ask of any gown--it led to my first proposal.
The youth who sought my hand was about twenty

years old, and by an unhappy chance he was also
the least attractive young person in the country-

side--the laughing-stock of the neighbors, the butt
of his associates. The night he came to offer me

his heart there were already two young men at our
home calling on my sisters, and we were all sitting

around the fire in the living-room when my suitor
appeared. His costume, like himself, left much to

be desired. He wore a blue flannel shirt and a pair
of trousers made of flour-bags. Such trousers were

not uncommon in our region, and the boy's mother,
who had made them for him, had thoughtfully

selected a nice clean pair of sacks. But on one leg
was the name of the firm that made the flour--A. and

G. W. Green--and by a charmingcoincidence A.
and G. W. Green happened to be the two young

men who were calling on my sisters! On the back
of the bags, directly in the rear of the wearer, was

the simple legend, ``96 pounds''; and the striking
effect of the young man's costume was completed

by a bright yellow sash which held his trousers in
place.

The vision fascinated my sisters and their two
guests. They gave it their entire attention, and

when the new-comer signified with an eloquent ges-
ture that he was calling on me, and beckoned me

into an inner room, the quartet arose as one person
and followed us to the door. Then, as we inhospit-

ably closed the door, they fastened their eyes to
the cracks in the living-room wall, that they might

miss none of the entertainment. When we were
alone my guest and I sat down in facing chairs and

in depressed silence. The young man was nervous,
and I was both frightened and annoyed. I had

heard suppressed giggles on the other side of the
wall, and I realized, as my self-centered visitor failed

to do, that we were not enjoying the privacy the
situation seemed to demand. At last the youth in-

formed me that his ``dad'' had just given him a
cabin, a yoke of steers, a cow, and some hens. When

this announcement had produced its full effect, he
straightened up in his chair and asked, solemnly,

``Will ye have me?''
An outburst of chortles from the other side of the

wall greeted the proposal, but the ardent youth
ignored it, if indeed he heard it. With eyes staring

straight ahead, he sat rigid, waiting for my answer;
and I, anxious only to get rid of him and to end

the strain of the moment, said the first thing that
came into my head. ``I can't,'' I told him. ``I'm

sorry, but--but--I'm engaged.''
He rose quickly, with the effect of a half-closed

jack-knife that is suddenly opened, and for an in-
stant stood looking down upon me. He was six feet

two inches tall, and extremely thin. I am very short,
and, as I looked up, his flour-bag trousers seemed to

join his yellow sash somewhere near the ceiling of
the room. He put both hands into his pockets and

slowly delivered his valedictory. ``That's darned dis-
appointing to a fellow,'' he said, and left the house.

After a moment devoted to regaining my maidenly
composure I returned to the living-room, where I

had the privilege of observing the enjoyment of my
sisters and their visitors. Helpless with mirth and

with tears of pleasure on their cheeks, the four rocked
and shrieked as they recalled the picture my gallant

had presented. For some time after that incident
I felt a strong distaste for sentiment.

Clad royally in the new gown, I attended my first
ball in November, going with a party of eight that

included my two sisters, another girl, and four young
men. The ball was at Big Rapids, which by this

time had grown to be a thriving lumber town. It
was impossible to get a team of horses or even a

yoke of oxen for the journey, so we made a raft and
went down the river on that, taking our party dresses

with us in trunks. Unfortunately, the raft ``hung
up'' in the stream, and the four young men had

to get out into the icy water and work a long time
before they could detach it from the rocks. Natu-

rally, they were soaked and chilled through, but they
all bore the experience with a gay philosophy.

When we reached Big Rapids we dressed for the
ball, and, as in those days it was customary to

change one's gown again at midnight, I had an op-
portunity to burst on the assemblage in two cos-

tumes--the second made of bedroom chintz, with
a low neck and short sleeves. We danced the

``money musk,'' and the ``Virginia reel,'' ``hoeing
her down'' (which means changing partners) in

true pioneer style. I never missed a dance at this
or any subsequent affair, and I was considered the

gayest and the most tireless young person at our
parties until I became a Methodist minister and

dropped such worldly vanities. The first time I
preached in my home region all my former partners

came to hear me, and listened with wide, understand-
ing, reminiscent smiles which made it very hard for

me to keep soberly to my text.
In the near future I had reason to regret the ex-

travagant expenditure of my first earnings. For
my second year of teaching, in the same school, I

was to receive five dollars a week and to pay my
own board. I selected a place two miles and a half

from the school-house, and was promptly asked by
my host to pay my board in advance. This, he ex-

plained, was due to no lack of faith in me; the
money would enable him to go ``outside'' to work,

leaving his family well supplied with provisions. I
allowed him to go to the school committee and col-

lect my board in advance, at the rate of three dol-
lars a week for the season. When I presented myself

at my new boarding-place, however, two days later,
I found the house nailed up and deserted; the man

and his family had departed with my money, and
I was left, as my committeemen sympathetically

remarked, ``high and dry.'' There were only two
dollars a week coming to me after that, so I walked

back and forth between my home and my school,
almost four miles, twice a day; and during this en-

forced exercise there was ample opportunity to re-
flect on the fleeting joy of riches.

In the mean time war had been declared. When
the news came that Fort Sumter had been fired