The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1872-12-20

He leaned his head back upon my
bright worsted tidy, and laughed fit to
kill himself
"NO harm is intended you, my charm
ing woman, he said. CT swear it-no
harm is intended your
And saying this, he laughed louder
and longer than ever.
Do you come into my house to make
game of me before my very epes % I
asked, my temper very much stirred up.
If you were a gentle man, sir"
This was too much for him.
/ GA gentleman Oh, aw-that's too
good IF professed to be a gentle
man, you'd stand a good chance of get
ting your throat cut without so much as
by your leave, ma'am, to begin with !
A gentleman With all my faults,
thank heaven, that is not among them !''
'You needn't have gone on that way
to prove it, I said tartly.
''Well, you are a sharp old damsel,
amt you ?" turning his big eyes upon
me, and twisting up his mouth in COM
ical way, which I shall never forget.
81 swear you are pretty good looking,
if you didn't wear such wide rufle on
your night-cap. Jolly, isn't it lunker
big enough for graveyard fence.
''Sir !'' I said, looking very savage.
" "Ma'am % he answered, initiating my
voice and tone to perfection.
"Oh, if I were only out of this bed,
sir!" began.
And pray, madame, what is there to
hinder you from getting out, I'd like to
know ?"
DO you intend to insult me, you
good-for-nothing creature? Oh, if the
wind only would blow you away. "
eff one goes, the other is sure to go
too, - he said stohdly.
eff brother Joe would only waken, !"
I said.
He cooked his eye knowingly.
| '' You want to make me believe that
he is in the house somewhere, Ell? My
dear madame, you are as transparent as
air Had he been under this roof, you
would have screamed blue murder long
| before this time.
"Oh, you varmint = I groaned, in
pure agony of spirit. What do you
wan ?'
| "Well, ma am, since that Is fair,
| honest question, viii attempt to an
swer it. To begin with, my financial af-
fairs are in a complicated condition.
Money have but little of-credit, none;
so am forced to levy trifing tax upon
my friends in this and other neighbor-
hoods, to extricate me from my disas-
trous condition. As soon as I collect
certain amount I intend leaving for
France or Italy, never, perhaps, to re-
turn. Do not shed tears at this, dear
madame, for wherever my footsteps
tend, your image-rufled nightcap and
| aIl-win remain forever imprinted upon
my heart. "
''You old goose p 1 said.
Please do not interrupt me, madame
have but a few moments longer to
stay, and must be to business at once.
I have learned that you have deposited
in trunk in an adjoining closet forty
dollars and eighty cents. The forty
dollars would like to borrow of you
for an indefinite length of time The
eighty cents I do not care anything
about. You can retain that, as a tri-
fling evidence of my generosity in this
great emergency of my life. "
You are a robber, thief, then T' I
said spitefully.
60 Either, at your service, madam, !"
rising and making bow for all the
world like a French dancing master.
''Now, the money, if you please.
He wasn't joking now. There was a
determined look in his eyes and about
/ his mouth.
"He that giveth to the poor lendeth
to the Lord, he said speaking just like
a preacher.
"And he that steals from the poor,
what of him %
"My Bible does not dispose Of his
case especially, madame.
"And you came here to rob meme,
a poor woman ?'
g came to borrow If you, for an un-
certain length of time. 4"
I saw it was useless to waste words
with him; besides, didn't altogether
like the look in his eyes
1 closed my lips close together, resol-
wing that I would no speak again.
eff you have no objection, ma'am, I'll
look around bit, he said, taking up
the lamp as he spoke. "If hear any
noise from you, my dear, or if I see in
any way that you are becoming nervous,
1 shall be obliged to quiet You by the
use Of"