Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1877-01-17
having 4 good time, as she said Ia
seeing them have good time.

Roy Legitimate was .he oo' = ao.
nearest neighbor, and had peen =
Studying civil engineering at some
famous academy a hundred miles 9,
so away, bnt having overs'uoi aa'
III according to his own ac-
count. had run down home ior ie''
and holiday. o,r
He was a great acquisition to our !,
klimited society, and indeed ne wou'u
have been to any society, for ne was was
! real clever follow, with his poetry
and bis singing and his comlcal re.
marks on people and things; anu a.
first we girls were all in love WIN ~,
him except Hetty, who always got
into the corner the moment she saw
him coming, and hid behind 2 a pooh
rlWhy don't yosllpat that BABY 70
abede By Jove what an ugly doll II
isr, I heard him whisper one even
ING to Cynthia; and the Queen look
ed as pleased as girls always do when
| a favorite male acquaintance speaks
slightingly Of one of their ienaie
| friends.
Well. as / said before, the others,
that's Golden Belle and myself
answered to the not at all fiaterihs
"sporr' name "Poll Parrot" my
sponsors in baptism having known
me as Mary Parrot almost, II
not quite in love, when seeing
CYNTHIA was sure to win the
prize. we drew back in time to pre-
serve our hearts from being serious
w shattered. that's, i MonYhshe ana
Pm sure Ibid.
Belle was an awful fiirt, there's no
denying that walking with jack
| Willard one day, sailing with Ned
Griswold the next, and playing GRO
Duet every day with them all.
never fiirted much-if could
help it. Some Of the young men iol-
lowed me about good deal, and
told me my dark, blue or violet eyes
as they were pleased to call them,
were the prettiest and my smile
the sweetest but pshaw what's the
use of repeating tho nonsense?
never believed them-thatis, never
believed any Of them but one.
But TO 90 back TO Belle. Though
she had declared to me she felt moth
ing but friendship for Roy, and was
perfectly content to resign him TO
our queen yet she spared no arts by
which she could attract his attention.
She was constantly making eyes at
him and dancing around him, and
ending his poetical quotations with
some absurd concelt OF her own, and
Joining in different key when he
was singing his most pathetic songs;
and for the life af him, for he was
Just full Of fun as she was, and al
ways ready to tumble from the sub
lime to the ridiculous. Roy couldn't
help laughing at her antics, and fin
ally yielding entirely to her mis-
chievous influence. Then the two
would romp and talk nonsense--by
the hour, to the great and undisguis-
cd contempt Of their sovereign lady.
And ut last they began to 60 black
berrying together; Cynthia never
went blackberrying, the thorns
scratched her hands and tore her
dresses, and grabbing, Cynthia
never went grabbing; she was afraid
Of crabs, and mushroom -gathoring
Cynthia never gathered mush-
rooms, for she hated to stoop, and
she feared TO spoil her dainty slip
pers, mushrooms delighting in un-
pleasantly damp places.
Things went on this way for about
n month, when Queen Cynthia's
brow growing darker and darker,
though Roy still knelt at her feet
when he wasn't flirting with Belle;
Belle playing coquette with every
body more or less Roy more, the
others less, ] making my mind
whether it was Mark or Will / liked
best; end Small Hetty sitting in her
favorito corner quietly watching us
oil with big, serious, baby wise eyes
when one evening Queens pa
tience, which must confess had been
sorely tasked, gave out. Belle had
been rambling about the whole after
noon with Roy, serching for ferns
and wild flowers -and, completely
tired out, had fallen asleep in the
great comfortable arm chair into
which she sank the moment she en-
tered the room.
Roy, coming In n few moments
after, stopped In admiration before
her. And she did make a pretty
picture; her dark head against the
crimson cloth, her red lips slightly
parted, her black hair uncoiled and
falling about her shoulders, the bask-
ct OF ferns by her side, and the wild
flowers grasped in her hand.
"A chance to win pair of gloves,
Lightharte," said Mark TownIey,
who was teaching me how to play
chess.
"By Jove! I'll win them too,o
said Roy; and bending, he kissed
Bell full upon the lips.
Cynthia, with lightning flashing
from her eyes, arose and left the
room, and we all waited In silence n
moment, AS though we expected a
dreadful thunder-clap.
The storm came later in tho even.
ing, when the guests had taken
their departure, and Roy, hat in
hand. was about to take his