St. Landry democrat., 1879-04-05


would occasionally ra'pond with two or
three bars 1t was all quite an ifeaI
Arcadian business They seemed very
happy together, these two persons, who
asked no odds whatever of the commu-
nifty in which they had settled them
selves.
There was queerness, a sort OF mys-
terry, about this couple, which | admit
piqued my curiosity, though, as rule,
| have NJ morbid interest in the affairs
of my neighbors. They had behaved
like pair OF lovers who had run off snd
got MAJ ried clandestinely. | willingly
acquitted them, the one and the other,
OF having no legal right to do 50; ior, to
change a word in the lines Of the poet :
It is a joy to think the best
W may of human kird.
Admitting the hypothesis OF elope'
ment, there was no mystery III theif
neither Fcnding nor receiving letters
But where did they get their groceries =?
l do not mean the money to pay 'or
them--that is Al enigma apart-tut the
groceries themselves. No express wagon,
no butchers cart, no vehicle If any
| description, was ever observed to stop at
their domicie. Yet they did not order
family stores at the sOla esta blishment in
the village--an inexhau5tibe little bottle
of shop which ( [ advertise it gratis)
can turn out anything in the way OF
groceries, from a hand>aw to pocket,
handkerchief. I confess that I allowed
this unimportant detail of their houses
keeping to occupy more OF my specuLa.
ton than was cIetitable to me.
In several respects our nei4hbors re>
minded me OF those inex plicabte persons
we sometimes come across Ia gleat cities,
though seldom or never in suburban
pacrs, where the field may be supposed
too restricted for their operations-per>
SOILS VINO have no p7rceptible means OF
subsistence, and manage to live royalty
on nothing 8 yea. They hold no gov>
ernment bonds, they possess no real es>
tate (our neighboss did own their house)
they Toll not, neither iO they spin; yet
they reap ali the numerous soft advan>
tages that usually result from honest toll
and skilful spinning How do they do
It? But his is digrs ssion: and am
quite o. the oploiSp u the old lady IN
DAVID G, ppe' field, wis says, Let Us
have no ms ande isg !"
Though my wife had declined to risk
ceremonious call on our nelghbers as
family, J saw no ress N why | should
not speak TO the husband as an Individual
when | happened to encounter him by
the wayside. I made several approaches
70 do 80, when 1t occurred to my pene.
ttation that my neighbor had the air of
trying to avoid me. l resolved to put
the suspicion to the test, and one fore>
noon, when he was sauntering along on
the opposite side of the road, in the
vicinity of Fishers saw mill, | deliber>
ately crossed over to address him. The
brusque manner in which he hurried
away was not to be misunderstood. OF
course | was not going to force myself
upon him.
1t was at this time that I began to
form uncharitable suppositions touching
our neighbors, and would have been as
well pleased if some Of my choicest fruit
trees had not ovezhung their wall. I
determined to keep my eyes open later
in the season, when the truSas should be
ripe to pluck. In some folks, sense of
che delicate shade of difference between
mem, ct tu4m does not seem to be very
strongly developed in the Moon of
Cherries, to use the old Indian phrase.
was sufficiently magnanimous not to
impart any of these sinister impressions
to the families with whom we were On
visiting terms; for I despise a gossip. l
would say nothing against the persons up
the road until | had something definite
to say. My interest in them was--well,
not exactly extinguished, but burning
low | met the gentleman at intervals,
and passed him without recognition; at
rarer intervals I saw the lady.
After agwbi,e 1 not only missed my
occasional giimpses Of her pretty, slim
figure, always draped in some soft black
stuff with bit of scarlet at the throat,
but inferred that she did not 90 about
the house singing in her light hearted
manner as formerly. Whist had hap>
spened 2 Had the honeymoon suffered
eclipse already? Was she Ill? I tancied
she was i'll and that l detected certain
anxiety in the husband, who spent the
mornings digging solidarity in the garden,
and seemed. to have relinquished those
long jaunts to the brow O Blue. hill,
where there is superb view combined
with sundry venerable rattlesnakes with
welve ratties
AS the days went by it became certain
that the lady was confined to the house
perhaps seri u-ly i'll, possibly confirmed
invalid. Whether she was attended by
a physician from Canton or Milton I was
unable to say; but neither the gig with
the large white alopathic horse, nor the
gig with the homeopathic sorrel mare,
was ever seen hitched at the gate during
the day. If physician had charge OF
L /