But that remains to be seen;
and if you are going to show that you haven't got manhood enough to face
the ups and downs of life, then I shall turn elsewhere for one to follow
me and young Adam White, my godson, may hap to be the man."
He gave his nephew a bit more advice and told him he'd best to go on
courting the maiden, Sarah White, to distract his mind.
"For you're the sort," said Amos, "that be better with a strong-willed
woman at your elbow in my opinion, and if Sally takes you, I shall be glad
of it."
So Ernest bucked up a bit from that day forth, and no doubt the fact that
he was to have Vitifer in the course of nature, decided Sarah, for she
agreed to wed the young man ten days afterwards, and Amos was pleased, and
decided that the wedding should fall out next Easter.
Ernest Gregory, as we all marked, was a changed man from that hour; for
though he was built to feel trouble very keen, he hadn't the intellects to
feel it very deep, and in the glory of winning Sarah, he beamed forth
again like the sun from a cloud. And nobody blamed him, because, whether
your heart be large or small, a dead uncle, however good he was, can't be
expected to come between a man and the joy of a live sweetheart, who has
said "Yes" to him.
II
Then came a night of stars, and once again Amos Gregory was shook up to
his heels by somebody running in hot haste with news just as the farmer
was about to go to bed.
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