American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-05-03
NO.. 49,.


who had been watching him from the OPP
posite side of the room.
Mite. '-'>''' II
,-n lme ~. cause" was partly that he didn't
i hnI bad text to say, and partly that
io nv ~. N; interested in planning
way ~ nrI nh,!irrel of his own, and
h WAS MEm that T hn sTr his mother would
thoughts III wandered and on and keep it. His
in the country, to grandfather d fsrn, I tha
woods and the traps and snares JHi" ,,,a ,,i
in the evening; SO it is uncertain wilt
would have got back if Cousin Tom lii;
not come. AS it was, the front-dOor closed
rather noisily; there was a sound of some
body coming upstairs, two steps at Il time;
and Dick heard nothing of it until Toms
voice called out:
Here l am, old fellOw"'
Dick jumped up, delighted. Paper and
pencil were pushed aside in Il minute,
and the prospect of pleasant afternoon
frightened; because, as Norah said, what
liver quare dOin's the one of 'em couldn't
be up to alone, the Other'd be Il sure hip
to him"
"The snow packs first-rate now" said
Tom. "We'd have ever so much fun, if
you could only go outdoors
But can't" answered Dick, growing
disconsolate again, and giving the flannel
at his throat a slight twitch. Its no use
asking mother. She'd say no, and tell me
she was sorry; but it wasn't her fault that
my head went under the pump
Guess you won't try that kind of water
cure again in a hurry" suggested Tom,
mischievously. Il wouldn't have liked to
be in the house 4 whole week, L tell you.
We had the best kind of times snowballing
at school; and Saturday some of us had
out our sleds and rode down hill all the
forenoon. And then the Indians came in
to town-a good many that had been East
selling things and giving exhibitions or
something. Oh! you just ought to have
seen how they rode"
And Tom forgot his teasing in describ-
ing the horses, bows, arrows, and scalp
locks.
The next thing any one saw of the two
boys, they had their hands full of feathers,
obtained from an old brush in the attic,
and were painting them red, green and
yellow from Dicks box of water-colors.
When these were finished, they went to
the sitting room door and called Gertie
out. A whispered consultation followed,
and then the three went downstairs,
old Jimmy dropped his blocks and
trudged after them, to see what they meant
to do.
That's right, Jimmy. We want you
too" said Gertie, good-naturedly. "You
see, we are going to have an Indian
show"
Yes" answered Jimmy, hesitatingly,
without seeing anything of the kind or un-
Outstanding in the least about it.
The large basement kitchen, with its
clean painted floor, its freshly-scoured
tables, and everything in nice order, as
Norah had left it for the afternoon, looked
inviting. The sun ShOne in pleasantly
through the windows, and the children
concluded to use it for play-room. The
first thing was to induce Johnny and
Lizzie from over the way, to join them.
There was considerable whistling required
to attract their attention and furious
reckoning before they quite comprehended
the invitation. But they came at last, and
the whole party were ready for action.
They didn't at all mind not having any
audience. They were all going to be per
formers, which was a great deal nicer.
The boys tied all of their short locks that
could be made to reach SO far in a bunch
on top of their heads, and decorated their
faces with few streaks of red and black.
The girls declined to paint, for Lizzie sly
ly whispered to Gertie:
Suppose it shouldn't wash Off how we
would lOOk!'
But they accepted some of the bright
feathers very readily, hunted up all the
gay scarfs and strings of beads about the
house; and Gertie shone with a nose jewel,
made of an old bracelet which she wore
for the sake of looking distinguished,
though she confessed it 'pinched some"
Altogether, they looked rs little like
civilized children as they well could; and,
quite satisfied with their appearance, they
Withdrew into the store-room, to make ii
formal entrance and give the exhibition il
proper beginning. 4 tin pan, Il mouth
organ, and Jimmy's toy trumpet furnish
ed the music; and when it struck up they
all marched gravely back to the kitchen
in procession. In fact, they didn't know
exactly what to do when they got there.
shoot arrows and dance and talk Indian
and everything" Tom had explained,
vaguely; but the everything wasn't exactly
easy to do. There was only one bow and
two arrows, and Dick shot twice at moth
ing in particular and nearly broke the
looking glass Then the boys hoped
about wildly on one foot, and the girls in
vented a rather more graceful style of
dancing; but they seemed to be continu-
ally whirling against each other, and the
talking Indian" was considerably mixed.
boo WOO you, ho-oh! Cert, you're
losing your feathers! Whang, kang-hello!
you're on my toes"
Presently Tom and Dick struck against
each other so violently that both rolled
came to pause.
II don't think this is much of show,
anyhow" laughed Dick; and the others
were inclined to agree with him.
There had been too much getting
ready to have it all end in doing nothing,
however; and bright thought struck |
Gertie
"Oh! let's play about Pocahontas and |
Captain Smith saving his life and all
that, you know she exclaimed.
The proposition was adopted at once
and, after good deal of planning and con
fused consultation-in which ordinations |
of You be that!'' and "Oh no. I'd rather |
do this were frequent-the matter was |
settled. Little Jimmy was coaXcd into
playing Captain Smith, and lying down
on the floor, with his head on a roll of oil |
cloth, made very peaceable and harm
less looking prisoner; while Tom and |
Dick, with streaked faces and pasteboard |
stood over him, talking in an
unknown tongue and making furious ges-
lures.
Suddenly the store-room door flew open,
and Gertie rushed in rs Pocahontas. She
didn't look much like an Indian with her
bright blue eyes and long yellow curls
streaming about her shoulders; but she
was very much in earnest in her part, and
flung herself down beside the prisoner so
that Captain Smith, who had
not been at all afraid of the warriors,
grew really alarmed, and demonstrated
mildly:
"Oh! don't"
That was too much for even Indian
gravity Old Powhattan laughed, Poca-
bontas rigglcd and the remaining chief