The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-07-10

the parsons next neighbor, and, like
himself. owner of a big grass farm
and breeder of race horses.
Parson Gentry loved his horses next
to his God and his daughter Peggy.
Tn spite of his cloth, he trained the
best of them, and entered them I'M
partially for all the big events. lie
made YOU see a nice distinction with
regard to the sport of kings. \ horse,
he held. might run for money as inno-
GENTLY as pillow for it. Sin came in
V with the betting. That was distinctly
III among Conversions which COULD be
II used in the name of the Lord
n Cawson Cooke. the c~ontumacious
H one, was painfully given to 1t. lie
u would bet, indeed, upon anything,
from the speed of his best fOur-miler,
II to whether the corners in a given
string of fences would count out odd
or even. He was a handsome fellow
q slim, blond, we'll set up. a dead shot.
a fine dancer, possessed withal OF Il
~singularlv winning tongue. Half the
Il caps in the county had been set for
q him ever since he left off rundabOuts,
81 but he went scot free until he saw
81 Peggy Gentry. who was as dark as a
II gypsy, and as dimpled as q cupid.
The main line of social cleavage IN
grass country society was religious.
II The larger part Of the Virginians and
If Carolinians who would come across the
& Blue ridge to occupy and possess 1t
Fl had been either devout churchmen or
III shouting Methodists or Baptlsts or
HI Presbyterians. A smaller moiety held
III hat there was no Goo and Tom Pam
a prophet. 1t fiddled and danced and
Ell PLAYED cards as energetically as the
III larger half played and sang. The
III race course was a sort or neutral
ground, where those who prayed and
Ell those who played could meet with
out loss of caste.
h Peggy and Lawson, however, dld
i not meet there. but at one OF the DlouS
Christian parties where old-fashioned
kissing games were the only diver
sion. When it came Peggy's turn.
she chose out Lawson. 1t astounded
her a little he would not kiss her
lips but only her hand. After that
neither Of them played again. When
they parted at her fathers door-he
had insisted upon riding home beside
the Gentry carriage-he took her hand
and said impulsively. "Promise me
that you will never play again"
Peggy smiled at him saucily and
murmured, Il can't promise. Sitting
out is so stupid sometimes Law
son smiled too. 1T least you'll prom
I Use not to play until you see me
again. he said. Peggy nodded ana
dimpled. she was sure in her own
mind that would not be half a week.
It turned OOut to be half a year
! Lawson started next day for Virginia.
\ His grandfather's estate was to be
distributed. and he made up his mind
III 4o ctor until avn,,yrthinU was CpttIpI
. Apart from that he wanted to be
1 very sure of himself before he adven-
/ tured further in what he felt to be
a vital matter.
He pondered it all through his long
II rides@6OO miles and back-for this
was in the good old days when there
was not even a stage coach across the
Appalachian 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 anybody else. The point at issue
was, ought he to try winning her?
Her father. he was certain, would
never let him have her, unless he
could bring himself to accept religion.
The parson had been preaching at
s him, hot and hard, ever since he came
HI 10 Iudu = estate.
Besides there was the matter of the
bull calf. Lawson sWore inpatient
" when he thought of it. He must
have been an awful young idiot, to
set on foot the foolish scheme. But
ii it had not seemed foolish then-only
eXquisitely humorous, to tether a lusty
Il yearling in the pulpit whence Parson
Gentry was expected to preach. True
III the parson had turned the joke by
making the creature point the moral
If of a fine and moving discourse, on
"the beasts which perish" All the
HI same, Lawson knew there was in his
mind a sediment Of irritation, so grit
ty it might provoke an explosion.
C%uriously he had no doubt what
ever as to Peggy herself, although
she was a noted hirt. who it was well
known might pick and hoose among
the best. There had been that in her
eyes, dropping before his own. in the
u huttering Of her sou hand. the deli
Id cious under tremor of her voice, which
III warmed his heart and made his pulses
II leap when ever he let himself recall
III it.
Parson Gentry had his own training
track and spent all the fine summer
mornings beside it. ~meditating on his
sermons and watching his horses. As
Blue Bonnet, the pride Of his heart.
III pulled up at the end Of four miles
fighting for her head and evidently
full of running, he smiled estatically,
and said to the boy who rode her:
"My soul. Looks like she could lose
III the best of 'em today-even if she had
a church on her back, INC they only
i'll the steeple-eh, Isham?"
III "Hit do dat" Isham responded. 81
IL amt feared er none on EN-, 'ceptin
tits dat dar Roxy Ann ODER ter Cookies
81 She de one Bonnet is sh' 'nough gul
Il ter beat, but / bet my game roostel
II she kin do hit"
# "Tut,tut. Don't talk Of betting til,
"a parson said. Isham had slidden dowr
u and stood stroking Blue bonnct's lear
ii glossy head. Blue Bonnet was Il lady
a of humors. There were times whel
ii she permitted Isham's e~ndearments
Ill This was not one of them. She laiC
III back both ears and nipped him sharp
81 1y, at the same instant lashing out
q with her near hind foot at the parson
& who was STOPPING to feel her hooks