT least you'll promise not to play until
You see me again.. he said Peggy nodded
and dimpled- She was sure in her own
mind that would not be ha,f a week
1t turned out to be half a year. Lawson
started next day for Virginia. His grand
fathers estate was to be distributed and
he made up his mind to stay until every
thing was settled Apart from that ne
wanted to be very of himself before
he adventured further in what he felt to be
a vital matter
He pondered it all through his long rides
-,5D miles and back-for this was in the
good old days when there was not even a
stage coach across the Appa achian chain.
Yet when he got home. toward the end of
June. he was no nearer a decision than
when he had begun He was perfectly sure
he loved Peggy as he would never love any
body else The point at issue was, ought
he to try winning her? Her father, he was
certain. would never let him have her, un-
less he could bring himself to accept reiig-
ion. The parson had been preaching at him
hot and hard ever since he came to mans
estate.
Besides. there was the matter of the bull
caf. Lawson swore inpatiently when he
thought of il He must have been awful
young idiot to set on foot that foolish
scheme. But it had not seemed foolish
then-orly exquisite1y humorous-to tether
lusty yearling in the pulpit whence Par
son Gentry was expected to preach. True.
the parsou had turned the joke by making
the creature point the moral Of a fine and
moving discourse on THE Beasts Which
Perish" All the same. Lawson knew there
was in his mind a sediment of Irritation.
gritty il might provoke explosion
Curiously. he had no doubt whatever as
to Peggy hersef. although she was a noted
firt. who it was well known might pick
and choose among the best. There had been
that in her eyes dropping before his own.
in the futtering OF her soft hand. the de-
licious under tremor of her voice, which
warmed his heart and made his pulses leap
whenever he let himself recall 1t.
Parson Gentry had his own training track
and spent all the fine summer mornings be-
side II. rneditating his sermons and
watching his horses. As Blue Bonnet the
pride of his heart. pulled up at the end of
four miles. fighting for her head and evil
IDENTIFY full Of running. he smiled ecstatical-
ly and said to the boy who rode her.
MY soul, Looks like she could lose the
best of en- tOday-even if she had church
on her back. and they only the steeple-eh,
Isharn?''
Hit do dat" Isham responded ''I amt
feared er none on 'em, 'ceptin' It's dat dar