"I don't s'pose you know the one I mean?"
"No kind of an idee," responded his father, with a quizzical wink
that was lost on the young man, as his eyes were fixed upon his
whittling. "Does she belong to the village?"
"I ain't goin' to let folks know who I've picked out till I git a
little mite forrarder," responded Cephas craftily. "Say, father,
it's all right to ask a girl twice, ain't it?
"Certain it is, my son. I never heerd there was any special limit
to the number o' times you could ask 'em, and their power o'
sayin' 'No' is like the mercy of the Lord; it endureth forever.
--You wouldn't consider a widder, Cephas? A widder'd be a good
comp'ny-keeper for your mother."
"I hain't put my good savin's into an ell jest to marry a
comp'ny-keeper for mother," responded Cephas huffily. "I want to
be number one with my girl and start right in on trainin' her up
to suit me."
"Well, if trainin' 's your object you'd better take my advice an'
keep it dark before marriage, Cephas. It's astonishin' how the
female sect despises bein' trained; it don't hardly seem to be in
their nature to make any changes in 'emselves after they once
gits started."
"How are you goin' to live with 'em, then?" Cephas inquired,
looking up with interest coupled with some incredulity.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142