Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1900-02-24


kinder high notions IN her head. an this
feller'll make her blcevc he's leetlc bet
tern the boys round here; an whatever
she says, that her folks'll say yes to, you
can be sure on. She Jest twists EN- round
her little finger ensy's a string. It's all
Nance says that, an Nance says that,
with both Of 'cm. They Spite her. Yes,
Mis- Jones, I'll bet anything you're q
mind to. Nance Boonc'll have that. young
man. / noticed she acted kinder struck
after him the fust time she see him.
Them whiskers round his mouth did It, l
s'pose. I declare, Mis- Jones, do abom-
mate them things. Our Ezekiel. he's try.
in to raise some. He's took to scrapin'
his upper lip twicet week, reg'lar, but
they won't grow, to speak on. His fath.
err, he makes him hoppin' mad advisin
him to put cream on. an let the cat lick
IL off,"
1t seemed. as the summer wore on. that
Mrs. Snyder's prophecy was likely to
come true. Dick and Mamie got along
very well together. Up to the time In
which this story opens, the course Of
true love" had run smoothly enough, but
the old saying that it's long lane that
has no turning" was to prove as true In
this case us In many others.
Mamie taught the school, which lasted
six months in each year. In the little log
house which have spoken Of as being
one Of the two buildings ut the cross
roads. From this you may infer that she
was what would be called an educated
young lady," at the present time. She
was nothing Of the kind. Before her
father came to Brownsville she had had
the advantages of the ordinary district
school only, but these she had made the
most Of, aud could write q fair hand,
with heavy tops to her is, and heavier
tails to her Us and g's; she could spell
pretty well, read an fast % the next one
and In those days the boy or the girl
who could read the fastest was c0nsid-
cred the best reader, as expression was
Of no account. She could 'cipher" rs
far into the 'rithmetic as the rule Of
three, and parse all the sentences In the
grammar with psrrot-like precision, and
repeat q good share Of the geography.
What use was there Of q more compre-
hensivc education In such q place as
Brownsville, Nannie's mother wondered.
""Twan't a. ef she was out among
folks MORE" she told the town board,
when she applied for her daughters ap-
polntment to the position Of school mis-
tress. If 'twas where folks knew more,
'twould be diffrunt, but Mamie knows
enough to teach any O. the children In
that part O. the kentry, an l don't say
It to brag up my own fesh and blood,
neither"
As teachers from 'down below" did
not like to come into the woods to teach,
the school officers decided that Mamie
was properly qualified to fll the position
Of teacher, and In that way she became
q schoolma'am.
Dick used to keep pretty close watch
Of the road II he was at work anywhere
near It when he thought It was about 4
o'clock. Curiously enough, II almost a..
ways happened that his horses needed
rest when Q little pink sunbonnet came
In sight at the turn Of the road. The
sight Of that suubonnet always seemed
to make Dick thirsty. can't explain
why, but 20 It was; 10 much 20 that he
had to 90 to q fence corner near the
turn In the road, where q cool spring
dubbed out from under the roots OF an
old oak. And, strangely enough, It al.
most always happened that the walk
from the school house had made Mamie
thirsty, too, and she was glad to sit
down under the shade of the old trees
spreading branches and drink the sweet,
refreshing draught which Dick rendered
her In cup fashioned from great bass.
wood leaf. What they talked about At
such times ! am not supposed to know.
The weather and the crops. perhaps. l
know this, however. the horses rot .
good long resting spell on these occa.
sions. and Mamie reached home consid.
erably later than she might have done IL
she had not played truant. Her mother
used to say, quite often:
"There Is one thing about Nannie's
teachin' that the folks can't complain of,
an that Is that she allus keeps full
hours, an more. too. fer half the time
she don't get homo till Eve or half.past
ave, and 1t don't take more'n fifteen min.
utes to walk from the school house up"
The worthy woman made this remark
at the table more than once, and Dick,
at such times, would give a sly look
at Mamie, and she would blush like a
newly bloss0med rose or be seized with
such a severe ut Of coughing that she
had to leave the table. when her mother
would wonder II she had "swallcred her
vittels the wrong way"
On the afternoon Of the day on which
this story begins, Dick was blowing near
the road.
When he saw Mamie coming, he hitch.
ed his horses to hickory tree. where
they would get the benefit Of Its shade,
and went to the road. Leaning over the
fence, he waited for her, watching her
trim-built figure with admiring eyes, a.
she came up the hill. When she came
near. he knew by her face that some.
thing had happened.
"Oh, Dick" cried Mamie, % she came
up to the fence, ''guess what's going to
be! You can't, know; but try"
~ camp meeting" ventured Dick.
Camp meetings were considered to be
the climax of all desirable events among
the Br0wnsvillians.
"Oh, better'n that" cried Mamie, with
sparkling eyes. Ever SO much better!
It's singing SCHOOL,
"a singing SCHOOL," Dick caught
some Of Nannie's enthusiasm at once.
"Well, that will be nice, won't III !
have attended two terms, and we always
had lots Of fun, IL we didn't get much
musical benefit. But who's going to
teach It? Deacon Snydery"
"DedcOn Snyderw exclaimed Mamie,
with scornful look Of her pretty nose.
"Of course not! It's a young man from
down below. He's going to have meet
ing at the school house tonight. to see
about organizing the school, aud he wants
everybody to turn out. hope they'll
have one. Wouldn't It be nice? never
went to one. you know"
''Of course, 1t will be NICE" said Dick,
who was thinking more OF prospective