The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-03-21
THE STORY OF A PICNIC,

I"You do not mean to say that anybody
besides you and Mr.. Franklin was ever
| foolish enough to 20 and live III that
lonely climef"
had just returned from remote part
of Manitoba, where my friend, Tom
Franklin, aud myself had been for about
two years, seeing how lile on prairie
farm would suit US, and at the time of
| which write l was sitting very comfort
ably beneath my paternal root tree J,
and can assure you was very mucn
pleased with my change OF quarters. AS
may be seen, l was chatting with my
| sister about my sOjourn in the Prairie
Province.
son, yes," I say in reply to Sues in
| terrogation. 1--WE had several neigh
bors, and very interesting people they
were, TOO. And as for excitement, why
| we had an affair Of honor out there that
made it lively for us for quite WHILE"
| Sab, that's nice; tell me all about it.,
there's dear boy" Sue says, with a
| smile that am unable to resist, and
which, OF course she uses on me remorse-
lessly.
do, however, make feeble sort of
objection, but am speedily overcome by
a repetition of the smile, and l begin TO
tell her the story OF a picnic.
"We had been settled on our farm
some months, with not soul within ten
miles of us, when one day we were
agreeably startled by the appearance Of
family who were about to locate just
near us. just then they were engaged
| in that not very agreeable pursuit prov
incially termed claim hunting.
| GAS luck would have it, they found
their land was close to ours, and in a
short time had a temporary house
| erected.
"Tney being our only acquaintances
| within walking distance, ana being also
ahead of the average pioneer farmers,
| both in point Of wealth and education,
Tom and very naturally spent good
deal of our spare time at our neighbors
house, and, in fact, soon became very
frequent visitors.
lit was not very long before 1 per-
ceiVed who was the particular at
pretty and really Agreeable and only
daughter Of the house, Minnie Mitchell.
The could be no mistake about 1t; he
was head over heels in love with her be-
fore he had known her month: and, so
far as l could judge, she appeared to
reeiprocate the feeling. All went merry
as marriage bell, and I was beginning
TO doubt that the course of true love
never did run smoothly. l was, however,
destined to 60 back to my former be-
lief in that deucedly uncomfortable max
i'm very suddenly.
"Early IN the summer of 1S7-, cer-
tain Mr.. Blackhead, a friend of Mr.
MitchelPs, came out from Canada 1--WE
call the rest of the Dominion 'Canada'
out West), and, pending the usual
building OF shanty, he lived at our
neighbors.
"Ihis man was a rather peculiar char
acter, and merits a slight description.
He was lankily tall, raw-boned fellow,
with black teeth, and thin, light-colored
hair and whiskers. His style was a
mixture Of the affectation OF city snoD
and that of a country-bred animal Of
the same species. He did not impress
one with very favorable idea either as
| to good looks or refinement. He said he
was gentleman, and his claim to that
much abused title-at least, as far as
could be inferred from his conversation
l-lay in the fact of his having cousin a
bank clerk in some petty village in On
tario, He appeared to think this en-
titled him to the consideration OF thor
oughbred, and that decent behavior was
not at all necessary to the character he
was trying, otherwise, TO assume. In a
1 word. he was halt-educated, coarse
| brute. Which, however, did not pre-
vent him from falling in love with Min
ME Mitchell. He became infatuated,
and Tom transformed hlmseIt into the
personitication OF hatred.
"Strange to say, the fair one seemed
rather to encourage Blackhead. l told
Tom it was only done to draw him out,
but he would not believe it and became
more vengetul than ever.
1t took very short time to convert
those two men into d0Vils. They scarce
ly ever spoke to each other with cutting
and sarcastic remarks. Never thinking
| Of the mischief l was doing, l used to
have great fun chatting Tom about his
rival: as for the latter, l disliked him,
4 and avoided him as much as possible. /
could see plainly enough that Tom was
only waiting for a chance to punish the
other, but never for moment thought
that be contemplated anything more
serious than an encounter with the
gloves OIL
"Just to give you an idea of how those
men went tor each other. l will relate a
little bit of repartee, which occurred one
evening at MltchelPs.
Nrbe conversation turned upon mos
uuitoes, and Tom, in the course Of Ii.
observed that they did not bite him
much.
"ENo,' said Blackhead, quickly. sThey
torture me-. but then, you see, they like
pure blood.'
u thought Tom would have eaten him
there and then, and he would have re-
sented the insinuation with violence
had l not persuaded him to the contrary
AS it was, it took me nearly the whole
of that night to convince him that the
fellow was altogether too contemplate
for even his wrathlul notice.
"This tever-heat state of affairs could
not last loug, but the crisis came sooner
than l expected.
"On the glorious 1st Of July there was
a picnic down in more thickly settled
part OF the country, to which our neigh
: bors and ourselves were invited. Being
little unwell, and not feeling very
bright, |, like fool, staid at home, and
let Tom 60 alone.
"You see Miss Mitchell, all this time
for reasons best known to herselE-haC
been playing her two lovers, the one
against the other; and, although l wal
perfectly convinced of her great ant
decided Partially for Tom, 1 did no
like that kind of thing, and, OF course
!, he was too much blinued by love to be
neye me when told him my idea of heI
, feelings.
"W ell, about 3 in the afternoon, Tom
Ian ma lOnklnV male and