Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-12-11
City Official journal.

1t, and says she. is he here1 and the
man says: yes" Come in" she
said; 'tmy lady will speak to yon direct
ly." And l went into little room as
was beautifully furnished with easy
Ichairs and sofeys, and all the Injuries
of the season. rs VNfFTTF
i well, my DEAR says ! to the maid
"and 50 your missis is going to the ball
But it'll be we'll nigh time to go home
before she gets there" j
a" Huskl" she says, putting her finger
to her lips; and then i began to think i
4 was death job as l had got on hand
I've had such jobs afore now, wher
the corpse has been young, ant
1 with beautiful hair. All, and many
a time my fingers has itched, for, says
to myself, it's pity such sight o.
beautiful hair should 60 down to the
worms, when it might be going on en-
Ijoying itself atop of some other young
woman head-ah, and | could tell you
| a tale or two about that But it wasn't
a job Of that kind | found, as / heard
somebody in the next room, and such a
soft little moan, as it went to my heart
to hear it-ay, lad. And then somebody
came out--a tall, splendid lady, dressed
in black satin, as naughty as queen.
"Creecher," she says, "are you Creech-
err Don't speak, but listen to what ]
tell you. A lady has had an accident
has been severely burned. Remedies
have been applied, plasters, what not.
Her hair -"
Il understand, my lady; you want me
to take itof. I'll do it in jiffy, if you'll
lend me one OF his lordship's razors, for
| was that hurried when | came away, |
left mine behind me. I've got my scis-
sors and comb, my lady" saysI pulling
EN- out because, as good luck would
have it, I'd just cut chaps hair as was
going to fight next"
"SilenceP she says; Creecherp'
looking at me quite disgusted, and beck
oning the girl, she says: Take the fire
shovel, and throw them things away"
But wasn't going to lose good set of
tools, so / claps EN- into my pocket
and buttons up my coat, says |: Now,
your ladyship?" And she says: Anne
lie, throw something over the wretch. |"
And with that Amelie brought white
gown with sleeves, as smelt as beautiful
as a nosegay, and she wraps me up in
it, and caught sight OF myself in the
glass, and, thinks |, you might take me
| for parson when he's agate at the seven
commandments. e W
Now" she says, Creecher, hold
your tongue, and listen to me. What
ever happens, she must not lose her
hair; you understand, it must be saved
at all hazards. Now come, and do your
duty"
En-, but it were pitiful to see the poor
lassie, halEsitting halflying in thing
atween an easy-ohair and couch. All
her face was covered over but her
eyes, and they seemed to burn. Such
sad, pitiful eyes | never saw before nor
since. She'd had beautiful, long hair
that came down to her knees a most;
but eh, it were in tangle, all knotted
and twisted and ravelled together with
the messes and poultices, and all kinds
of things they d put on her head. No,
there wasn't thread of it anywhere
that wasn't bound up and twisted. Well,
| looked at it, and shook my head.
my lady," says l, :" it would take me
twelve hours hard work, without stop
ping, to untwist all that hair"
well, then" she says to me, " why
don't you begin ~ - A1 w
But" says l, your ladyship, do
you know what twelve hours is, sitting
up with a man pulling away at your tam
gled hairs2 Why, my lady, a." says, 81
don't think as l could stand the job, as
l am hale and well; and as for the poor
young lady there, why, bless your heart,
it would kill her."
But her ladyship took no notice of
her. "Well," she says to the young las
sic, you hear what he says; are you
ready to begin2
And the lassie gave a little sigh, a
heart.breaking little sigh, and she says
in feeble voice, Go on.
But" says l, for wanted to have
sn excuse to be off the job, =" ] wouldn't
do it under hundred pounds"
"0h, says she, then you shall have
a hundred guineas."
That was Temptation, mind you, to
chap as wasn't much beforehand in
the world, and hadn't ever had so much
as ten pounds in his pocket at once all
his life. But | was sorry took the job
after all.
II must have my supper" l says,
/" first, and think about it.
y" Ring, Amelia" says she to the maid,
" and order up tray"
And a bang-up supper | had in the
little stting.room-a chicken and cham
pagne, and what they call cure-or-so,
out of a brown jug; but | didn't think
much o that; and I'd sooner call it kill
or.so, if | were given it name, for eh,
it did make my head sing above bit,
and I only took . gil of it, to see what
1t were ike.
Well, whom I'd done my supper,
we're taken into the young lady's room,
and began the job. l took it up bit
by bit, washed it in spirits of wine,
combed it out hair by hair, and so l went
on hour bylhour. There was naught for
it but patience and hard work. She
seemed to doze a bit, the poor lass, ever
and again; but work as gently as |
would, it must have given her deal of
pain. Shed sigh a little, now and then,
ana give HIJle sOlt mOah SOLnetmesi |
but oh, she bore it ALL all her weariness
and pain for all the suffering and trouble
that were in her eyes-she boreit like an
angel from heaven. The old woman sat
beside us for an hour, till she got so
sleepy she couldn't keep her eyes open;
and then she beckons to the maid to
come and sit in her place, and she goes
off to her comfortable bed, / suppose;
and by-and by the maid goes fast sleep,
and everything seemed asleep but me
and the lassie. There wasn't sound
but the wind signing among the trees
outside, and th- rnurmur OF the river
falling over the weir. = rrrr
Well the job went on, and still as it
went on the lassie seemed to grow
weaker and weaker, and then 6 big aw-
fal fear came into my throat. She we're
dying under my hands. .f