Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1903-05-14
| Sunny Bank Farm
FLOYD LIVINGSTON
CHAPTER LII.

III one corner OF MS EIttu' VNui lhiif
there lay tress of soft brown hair
which he had severed from that mother
head He was the son of my mother
only sister. who, on her death bed. had
committed him TO the guardianship oil
my fn' her, asking him TO deal gently with
her hayward boy. for beneath his faulty
exterior there lay mine of excellence
which naught save words of love could
fathom.
1t was night when he reached Sunny
Bank. and was in bed, but through the
closed doors | caught the sound of his
voice, and in an instant | experienced
a sensation of delight. as If IN hun
should find n kindred spirit. | could not
wait until morning before / saw him,
and. rising softly. CROPPED my way dowh
the dark stairway to knot hole, which
had more than once done me service
when sent from the room while my moth
er and her company told something l
was not TO heart He was sitting so that
the light of the lamp fell full upon his
face, which, with its high, white brow,
hazel eyes and mass of wavy hair, seem
ed to me the most beautiful l had ever
seen. Involuntarily l thought of my own
plain features, and saying to myself.
Hell never like me, never" l crept
back to bed, wondering if it were true
that homely little girls made sometimes
handsome women.
The next morning, wishing to produce
as favorable an impression as possible,
was an unusually long time making my
toilet-trying on one dress after anoth-
er, and finally deciding upon a white cam
brio, which / never wore except to
church, or on some similar occasion. Civ
ing an extra brush to my hair, which had
grown out darker and so very curly that
Charlie called me "Snarly pate" start
ed for the breakfast room.
"What upon earth has the child got
pnT was grandma's exclamation, while
mother babe me go straight back and
change my dress" asking why | had
put on my very best"
"Settin' her cap for Bill, guess sug-
gested Charlie, who. boylike, was already
on terms Of great intimacy with his
cousin.
More angry than grieved, / went back
10 my room, where l pouted for half al
hour or more. Then. selecting the worst
looking dress / had, again descended
to tho dining room, where Charlie pre-.
scented me to Will, telling him ut the
same time ito spare all comments on my
appearance, as II made me madden than
q March hare to be called ugly"
II don't think she's ugly. Anyway.
like her looks" said VIII, smiling down
upon me with those eyes which hav,
since made many a heart beat as min,
did then.
Will had always lived In the city, ant
now, anxious to see the lions of the coun
try at once, he proposed to Charlie {
ramble over the farm, inviting me to nc
company them, which did willingly, not
withstandng that Charlie muttered some
thing about mot wanting a gal stuck
along"
In the pasture we came across ole
Sorrel, whom Will said he would ride
~ they did in a circus if Charlie would
only catch him. This was an easy task
for Sorrel suspecting no evil, came uI
to us quite readily, when Will, leapinc
upon his back, commenced whooping and
hallooing so loudly that Sorrel's mettl,
was up, and for nearly an hour he rar
quite as fast as his rider could wish. This
was his first days adventure: the Mex
one was little different. Finding COW
In the lane, he tried the experiment Of
milking, succeeding so we'll that wher
ut night Sally came in with her half-filled
pail, she declared that "Line-back was
drying up, for she'd only given drop OF
So" For this and numerous other mis-
demeanors, win also received absolntion
but when, on the second Sabbath after
his arrival, he and Charlie both were
missed from church, whittier they had
started full half hour before the res,
OF our family, father grew fdgety, hold
ing his hymn book wrong side up and sit
ting, instead Of standing, during the pray.
sE<a thing he was never known to dc
before. DE was very strict in the OBJ.
servance of the fourth commandment, as
indeed were most of the citizens of Sun.
ny Bank, it being an almost State prison
offense to stay away from church on tho
Sabbath, or speak above a whisper unit
aft;.r sunset.
For long time the coming of circus
had been heralded by flaming handbillt
In red and yellow, one of which Viii
plastered on to our great barn door, from
which conspicuous post 1t was removed
By my father, who conscientiously turned
his back upon men and women riding OF
their heads, declaring it an outrage upor
all rules of propriety, and denouncing cir
cuses and circus-going people as utterl,
low and vulgar. Thus from my earlies
remembrance had been taught, and still
my heart would throb faster, whenever
with the beat of the drum and the SCUM
Of the bugle, the long procession swep
past our door. and more than once ha
stolen to the top of the hill, whence coul
be seen the floating banner and swayin
canvas, watching from afar the evil
dared not approach.
Great, then, was my surprise, whel
on the morning of the eyentful day, Wi
suggested that Charlie. John, Lizzie an
j should run away IN the evening an
visit the ''doings," as he called it. | wa
shocked that he should propose my goin
to such a place. 1T was low ANA WI
gar" told him, 'and no one went theI
but loafers and rowdies."
But he assured me that was mistal
en-, saying that 'some of ouz. most respe
y table people attended," and then he woi
dered how l was ever to know anythir
unless once IN a while went to a circu
or theater, or something IL was De
fectly ridiculous" he said, s'sox father
keep us cooped up at home. Nobody ell
did so. There was Lawyer Smith