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Show Sam Lavvson on Courtin'. "I member T Used n lead the sin'-lti sin'-lti in them days, alid Miry she ued to sing counter, so we sot putty near together to-gether in the lingers' seats : and 1 used to think Sunday morion's when j she come to meetin' in her white dre-s and her red cheeks and her bonnet ail tippei with lajluck. that 'twas for ail the world jest like a June sunrise to have her come into the singers' seats. Them was the Jays- that 1 didn't improve im-prove my privileges, boys." said Sa:r, sighing deepi'y. "There was times that ef I had a -p he. there's no know-in' know-in' what niight'nt 'a' happened, 'cause you see. boys. I was better lookin' in them days than I be novr. Now you uund. boy-, when you grey,- up, ef you get to waiting' on a nice gal. and you're most a mind to speak up to her, don't you go and put off. 'cause ef you do. you may live to repent it. " a!, you see fi'.v the time that Bill Elderkin come and toot the academy acad-emy 1 could see plain enough that it wa-- time for me to hang up niy fiddle. Bill he used to set in the singer,-' seats too, and he would have it that he sung tenor, lie no more sung tenor than a skunk blackbird, but be made b'lieve he did. je-t to get next to Miry in the singers' seats, and then they used to be a-writin' backward and forwaid to each other till they tore out ail the leaves of the hymn-books and the singin'-book besides Wal, I never thought the house of the Lord ; was jest the place to be courtin' in. and I ued to get considerate shocked at the way things went atween 'em. Why they'd be a writin' all sermon-time, and I've seen him a loekhi' at her all through the long prayer in a way that wan t right, con.-iderin they was b.ith professors of religion. ):it then the 1 fact was. old Black l!o.-s John was to blame for it. 'cause he never let 'em have, no chance to home. Ye see old Black llos- he was not aain' Kldevkin 'cause he was poor. m see h.s mother, the old Widdah Elderkin, she was jest about the po.eo-t, poak-edest poak-edest old bejy ecr to fc'hcv'i ii ne. and went out to days' woiks. and Kill Elderkin El-derkin he was till fir books and larnin' and old Black llo.-s John he thought it just shiftless;: ess ; but Mary she thought he was a genius; and she got it sot on herminu that he was coin' lo be President o' the United States, or some sich. "Wall, old B'ack llos.,' he want none too polite to Jjiry's beau in general, gene-ral, but when Elderkin used to come to see her he was surlier than a saw ; he hadn't a good word for him nowaj's; and he'd rattle up the fire right befoie his face and eyes, and rattle about fastening fas-tening up the windows, and tramp up to bed and call down the chamber stairs to Miry to go to bed, and was sort o' asgravatin. every way. "Wal, ef folks wants to get a gal set on bavin' a feller, that's the way to go to work. Miry had a consid'able stiff will of her own, and if she didn't care about Tom Beacon b' lure, she hated ha-ted him now, and if she liked Bill Elderkin El-derkin before she was clean gone over to him now ; and so she took to goin to the Wednesday evening lecture, an 1 the singin' school, je-t o regular a- a clock, and so did he; and aferv.ards they ::hvays walked Imiiiik the lon.:e.-t wav. Father- "may j'-.-t .'is V'H let their cal- be court-d in the 1 "i:-e. pc-.l-A 'e. e 'I-" if th..." C '11 1 1 e curled iii re. tie y'i! 1 p!ac - wh .1 -'. .s ; rl. |