The Gentleman from Indiana | Page 6

court-house; a circus was approaching the
county-seat, and its glories would be exhibited "rain or shine"; the court
had cleared up the docket by sitting to unseemly hours of the night,
even until ten o'clock--one farmer witness had fallen asleep while
deposing that he "had knowed this man Hender some eighteen
year"--and, as excitements come indeed when they do come, and it
seldom rains but it pours, the identical afternoon of the lecture a strange
lady descended from the Rouen Accommodation and was greeted on
the platform by the wealthiest citizen of the county. Judge Briscoe, and
his daughter, Minnie, and (what stirred wonder to an itch almost
beyond endurance) Mr. Fisbee! and they then drove through town on
the way to the Briscoe mansion, all four, apparently, in a fluster of
pleasure and exhilaration, the strange lady engaged in earnest
conversation with Mr. Fisbee on the back seat.
Judd Bennett had had the best stare at her, but, as he immediately fell
into a dreamy and absent state, little satisfaction could be got from him,
merely an exasperating statement that the stranger seemed to have a
kind of new look to her. However, by means of Miss Mildy Upton, a
domestic of the Briscoe household, the community was given
something a little more definite. The lady's name was Sherwood; she
lived in Rouen; and she had known Miss Briscoe at the eastern school
the latter had attended (to the feverish agitation of Plattville) three years
before; but Mildy confessed her inadequacy in the matter of Mr. Fisbee.
He had driven up in the buckboard with the others and evidently
expected to stay for supper Mr. Tibbs, the postmaster (it was to the
postoffice that Miss Upton brought her information) suggested, as a
possible explanation, that the lady was so learned that the Briscoes had
invited Fisbee on the ground of his being the only person in Plattville
they esteemed wise enough to converse with her; but Miss Tibbs
wrecked her brother's theory by mentioning the name of Fisbee's chief.

"You see, Solomon," she sagaciously observed, "if that were true, they
would have invited him, instead of Mr. Fisbee, and I wish they had. He
isn't troubled with malaria, and yet the longer he lives here the
sallower-looking and sadder-looking he gets. I think the company of a
lovely stranger might be of great cheer to his heart, and it will be
interesting to witness the meeting between them. It may be," added the
poetess, "that they have already met, on his travels before he settled
here. It may be that they are old friends--or even more."
"Then what," returned her brother, "what is he doin' settin' up in his
office all afternoon with ink on his forehead, while Fisbee goes out
ridin' with her and stays for supper afterwerds?"
Although the problem of Fisbee's attendance remained a mere maze of
hopeless speculation, Mildy had been present at the opening of Miss
Sherwood's trunk, and here was matter for the keen consideration of the
ladies, at least. Thoughtful conversations in regard to hats and linings
took place across fences and on corners of the Square that afternoon;
and many gentlemen wondered (in wise silence) why their spouses
were absent- minded and brooded during the evening meal.
At half-past seven, the Hon. Kedge Halloway of Amo delivered himself
of his lecture; "The Past and Present. What we may Glean from Them,
and Their Influence on the Future." At seven the court-room was
crowded, and Miss Tibbs, seated on the platform (reserved for
prominent citizens), viewed the expectant throng with rapture. It is
possible that she would have confessed to witnessing a sea of faces, but
it is more probable that she viewed the expectant throng. The
thermometer stood at eighty-seven degrees and there was a rustle of
incessantly moving palm-leaf fans as, row by row, their yellow sides
twinkled in the light of eight oil lamps. The stouter ladies wielded their
fans with vigor. There were some very pretty faces in Mr. Halloway's
audience, but it is a peculiarity of Plattville that most of those females
who do not incline to stoutness incline far in the opposite direction, and
the lean ladies naturally suffered less from the temperature than their
sisters. The shorn lamb is cared for, but often there seems the intention
to impart a moral in the refusal of Providence to temper warm weather

to the full-bodied.
Old Tom Martin expressed a strong consciousness of such intention
when he observed to the shocked Miss Selina, as Mr. Bill Snoddy, the
stoutest citizen of the county, waddled abnormally up the aisle: "The
Almighty must be gittin" a heap of fun out of Bill Snoddy to-night."
"Oh, Mr. Martin!" exclaimed Miss Tibbs, fluttering at his irreverence.
"Why, you would yourself. Miss Seliny," returned