The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-05-03

cry pceVlSh became tne cry indignant,
and the cry indignant became the
squall imperative. Blue bottle buzzed
with delight, and danced hornpipe
on the window, while the clock kept up
tantalizing "go it! go it~
In an unlucky moment, ! lifted the
little tempest out of the cradle. Never,
never, never, will ! commit such an
act of thoughtlcss imprudence again !!
Before did so, could have truly sung
with the poet, "The white squall
raves;" but afterwards, the fierccst
blasts of Boreas seemed belching from
that little throat.
In the hope of quicting the tornado,
] took it in my arms, waddled it to and
fro in the room; tossed it up and down
till my shoulders ached; handled it on
my knee, now the right one, now the
left; but nothing would do. Like an
easterly gale, that multiplied squalls
seemed to bc endless. l. felt really
alarmed. was completely terrified
| saw visions Of commissions and such
like ills that infant "fesh is heir to-
If / had been in the city, am sure that
crowd would have collected.
might have been taken up and accused
Of an attempt to commit intanticde;
perhaps been published in the papers
rs wretch guilty of cruelty to dumb
animals. Dumb How wished that
the dear family organ had been dumb!
| even cnvicd the deaf men that pick
up cinders.
looked at the clock and exclaimed.
in despair, "Whcn will the mother re-
turn!" and tho clock answered with
motking monotony, "Not yet not
YETI Blue-bott,e had ceased its huz
zing, and returned to its old quarters
over the dial-plato, to which for the re-
appearance of the ship; perhaps asking,
as impaticntly as j did, the question,
"W hen will she return z" while tho
clock continued TO repeat, increasingly,
"Not yet not yeti"
knew not what to do, and rushed
a dozen times to Inc door, hoping to
sec the coming relief But the walls
of the distant church and the houses
beyond We're thick, and i caudd not
look through them. The brook was
laughing in the sunshine, and mur-
muring ioyously as it glidcd over the
stones, and felt n strong temptation
to pop he piping part of baby into it..
| am sure the clock cried mockinglv,
"Do it! do it! But the thought Off
coroncrs Jury restrained me; a country
jury of Dutch Doors, with short pipes
in their mouths, and skulls two layers
Of brick thick.
here wa, n rooster upon the fence.
Tapping his wings and Growing like a
Trujali-l do believe it was over my
perplcxity; the pigs were Grunting in
theta sty, pulling each others ears for
amusement, and n COW was giving
nourishmcnt to her calf in distant
field. Suddenly, a bright idea struck
me. lseizcd an old tobacco pipe that
had been slowed away upon the man
tel-picce. and, immcrsing the bulb in a
tnmblcr OF water, thrust the stem into
haby's mouth. Baby was no genius.
| became satisfied Of that in a minute.
1t is an attribute of genius to accom-
plish its desires with Imperfect instru-
ments. There was no stoppage in the
pipe. ltricd it myself.
was at my wits, ends. and laid the
baby on the floor, cramming my fin
gers into my ears. | was otno use
| could not Shut out the sound. 1t
was like a thousand "car piercing
pipes drilling me through and through.
| WAS riddlcd with screams that touch
ed like galvanic wires on every nerve.
The clatter of three story cotton
mill, with a hundred girls talking of
new bonncts through the din, was
nothing to it. All the locomotives in
the Union, tortured into state of az
ony, would alone compare with it.
But mill and locomotive might be stop
ped, and baby could not be quieted
even for a momcct. Any thing but a
baby's lungs would have been worn
out by such an abuse of power. But
their strength only increased, seeming
to acquire new pipes at every blast.
What would not have given for the
sight OF Il pcttycoat bearing down to
my relief. Never did Robinson Cru,
soc on his desert island gaze more
longingly over the ocean in search OF
a sail, than | did down the road for n
bonnet and curIs. could have
smiled lovingly on the latest dowager
that ever sheltered in the West Indies,
or the thinnest scrub that pays her
dcvotions to the dooT steps. But the
feminine, like other useful conuodi-
ties, had all vanished, when most
wanted. Even the cat, accustomed 10
nursing It's she Was. even the cat, scllsi-
bic creature, had disappeared. Like
the distressed hero of a novel, | was
lett to my OWN resources, and had no
resources left. There was the baby
Hopping about on the floor like por-
poise on ships deck, as if lying on
its beams ends was natural position.
| lrightcd it dozen times, but over it
went again, as if all its ballast had
shifted To the hca1 ! hrorubt III -,