The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1874-12-11

squeezing up her eyes. ne mas req
cheeks, and very thick boots, and yes
a striped shirt. not white one,
'fI vow and declare Z" said Becky.
"And he hasn't proposed yet, I
think said the gypsy.
Becky unconsciously shook her head.
"I see he hasn't said the prophet
ess. "And what you want to know IS
when he will ?"
"I neue1. did, said Becky, not as a
denial, but as an ejaculation.
"Listen, pretty lady!" said the woman
glancing down the road, along which a
sulky-looking man, with tinkers out
fit, was just then plodding. Listen,
lady. / can tell you all you want to
know, and I'll make bargain. I'll ask
you nothing notO, and I'll come back in
a year and if I've told you true, you
can pay me then. Gould anything be
fairer :?
"Why, I reckon not" said Becky.
ssAnd at nine tonight" said the
gypsy, 'sthe pretty lady will come to
the corner of the old barn yonder, and
the gypsy will work spell with three
hairs Of the pretty lady'c head, and a
bit of something the man she thinks of
has touched, and she seall know what
she wants to know. It's a good fortune !;
the lady needn't be afraid. Wait !
Does his name begin with an A, or
a Is ?"
"B, is it? Well, We'll know all
about B-Bo-about Bob ? eh Pat 8
tonight behind the old barn - and of
she walked, following the trudging
tinker down the road, while Becky
clasped her hands together and cried
'' It's more than nat'ral. Lord for
give us all?
Nine o'clock seemed very long in
coming to Becky. Perhaps the gypsy
woman found the time long. too. All
woman are impatient, but the tinker,
who had trudged back along the road,
took it quietly, lying among the long
grass under the trees, quite hidden
from all observation by the shadow OF
the foliage and the dusk Of eventide,
thinking of something pleasant that
made him grin, and chewing bad to-
bacco.
However, whether 1t seemed slow or
fast, time went on, of course, and
brought nine o'clock with 1t. Becky
listened to the last stroke dropping
from the eight-day clock in the
Kitchen, as she locked the door after
her, shook the door of the hen coop to
see that it was fast, and hurried
toward the big barn tremulous with ex
pectation.
When she was sut of sight, the tinker
arose out of the grass and leant over the
fence of the garden, and chewed there
long while. Then he slipped his long
legs across it and came into the door
yard. .ts
The gypsy and her baby waited for
Becky according to promise, and the
gypsy had pack of cards in her bosom,
and an end of a candle in her pocket.
She lit the candle with matches from
the same receptacle, and Becky held
it while she read her fate for her.
Firstly, the gypsy saw the light young
man, and then the ring, and then a
heart turned toward her, and then-oh,
yes then was the wedding. Bob
would offer himself in three days, and
they would be married in three months.
After that the prophecies, warming with
her subject, predicted two children,
and wagon and horse, three COWS, and
numberless pigs. To rural vision
nothing more was needed. Becky pro-
duced a calico dress which might still
be worn, and a ginger cake for the baby.
The woman praised the dress, thanked
her, bade the child say ia ia - to the
pretty lady, and Becky would have
gone away but that the woman stopped
her.
&c I haven't told you all yet," she
said "not all. 1 see a surprise per-
haps it is a present. Sit down. Let
us see. But perhaps you can see it
yourself. Put your handkerchief over
your face, lady. Now shut your eyes.
Think hard of what you'd like best to
have. What comes into your mind p
'' Grand'th always promised" be-
gan Becky, but she did not finish Just
then. Something twined itself about
her waist, not the arm of lover or his
wrath, harder thing-a bit of clothes
line. The handkerchief fell from her
face-the gypsy woman was helping
the tinker to bind her arms behind
her.
s.You need not be afraid, pretty
lady you will not be hurt, !" said the
soft-voiced sibyl; '' not hurt at all,
lady. Only sou must not follow us
and the fortune-that is all true. Gyp-
sizes read the stars
When DIR. Cope and his wife came
back next morning they found their sill
yer gone, the wardrobe robbed, and
every chicken flown; little after they
found Becky gagged and bound behind
the barn, and, though an acute detec-
tive was called in to find the property,
he never found it. But, of course, al
though he could not make Mrs. Becky
q confederate, he got the story of the
gypsy out of her and Bob Barker hav-
ing been heard to declare, speaking of
poor Becky, that "sich q darned fool
he never heard tell on" the prophecy
does not seem likely to prove true. And
Bob, the two children, the wagon,
horses, COWS, and pigs are still only
dreams vainly nourished in the soul of