of a personal nature he was on the whole a very fair-looking and
certainly an exceedingly honest and good-natured young man
and somehow we thought well of him.
Of course he had some mental peculiarities; I believe it is ex
pected that no hero should be without them, and our Napoleon's
special claim to be unlike other people was shown in his practice
when excited. In moments of great agitation he would shoulder
a favorite scrub broom, rush to his father's barn and begin to
sweep with great animation, and to see Napoleon hurrying out to
the barn with his broom, dragging those funny feet after him, and
begin his attack on the barn-floor was a sight to edify all be
holders. The neighbors came to understand the spiritual weather
in the mind of Napoleon merely by a survey of the barn.
At length there came a day in which our Napoleon seemed to
be the victim of an unusual degree of excitement. It was a Sun
day, too, and this circumstance contributed to render the event
all the more worthy of note. He had entered the barn as usual
when afflicted with mental unrest, and for some time the vigorous
strokes of his broom proved how severe was the strain upon his
spirit. At last he suddenly stopped in the midst of his labors and
executed something that seemed to be intended for a dance round
about his broom, which he had set on end for the purpose. This
fact, of course, requires to be explained a little in detail.
The cause of Napolean's disturbed feelings is to be found in a
certain Theo Brown, whose father, Deacon Brown, lived across
the hollow and up a hill at the distance of about a mile from the
Smith farm. The complete name of this young lady was
Theodora Angelina, but this had been shortened simply to Theo.
She was an attractive country maiden, whose bright complexion,
laughing, mischievous eyes, and wealth of wavy-red hair stand
ing out from her round face like a halo, made her the despair and
object of irresistible fascination for the youth of the neighbor
hood. It was one of the most exciting things in nature to see
the boys of the village getting themselves ready on a Sunday
morning to vanquish this mischievous, foe to their peace of mind.
The way they studied the latitude of shirt colors, the most resist
less shade in neckties, and grew red in the face with efforts to put
a ferocious gloss on their best shoes was remarked by the entire
village. And then to see the anxious glances that during the
hours of church service they cast towards the Brown family pew
was calculated to interest everyone. It is scarcely necessary to
The Free Lance.
[MAY,