The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1877-12-13

been married that l had ever heard ia
cob utter. any, thing uappsoaching an
oath. 1t startled me ike the LIGHT Of a
lame suddenly glaring up red and lurid
In the midst OF quiet woodland
jacob had been reppteda little wild;
a good many wise old folk had shook
their heads when weicame together lit
was said he had run throug gh with all
his thrifty fathers money, had been
wasteful and speculative and dissipated,
ana had none Of the. thrifty Qualities and
forehandedness deemed SCI essential
among the orderly farming people of
Laurel .neighbeffood .sSonfe said |
would surely repent if. / married him.
4 had the time for repentance come now2
iWeA, we had not beenprosperous this
year, and Jacobs farming had been
marred hNdxotsght hnd blight.
qlMell 90 remember the aspect of that
| bllghted corn-feld, from W hieh we had
expected SO much. nhI hItreminded me of
a troop, Of weather. beaten soldiers that
| saw offde returning slfonfe in tffe latter
days of the war; jaded, dispirited, and
with ragged banners trailing in thedust..
No M music, no cheers Of welcoming
voices, no hats off, to welcome their re.
turn. So, wearily, with detected heads
and thin long Leaves uplifted, sour corn
field trailed on the hill side.
Something of this Decentralization had
| perhaps entered into our household dMa,
sort OF nameless shadow, a. bleak and
bllghting something, against which no
energy and no activity could haal. We
were young, you see, and had, as it were,
Just commenced life sand itwas hard to
know that things were going wrong
with us from the beginning.
/ But - axe was stm q hero sinrnly eyes,
and | loved him well, and it was to lure
him little from the impalpable gloom,
that was settling = around as that I had
proposed this evening stroll I did
not take naturally to moodiness, and
that sort of quiet that settles like mold
ON some married lives; and the music,
the moonlight, and the stirring people
were like wine to me, and should have
gone back to our quiet. little cottage
gay as a lark if it had not been for those
words They seemedl Hike kadlto my
heart Of hearts, and weighed it down
as we walked silently homeward ed
oH was late when we returned, but
Jacob seemed in no wise inclined to re-
tire. He walked about, restless and ret
icent. The place seemed too small for
him; @hfs1 tail Figure seemed to contract
its imited3 space, e as he moved to and
fro, till it was almost a relief to see him
step from the doorway and silently
stride down the road. r It was mo new I
thing foR him to walk off the t.bluespi in
that way; and never intruded upon
these moods, when he appeared to men4
tally set me aside as one who could not
share in thesthoughts that were urging
him. Generally he came back to me
outof these fnorose fitsmore loving and
kinder than ever, and this, was joy
enough. 1zA2 aAs~S<"< G~~A
But tonight /. was restless too. II
wandered down to the gate and watched
his tall figure as, with d deep shadow
stalking after it in the moonlight, it dis
appeared down the turn Of the road.
fellintoya reverie standing there a rev 4
erie of knoW)n0t how long duration 4
was reused from it by the appearance
on the road of Jigger. Jin's. distorted |
figure. We were very good friends, Jig
ger Jim and myself, and he had oncesig-!
nified his high appreciation Of our friend
ship by presenting me with 9 huge brass
button, His glee, when pinned this on
my dress like brooch, was. indescriba-
BILE. This time he stopped in the, road
and doffed his cap-a courtesy only ex-
tended to certain .dig1itariesa of theNil- /
lage on rare occasions. Jigger under
stood manners, ssbnt deemed them too
good for ordinary use. He was in high
spirits, apparently; laughed his strange
cultural laugh, pointed to the moon, /
sparkling above usy then to his breast,
andpwas hugely pleased when I indicat-. 7
ed that the diamonds he had seen down
at the haal like that. ,Ihe1Es ele-s
vating his claw-like fingers, he gave
great leap, s4fif to grasp the serene
planet, and pointing to my shaw. and
drapefy, left ME tas' infer that he Would
like to see me cbedizaned with something
monas. shilling as ti{e hafmiasss s,i fellow how
wentelris, way,aI Ibethought me that it
wase late, and began to wonder why i
Jacob did not come back.
l concluded. after a while, that i
would strehs down the road and meet
50 solitary at the house,
and the night was 50 sliuring. After
you passed certain ,turn, Of the road,
you came almost in sight of the sea-
shore. A little earlier in the evening
you were apt to meet knots of young
folAs,h here and there strolling up from
the hotels. But at this, hour il, was sob
itary and quiet. The water touched ;.
the Shore gently with a soothing sound;
the beach stretched away white and
ghttering, eircling the blue water with
q grand sweep that curved out to thei
,,,iiS ~ rtntnn f,,rhora q siIro, ,ro;l onI,r