took a notion to go to teachin' school one winter, an' got a chance in Raynersville, where Kellub Hayes's mother lived, an' that's how Kellub fust come to know her. She didn't like him f'm the fust, an' he pestered her 'bout to death, 'tell finally she actially hed to gin up an' go home; an' bless me ef the feller didn't foller her! Yes, sir, he tagged right after her, an' camped down at one of the neighbors', tho' land knows they didn't want him, he was so 'tarnal disagreeable. Then what did the crittur dew but buy some lumber, an' he went to work an' built a shanty right nigh to Hiram Marstin's house; an' they couldn't do nothin' 'bout it becuz nobuddy knew who owned the land,- -so there he wuz, right under their noses, an' no mistake. Wal, sir, the way that pesky young varmint tormented them people wuz a caution! It did seem ez ef a devil hed persession on him. He'd hide behind the bushes in the road, an' watch for Jennie when she went out, an' then he'd bounce out at her, when she come along, and frighten her haffen to death; an' he'd dror them wicked brows o' his'n together an' say, "Wal, ye goin' to say yes? Ye might's well, fur by the Lord ye'll never marry any one but me, not while I'm a livin', now ye mark my word!" An' he'd go fur Jennie's mother, an' try to make her say she'd make Jennie hev him. An' ez fur Jennie's father, Hiram Marstin, it seemed ez tho' the feller couldn't do enough to spite him, and he never wasted an oppertunity to do Hiram an injury. Hiram wuz a peaceable man, an' couldn't bear to hev a fuss with nobody, but sometimes the cuttin's up o' that Kellub Hayes 'ud be too much even fur him to stand, an' he threatened two or three times to hev him arrested. But law me! threat'nin's didn't do no good, and Kellub grew worse an' worse. Wal, the things that feller done, sir; why, ye wouldn't believe! He must 'a' sat up nights to think 'em out. He seemed to be fairly bubblin' over with pe-ewer cussedness! He'd go an' lay logs acrost the road so't Hiram'd hev to lug 'em away agin, an' he'd cut the wellrope an' let the bucket fall down into the water, an' he'd let down the bars o' the cow-yard so't the cows 'ud git out an' Hiram 'd hev to go an' hunt 'em up; an' mind ye, this wuz all becuz they wouldn't favor him fur Jennie's beau. Never see a feller so sot! But Lor' bless ye, it didn't make Jennie or any of 'em change their mind; an' it wuz sech a ridicklous way to go to work 'bout it that a good many of the neighbors avowed Kellub Hayes had gone soft in the brain, an' I vummy it did look like it. Guess t'would be truth enough to say he never hardened, he! he!

"Wal, things come to a head one day when Hiram wuz a'hayin'. He'n Kellub'd hed a set-to the day before, an' Hiram hed told Kellub ther' warn't no use in his pesterin' Jenny, for she'd never hev him, an' he'd better go home to his mother an' not be a'hangin' 'round like a whipped hound, an' so forth; an' Kellub went off avowin' turrible things. Hiram hayed the next day, an' he wuz anxious to git it all in, becuz it looked kinder smutty up the nor'east. When he come along with the fust load, he see Kellub a'watchin' fur him out'n the door of his shanty; an' jest ez he turned the road that led to the barn,

up come Kellub an' throwed himself ri' down in the dirt in front of the horse, so't Hiram hed to pull him up or run over him. Kellub laid there an' wouldn't budge, an' when Hiram 'ud turn the horse onto the side o' the road an' try to git by, Kellub 'ud hop up an' go lay down in front of the horse ag'in. Wal, 'twas the aggravatinest actions ye ever see, an' ef I'd be'n Hiram Marstin I vum I'd 'a'run spang over him. Hiram reasoned and urged, but 'twant no use, an' it looked every minute ez tho' 'twould rain, and Hiram wuz clean pu'plexed. Ye see Kellub jest wanted to keep Hiram f'm barnin' his hay so's 'twould git wet an' spiled. He jest done it for spite, that's all. Finally, Hiram got down off the wagon, unhitched the horse, an' took him up to the barn. His brother, 'Lias Marstin, hed hearn o' the fuss an come over, and Hiram told him to hitch up the buggy an' drive to town an' see Lawyer Pepper 'bout it. So off he went, an' Hiram got his Bible an' hymn-book, an' went back to the haycart where Kellub wuz, a'lyin in the dirt like a dog. Hiram clim' up to the seat, an' opened the Bible, jest like t'was a meetin', an' began an' read a chapter in Psalms that kind o' fitted the case, speakin' up strong an' loud, 'speshully where it says, "Let not mine enemies triumph over me," an' "Let them be ashamed, oh Lord, which transgress without cause," an' so forth. Then he gave out the hymn, an' sung it right threw, all the varses, little Jimmy Davis, who wuz sittin' on the fence, a'joinin' in the chorus. An' there Hiram sot an' read an' sung a good hour, with Kellub a'huggin' his spite an' chewin' grass, fur all the world like a balky mew-el. But the fust thing he knowed, up druv Hiram's brother with the constable, who yanked him on his feet in no time, an' he wuz arrested fur obstructin' the highway, an' hustled off to town in the constable's team, an' popped into the town jail afore he knowed what hed happened to him. Haw! haw! ye'd orter seen Kellub's face when he went a'swishin' off to town with the constable. An' ez they druv by the house Jennie stood in the doorway, a'wavin' her han'k'chief an' makin' bleeve cry an' hollerin' "Good-by, Kellub; hev a good time, Kellub," an' then laughin' fit to split herself. An' that wuz the last of Kellub's courtin' of Jennie Marstin, fur by the time he'd got threw with that scrape an' hed marnedged to scratch up the money to pay the fine, Jenny hed gone to Craftsville to visit her aunt, an' when she come back she wuz married to John Baker that she'd been a'goin' with fur years. When Kellub come back an' found that Jenny wuz goin' to be married, he blustered aroun' an' vowed he'd shoot both on 'em an' himself, too. Lord knows nobuddy'd 'a'shed ary tear ef he'd 'a'put himself out o' the way, but he wuz too big a coward to do either.

"What became of him? Oh, I dunno. He cleared out an' went off out West somewheres, I believe. Poor Kellub! 'twuz mos'ly his mother's fault I alwuz said so. He warn't brought up right', an' he never got over it. "Wa-al," the old man arose slowly and stretched himself with a mighty yawn, - "I can see my old 'ooman a'beckonin' to me, an' I guess it's 'bout time fur me an' the chickens to go to roost."

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