When Jabez Wind came to Jonesville, Rosy wuz about the same as engaged to a good sensible young farmer, Royal Nelson, who lived three milds above Jonesville on the old stage road.  He wuz a stiddy, likely young man, who owned a nice farm well stocked, wuz good lookin’, good appearin’, but ruther bashful and retirin’, which made him some times in company a little awkwud in his manners, and most offish where he wanted to please most.  But he had a good mind, and his heart wuz pure gold, and he loved Rosy with the deep earnest love, such undemonstrative men often cherish for the one woman in the world for them.  His calm gray eyes would light up with the pure light of deathless love when they rested on the sweet face of little Rosy.  And he wuz always tryin’ to help her in some way, lookin’ out for her interest, he seemed to love to protect and wait on her in a way that argued well for the future, but mebby it wuz this constant and almost slavish devotion that made her slight him, she had got so used to his stiddy love that she didn’t appreciate it as she’d ort to.

He had paid attention to Rosy for most three years.  I thought mebby he wuz such a manly chap he didn’t want to hurry her, she wuz so young, but everybody spozed they wuz as good as engaged when Jabez Wind come to Jonesville to live with his uncle, old Kellup Wind.  He lost his wife, and Miss Wind, his brother’s widder, come to keep house for him and brung Jabez with her.  I hurn it wuz the bargain she wuz to have two dollars a week and Jabez’es board.  That showed me what he wuz, a young man twenty-five years old hangin’ on to his mother’s apron strings to support him, or ruther hangin’ onto her hard workin’ fingers, she wuz a good housekeeper.

Well, Jabez made such a splurge in the social pool of Jonesville society, he made such florid eloquent boasts of the wonderful things he wuz goin’ to do in the near future; his clothes wuz so showy, and his looks so showy (shaller I called it), with beady shiny black eyes, red cheeks, mustache and whiskers naturally red like his hair, but dyed black, and he played the fiddle so sweet, the girls said, and he sung comic songs so bea-eu-ti-ful, and he danced so light that he become a general favorite in Jonesville society and the girls all seemed to seek after him.  But from the first he singled out Rosy as the object of his special patronizin’ affection.  She wuz well off, her pa left her a good property in money besides bein’ so pretty and good herself.

And she, girls are so queer, the best of ’em, from the very fact that his affection wuz so patronizin’ and down stoopin’ to her, and kinder oncertain, for onlike Royal he would have spells of slightin’ her and waitin’ on other girls, why mebby for this very reason she seemed to be carried some distance away with him, and believed all his grand idees and looked forward to the realization of his stupendious schemes, high soundin’ schemes, which had took him no furder than the middle of the creek and his uncle’s back yard.