I happened to be present in the parlor, was carrying in some flowers for
final decoration, when Miss Sampson learned that her father had just
ridden off with three horsemen whom Dick, who brought the news, had not
recognized.
In her keen disappointment she scarcely heard Dick's concluding remark
about the hurry of the colonel. My sharp ears, however, took this in and
it was thought-provoking. Sampson was known to ride off at all hours,
yet this incident seemed unusual.
At eight o'clock the house and porch and patio were ablaze with lights.
Every lantern and lamp on the place, together with all that could be
bought and borrowed, had been brought into requisition.
The cowboys arrived first, all dressed in their best, clean shaven, red
faced, bright eyed, eager for the fun to commence. Then the young people
from town, and a good sprinkling of older people, came in a steady
stream.
Miss Sampson received them graciously, excused her father's absence, and
bade them be at home.
The music, or the discordance that went by that name, was furnished by
two cowboys with banjos and an antediluvian gentleman with a fiddle.
Nevertheless, it was music that could be danced to, and there was no
lack of enthusiasm.
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