"Here comes Lyman. Make place for him," cried Amanda as a boy of

fifteen came to the kitchen door.

"You can't come in here unless you work," challenged Uncle Amos.

"I can do that," said the boy, though he seemed none too eager to take

the knife and plate Mrs. Reist offered him.

"You dare sit beside me," Amanda offered.

Lyman smiled his appreciation of the honor, but the girl's eyes

twinkled as she added, "so I can watch that you make thin peelin's."

"That's it," said Uncle Amos. "Boys, listen! Mostly always when a

woman's kind to you there's something back of it."

"Ach, Amos, you're soured," said Millie.

"No, not me," he declared. "I know there's still a few good women in

the world. Ach, yea," he sighed deeply and looked the incarnation of

misery, "soon I'll have three to boss me, with Amanda here growin' like

a weed!"

"Don't you know," Mrs. Reist reminded him, "how Granny used to say that

one good boss is better than six poor workers? You don't appreciate us,

Amos."

"I give up." Uncle Amos spread his hands in surrender. "I give up. When

women start arguin' where's a man comin' in at?"

"I wouldn't give up," spoke out Lyman. "A man ought to have the last

word every time."

"Ach, you don't know women," said Uncle Amos, chuckling.

"A man was made to be master," the youth went on, evidently quoting

some recent reading. "Woman is the weaker vessel."

"Wait till you try to break one," came Uncle Amos's wise comment.

"I," said Lyman proudly, "I could be master of any woman I marry! And I

bet, I dare to bet my pop's farm, that any girl I set out to get I can

get, too. I'd just carry her off or something. 'All's fair in love and

war.'"

"Them two's the same thing, sonny, but you don't know it yet," laughed

Uncle Amos. "It sounds mighty strong and brave to talk like you were a

giant or king, or something, and I only hope I'm livin' and here in

Crow Hill so I can see how you work that game of carryin' off the girl

you like. I'd like to see it, I'd sure like to see it!"

"Oh, Uncle Amos, tell us, did you ever go to see the girls?" asked

Amanda eagerly.

"Did I ever go to see the girls? Um-uh, I did!" The man laughed

suddenly. "I'll tell you about the first time. But now you just go on

with your snitzin'. I can't be breakin' up the party with my yarns. I

was just a young fellow workin' at home on the farm. Theje was a nice

girl over near Manheim I thought I'd like to know better, and so one

night I fixed up to try my luck and go see her. It was in fall and got

dark pretty early, and by the time I was done with the farm work and

dressed in my best suit and half-way over to her house, it was gettin'

dusk. Now I never knew what it was to be afraid till that year my old

Aunty Betz came to spend a month with us and began to tell her spook

stories. She had a long list of them. One was about a big black dog

that used to come in her room every night durin' full moon and put its

paws on her bed. But when she tried to touch it there was nothing

there, and if she'd get up and light the light it would vanish. She

said she always thought he wanted to show her something, take her to

where there was some gold buried, but she never could get the dog to do

it, for she always lighted the light and that scared him away. Then she

said one time they moved into a little house, and once when they had a

lot of company she slept on a bed in the garret. She got awake at night

and found the covers off the bed. She pulled 'em up and something

pulled them off. Then she lighted a candle, but there wasn't a thing

there. So she went back to bed and the same thing happened again; down

went the covers. She got frightened and ran down the stairs and slept

on the floor. But that spook was always a mystery. I used to have

shivers chasin' each other up and down my back so fast I didn't know

how to sit up hardly when she was tellin' them spook stories. But she

had one champion one about a man she knew who was walkin' along the

country road at night and something black shot up in front of him, and

when he tried to catch it and ran after it, he rolled into a fence, and

when he sat up, the spook was gone, but there was a great big hole by

the fence-post near him, and in the hole was a box of money. She could

explain that ghost; it was the spirit of the person who had buried the

money, and he had to help some person find it so that he could have

peace in the other world. Well, as I said, I was goin' along the road

on the way to see that girl, and it was about dark when I got to the

lane of her house. I was a little excited, for it was my first trial at

the courtin' business. Aunty Betz's spook stories made me kinda shaky

in the dark, so it's no wonder I jumped when something black ran across

the road and stood by the fence as I came along. I remembered her story

of the man who found the gold, and I thought I'd see whether I could

have such luck, so I ran to the black thing and made a grab--and--it

was a skunk! Well,"--after the laughter died down--"I didn't get any

gold, but I got something! I yelled, and the girl I started to call on

heard me and come to the door. I hadn't any better sense than to go up

to her. But before I could explain, the skunk's weapon told the tale.

'You clear out of here,' she hollered; 'who wants such a smell in the

house!' I cleared out, and when I got home Mom was in bed, but Pop was

readin' the paper in the kitchen. I opened the door. 'Clear out of

here,' he ordered;' who wants such a smell in the house! Go to the

wood-shed and I'll get you soap and water and other clothes.' So I went

to the wood-shed, and he came out with a lantern and water and clothes

and I began to scrub. After I was dressed we went to the barn-yard and

he held the lantern while I dug a deep hole, and the clothes, my best

Sunday clothes, went down into the ground and dirt on top. And that

settled courtin' for a while with me."




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