The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1877-12-06

st provocation would have been rap

est provocation would have been rap
ture. .,f,
Gloria bought stack of Ledgers-
we were reading Self-Made' and
were deeply in love with Ishmael-a
with cordials and kind messages the
watchers turned down " back streets, -
as villagers say, just as the house lights
were twinkling Ike stars in the win
dows. Phebe Ann didn't look much
sick; there was the same prim smile that
allowed the lips to stretch just so far
and no further. After all, Gloria said,
her eyes didn't look natural and she was
afraid to stay without Mrs. Mills or
somebody. Her friend said "pooh, -
and arranged the pillows and laid the
palm of her hand against the sick wom-
ans cheek, professional like, to see if
she had fever.
The roosters were exchanging mid
night salutations; the wind blew fu-
riously and the bough of a sprawling
peach tree tapped against the window
like the fingers of a speculative ghost.
Gloria sat in an old ancient rocking
chair, cushioned with banana-trees and
bird-of-Paradise curtain calico. She
spoke in awed whispers and looked too
scared to stir. Some way, Ishmael had
lost all his charms; if he sank into
"the depths,'' who caredP
"Girls," called Phebe Ann, softly,
and motion and speech came back.
Il have had a good sleep and nice
dream, and now won't you bring that
hair trunk out of the closet and put it
on the floor before nv bed?"
SIS she crazy?" asked Gloria, in a
tragic whisper, as the two went stum-
bling over each other into the darkness
of the deep closet.
There; open it and take every thing
out clear to the bottom; unfold that
linen sheet, want to tell you now,
while can, about it."
A creamy white silk gown, with low
neck and lace sleeves, was shaken out !;
a bouquet was pinned to the bosom of
the dress-it was only the dust of roses
There was daguerreotype fased and
dim; perhaps it was the picture of
Phebe AIMS brother; but a yellow
card dropped out, engraved with two
hands clasped, and c;rclet woven of
brown hair, linked about with a golden
tress, was fastened to it with a bit of
silk thread.
"Shall we give these to her?n asked
one, for Phebe Ann had lain her head
back on the pillow and closed her eyes.
"Wait till she speaks again." said
the other. M - Fl.
The big square clock on the shelf
licked louder and louder; the candle
wick was SO long it had parted threads
and thief was wasting the tallow down
the side (Phebe Ann was afraid of kerr
osene); a pair of unhappy cats snarled
at each other under the lilac bushes );
the wind came hard against the door
and moaned because it could not get in,
and two frightened, wild-eyed girls sat
ON the floor, on either side of the trunk,
with the lang syne linens and silks,
still haunted with the breath of rose
mary and camomile that grew in the
garden of the long-ago, in heaps before
them. sr
The moon broke through the showery
clouds, the winds died away, the eats
scampered across the street, and the
spell of silence fell on every thing but
the determined clock, which struck the
hour as promptly as if darkness and
death were the same as light and life.
She is worse," whispered Gloria
across the trunk, g and 1 shall run for
Mrs. Billings" and as she opened the
door to step out the guest waiting out
side stepped in. I did not see him, but
Phebe Ann did, through her shut lids,
and stretching out her thin hands, she
cried joyfully, :" am ready, John, y
and the spirit feet were well up the shin
ing path before the neighbors got there.
Detroit Free Press. IS