Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-11-22

year. with the perversity Of an ED ry wo-
man. inst at moving time, Aunt Poindex-
ter contracted rheumatism, and the af-
fairs of household economy fell upon groan-
ing Larry.
1t took him week to buy COW, and
another to engage the services Of a person
to take charge OF. the tactical department;
and so he saw very little of Dolly and her
friend until their third week out of town
Indeed, he avoided the young woman
with the Objectionable sobriquet; but one
day it rained, and Larry lounged into the
library after breakfast. Jinky. was there
and there was only one door to the room
which he unfortunately had just entered
Moreover Larry was curious to know what
possible thing of interest girl who wore
s'bangedo hair and had her dresses fitted
by the ssman mjlliner," had found to make
a microscopic study. He approached the
table and-well, there was a great, fat
creeping horror of cockroach on the slide
under the lens, h
81 did not know that you we're scient.
list, Miss Lowell spoke the young man in
his utter astonishment.
emo! Natural science is quite a pas.
sion with me. have faith in science, Mr.
Poindexter, as an exponent of the divine
cause,''' answered Jinky, with an eye still
fixed upon the glass.
Larry's mouth shaped to whistle, but
he bethought himself.
ssThen you do not concur in the opinion
that science developes cold casuistry that
tends to undermine religion p
s'Indeed, no. The more one studies Or
ganic life about them, the more and more
thoroughly one must understand the ex.
tent and power of their own being. AL
nature lifts its voices of worship, and moth
ing repays the Creator with doubts as to
the propriety and purpose Of its creation
save that creature of transcendent mind
man,
Larry walked to the window and raised
it bit, but the rain beat in and his breath
came natural again, and the roach was
still under the glass.
sis that specimen of your common
household pest, Miss Lowell ?'' he ventur.
ed to ask, after waiting little, in hope
that she would herself explain, and if the
truth be known, in some slight doubt that
she could.
mo. This is the Blatta Americans.
Though why blatta is mystery to me, it
certainly bearing no resemblance to the
sultan of the barnyard. It belongs to the
first family of the division orthoptera-
blatta Linn@us, and is found no further
north than Maryland and no farther South
than Brazil.''
els it not of extraordinary size, this
specimen ~
''Not for the species. 1t is very large
insect, second only to a confrere called by
the CreoIes and French of the Southern
States the mortissa, but it bears no re-
semblance to the foreign churchyard beetle
-biceps mortissiga.''
Miss Lowell removes the slide under ex.
animation and substituted another.
"That,' she said, lis the blatta domes
tica'' Larry looked.
sWhere is its head Miss Lowell ?"
ssUnder this prothorax: it is always thus
hidden, except when feeding
Larry waited moment to locate the
prothorax, and then asked:
'Are they not always feeding? They
seem very lively when one falls in with
Them
son the contrary, Mr.. Poindexter, they
are the orly insect that may be imagined
positively to sleep. Others rest, but it is
quite amusing to see the way this fellow
has of resting hanging over something
the head and legs extending downward
1t will tumble from its elevation, then ga
ther itself up in a ludicrously amazed fash
ion, mount again and resume it's nap, witt
the same result.
elias it any choice of food ?"
A vision of the kitchen pantry ha6
crossed Lary's mind.
sWell, yes; they prey on bones, leather
linen and muslin; but, like the old cannl
bal woman of London with every dainty
before her, nothing tastes like piccanln
NY"
els there anything they will not eat P
urged Larry, in despair.
81 have never known themto refuse any
thing but pumpkin pie.'
The young man groaned aloud. Nothing
sacred from such depredators nut his owl
abomination in pastry-pumpkin pie.
Miss Lowell had finished her morning
with the miscroscope. She restored thu
specimens carefully to their respective
boxes, and babe her pupil adieu. Their
Larry grew restless. The house sat OF
him like Chinese hat on mandarin
| head. There was break in the clouds
and he thought of speckled charmer h
had seen feeding the day before on heav'
corner of the home weir. So he wen
away whistling ia very big trout lay I'm
der root" and only returned as the fire
flies hung their lamps in the hedge and tn
house was bubbliug over with gaiety ant
guests from the town.
Larry was in very meditative moot
that night. It was quite beyond his phil
osophy to reconcile Miss Lowell Of thu
microscopic morning with Jinky of tn
kaleidoscope evening, but he did observ
| that the young woman had lovly hair AM
eyes, a charming mouth, a peach blow
complexion, and enthusiastically, he
shoulders were beautiful
The next morning Larry started Of
through the garden. Auntie wanted som
sweet fern for her rheumatism, and acrOs
the garden was the shortest cut to the hill
side haunt of the fragrant herb. He push
| ed through the current bushes, sending tn