The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1913-07-24
THE MAN IN
DOUBT
By N. QUAD
Copyright, 1913, by Associated Lit
erary Press.

cabin, and after we had given each
other good day he asked:
Bound fur the camp meetin' at Ce-
dar Grove, stranger?'
~ hadn't heard there was one there"
1 replied.
"Yes, and it's a whopper. Powerful
lot of prayin' and singin' over thar"
Aren't you interested in it?"
"I ar and hain't. / sorter want to
go, and then l sorter think / hadn't
better. That's the way with the old
woman too"
"You think there may be trouble
there?"
"Oh, no."
TOO busy with your wo, n"
"No. stranger. The La I'd orter be
at that camp meetin', hadn't he?"
II should say So"
"And he orter gin us a fair deal If
the old woman and me went overP'
YES"
"But what I'm afraid of is that he
won't"
l looked at him and wondered what
he meant and after a minute he
went on:
''Sit down and be to home, and I'll
tell you bit of story. 1t happened
vars ago. You see, me and the old wo-
man had both bin havin' chills and
faver, shakin' like scared rabbits one
day and a-burnin' up the next, and
was almost too weak to lift an ak
when felNer named Abe Brockford
sot out to humiliate me- He wasn't
doin' any braggin' as long as I was
able to be about, but when. he heard
how porely l was he squared off in
front of the cabin one night and
shouted
"'Hello thar, inside! Am I maxim
a mistake in supposin' this to be the
residence of Bill HopeT
"'Yo' amt says l as l crawls to
the door in my weakness.
"'Come out like a man and squar' off
at mer says he
IL told him I'd been freezin' and
burnin' and couldn't fight rabbit, but
that only made him wuss.
"'Bill Hope, if yo've got any mercy
y
around while | pulverize yo'r bonesv
1T hurt me mighty bad to be talked
to that way" said the old man, "but
was helpless about it. All could
do was to shet the doah and fling my
self on the bed and cuss and weep.
The old woman tried to console me,
but the feller kept his mouth goin' till
I was purity nigh crazy. By and by
says to her:
"'Do yo reckon that If l prayed to
the Lawd fur strength my prayer
would be answeredT
"'That's accordin'.' she answers.
What do yo' want the strength fur?'
"'Tc go out and smash Abe Brock
ford
"'Then yo' won't git it. The Lawd
amt mixin' up in sich rows
"'But he might if yo' prayed too
"'But | shan't do it. When the crit
ter out thar gifts tired of talkin' he'll
60 home
II lay quiet for half an hour, but
Abe didn't go. and when the old wom-
an sees how bad was feelin' she
says:
"'Bill, I'm willin' to try a sort of ex-
pertinent 1t amt right to bother the
Lawd with our trubbles, and prayers
and fghtin' don't go together, but un-
der the circumstances I'll do what 1
kim
"All of sudden | begun to feel
stronger, and by the time the old wo-
man had finished I told her that was
all right to go out an drive Abe into
the airth.
"'Better not co. she says as she
looks trubbled
"'Why notT
"'Bekase I'm not suah about it. I
prayed hard 'nuff, but l heven't got
the feelin' that yo' are gwine out to
whop anybody. Sorter feels to me
that yo'll git the worst of it.
"It was mighty Gurus about my git
tin strong" unused Bill, "and to this
day I can't make it out Perhaps it
was all OWN to my madness. The old
woman hung on fur me not to go, but
put her aside and rushed out. 1t
was darkish night, but saw Abe
standin' a few feet away and sailed
fur him. was gwine to whop him
blind In two minits, but hadn't
counted on startin' things. Fustly,
the critter had got tired and gone
home, and, secondly. a powerful big
bar had taken his place. l knowed
1t as / grabbed his fur, but it was
then too late. He jest haulesl off with
his right paw and fetched me swat
on the side of the head that put me
out of it. and it was daylight befo' |
come to and found myself on the bed
"'What's happenedT l asked of the
old woman.
'Experimentin',' she answers
"'As howT
"'Prayin' to the Lawd to back yo'
to wallop Abe Brockford Abe slip
ped out and bar slipped in, and as
nigh as / kin make out Providence
didn't stand by yo' fur shucks.'"
"And that's, the reason you are in
doubt about going to the camp meet
90 I aolad &c ha 0pfohod hs.