68 LAKE MARIE AND BLUFF LAKE. 



by the gate. "Say, mister, how much would you charge 

 to take us all in first-class, bang-up style, just like 

 Benny Burton had took last Fall to send down South to 

 a gal he was kind of hankering to get hitched to?" 



The Colonel entered into the humor of the thing, and 

 offered to give them a picture for nothing. 



"Jee whiz!" the old chap said; "that's real good of 

 you, and say, Mariah," he added, turning to his wife, 

 "we'll be took right here, and send the pictur away 

 back East to yer old Pap, and he'll surely show it to 

 the neighbors and they'll think as how the house be- 

 longs to us and we are right smart fixed!" 



His wife, who commenced to take some interest in 

 the proceedings at this stage, began to fix her hair and 

 tidy the youngsters. They were certainly the merriest, 

 healthiest and dirtiest looking lot of litfte urchins I 

 have ever seen. 



"I'll tell you what we'll do," the Squire remarked to 

 me; "we'll fix the whole crowd up in style, and give the 

 old fellow a chance to ring in the biggest bluff of his 

 life on his folkes away back East." 



Saying this, Mattson went into the house and shortly 

 returned with a plug hat, frock coat, and some female 

 finery" which, although slightly the worse for wear, was 

 good enough for the purpose. With these in his hand 

 he escorted the whole crowd to the barn, took them in, 

 and telling them to rig themselves out, left them. About 

 ten minutes afterward the old fellow and his wife, with 

 the children, made their appearance, the children 

 gazing with open-mouthed awe on their transmogrified 

 parents. 



"Say, Squire," the old man remarked, "this is real 

 good of you to cotton to us in this fashion; durn me ef 

 I don't feel as ef I ain't sole proprietor of everything 

 on the place." 



Mattson got out his best gig, mounted his driver .on 

 the box, the couple took their places with the kids ar- 

 ranged according to their age in the front, and the 



