The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-17
unreacnru ,v ...r.

By me Loru, SIT, ne said. with certain looseness of speech as it seem ed to me. for a minister of the gospel. you're the first l ever knew to break it-
 "'Twas no credit to me" owned. ''You let go your hand. The horse Is yours"
 Not in the least" he responded; mot fin the least. If 1 had felt 1 had won him I'd take him and not leave you feeling as though you had been given a present. But if you like I'll draw my own little wager as well. You're the best man l ever met in any country. By the Lord. man. you broke the hold that l once saw an exguardsman killed at Singapore for resisting broke his arm short off. and he died on the table. I've seen it at Tokyo and Nagasaki. Why, man. it's the yellow polireman's hold. the secret trick of the orient Done in proper time. and the little gen tlenIan is the match of any size, yellow or white.'
 "If rou like to call 1t a draw" said I. ''It would suit me mighty well. You're the beGt man ever took off coat to in my life. and I'll never wrestle you again unIesS"-I fear 1 blushed a little well. unless you want it..
 "C1ame: Game!" he cried. laughing and dustinR of his knees. @! 9wear you Virginians are fellows aSSer my own heart. But. come. 1 think your friend wants you now"
 We turned toward the room where poer Harry was mumblinR to himself. and presently 1 loaded him into the wagon and told the negro man to drive him home.
 For myself. I mounted Satan and rode o6 up the street Of WalIingford toward CowIeS' Farms with my head dropped in thought. for certainly when l came to review the incidents of the morning l had had enough to give me reaSun for reflection.
 We sent our carriage down to Wal lingford that evening and had my new frieTsd. Air. Orme. out to CowieS Eerms for that night. He was a stranger in the land. and that was eaUugh. l often think today how ready we were to welcome any who came and how easily we might have been de,-eived as to the nature of such chance guests. Yet Orme so finely conducted himself that none might criticise him. and indeed both my fla ther and mother appeared fairly to form liking for him. This was the more surprising on the part of both, since they were fully advised of the nature of his recent speech. or sermon, or what y0u choose to call 1t. at the Methodist church. the sentiments of which scarce Jumped with their own Both my parents accepted Orme for what he purpOrted to be. minister of the gospel. and any singulartty of his
 
 they ascrihed to his education !n com munities different from our own quiet one I recall very well the discussions they had and remember how formally my mother would begin her little ar guments, Friend. 1 am moved tO say to thep." and then she would 20 on TU tell him gently that all men should be brothers and that there should he peace on earth and that no man should OppreSs his brother in any way and that slavery ought not to exist. What. madam" Orme would ex- claim. this manner of thought in u southern TamiIy? And so he in turn would go on rppea ting his old argu- ment Of geography and saying how Engla nd must side with the south and | how the south must soon break with the north. 'This man Lincoln. if eIet.t- ed.'' said he. will cUnfisrate every slave in the southern states. He will ] cripple and ruin the south, mark my | wordS."
 "I do not think the south would fight the north over slavery alone. The | south loves the flag bet-anse she helped create it as mu.'a or more than the north. She will 1ot bear treason to the flag" 7dtCs aiy father. "'It would be no trpaSon." affirmed | Orme. but duty. if that flag became the flag of oppression. The Anglo | Saxon has from King John down re- | fused to be governed unjustIy a.ld op- 1 presSively."
 And so they went on. hour after | hour, not bitterly. but hotly. as was the fashion all over the land at that { time My father remained a Wing.
 which put him in line sometimes with the northern men then coming into i prominence. such as Morrill, of New l England and young Sherman from across the mountains. who believed in the tariff in spite of what England ! might say to us. This set him against
 the Jefferson clans ot our state, who
 feared not a war with the north so
 much as one with Europe. Already | EnRla0Q was pTOuOuuCluS uGT course. l vet those were not days of triumphan nt | conclusions. but ot doubtful weighing
 and hard judgment, as we in old Eir-
 ginia could have told you. who sa W
 neighbors set against each other anC
 even families divided among them
 selves.
 fear, however, that I was busier
 with the training of my pointer rhaI
 l was with matters of politics. l wa,
 not displeased when my mother sup
 gested that we should all visit Dixian: farm to call upon our neighbors, th, | SheratonS.
 "Mr. Orme says he would like t.,
 meet Colonel Sheraton" she explained
 Thee knows The SherntOns and tb,
 CowIes have sometimes been friend.
 and sometimes enemies. l would rath
 CT we were friends. And. Jack. Mise | Ia, s,Y1tfGs a0nai any |