Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-10-18

my mind free for a checNInate, have only To
! put pawn temptingly in your way, aad the
| thing Is done"
az have learned not to des2ise the day OF
/ small things says Aunt Con, solelnnly. "'rake
care Of the pence, and the pounds viii take care
| or themselves you Know
/ Yes but while You arc taking such extreme
! ly good care OF your pence or pa WIS, the enemy
, flies away with your sniiiins5 and pounds-youf
| rocks and queens nhindeTed
| RemOnstTance IS useless, however. for Aunt
I Con still fondly plays her Own special game,
and bears her unvaTylng cAeckmate with per-
! feet equahimity.
! "Aunt Con, your date palm needs reporting, .
! says Lou; sat least Know ours does, and l am
going 70 get section Of drain-pipe for 1t. SlaIi
/ get one for you at the same time -
| "Drain- pipe? Nonsense, my DEAR" retorts
| Aunt Con. ~ assure you that have 40 money
20 waste upon drain pipes. Tie tiower-pot IN
| enough for any well. disposed plant, and 50 1t
These date palms, raised after many failures,
are the delight OF Lou's and my heart. Oae Of
| them, IN a spasm Of generosity, we have pre-
| sented to Aunt Con, and 1t IS needless to say,
have regretted the act ever Since.
| "But, Aunt Con, you don't quite Understand y
| pursues Lou: "the date palm grows III deserts
| you know, and must rike is roots deep to find
! to put No. foot int a No. I shoe"
Aunt Con says nothing, save, No drain pipe
for me- thank you" but IN hef mind she is EVIL
! IDENTIFY revolving the point.
| 4 day later our date-Halm Is stretching its
| roofs luxurlousiy In the drain pipe. Aunt Con
! is busy about hers too, with trowe: and pruu-
| Ing knife, but we can not imagine what she IS
! doing, Until we are enlightened by her trium-
! phanf announcements: .'NOw, girls, see what Il
| little consideration ana continuance viii do /
| nave solved the problem nf Ii dite-palIl in a
| Hover pot The dAte-paln in the desert
strikes its roots down to fld water, you say.
| no reed to do so, fer it has water enough
| always. Bear this fact In mind, and you VII
! sec tie wisdom OF my proceeding. / simply
| took UP the plant, trimmed on It's Superiiuoys
roo S. and PIT il back.
| Leu and are nearly speeches at the bold
| mes OF invention ana execution when cilarae-
! ages to gasp out: 'lIut they Will grow again,
! Aunt Con--at least II the plant lives
"Lct them grow says Aunt Con, sternIy
They are utterly useless, and / shall simply
! cut them OF again"
| Poor date palm" cry, as we escape from
| Aunt Con presence.
"Madge," says Lol, When our laughter has
somewhat sub5ided, .'dOesat 1t strike you that
| hat date-palm Is a symbol Of what our lives
have been Ii we had been brought Up under
Aunt Cons management She would have
lopped away all the supefiluiteS OF lie, re-
gi dleaS of the fact that In 50 doing she was
striking al the roots Of life ITSELF"
LUCKILY for us we are independent OF her" |
say but Lou replies, thDughtfutly:
:. " hat a woman Aunt Con would have been
IL She had not trimmed herself down so Gaze
fully to fit her own little IOTer-p0t! II some
even low -
Wnen Lou and decide 10 paint our drain
pipe black, and ornament II Will quaint E.,yp-
tian borders and araoeS4ue5; with Menno3s
and CleOpatraS and dancing girls and SphlnXe5
c1tWililg 8llwith fantastic garlands Of strange
tropical foliage, amid which - the serpent OF
old Mus WritheS, and L2e long-legged Ibis
stalks, and the crocodile craWia and me lotus
blooms serenely, Aunt Con eSclaini5 again at
our extravaganza. But when We send orr date
palm TO the county lair, where it wins 4 twenty
dollar prize, Aunt Con Is mute. Only we fad
her afterward upon the piazza with her hands
behind her back. contemplating with reflac-
tive air, the limp, dropping JWg IL a red HOVER
pot. which Is all that her repeated looping nave
left of what was once the twin or our prize
winner in beauty and juxuriance. For the fir5t
lime, believe, vague idea has begun TO
struggle through her mind that saving OF
money is not always economy, nor its eXoendl-
lure invariably extravaganza. For the d:st
time there seems q chance that this absurd
bleniish in an otherwise wel!-nign fa1lJle5s
character may be understood, and with Aunt
Cons clear common sense and stern resolution,
II is only necessary that Ii should be seen in It's
hight light 10 be banished forever.
u am going ID town to-day, my dearS,'' says
Aunt Con. as we look In wonder to see her come
down, ready bonneted and sha Sled, TO the
breakfast table.
1t is a brolling day early in August The mer-
curry already, at a. n, stands at 500 What j.
viii be at noon We can only anticipate with
sinkiDgs OF the heart. Under the circumstances
Aunt Cons announcement moves Us to live
l lest expostulations, but all III vain. To New
1OTk she IuuSl anu W New 1Ofh sue Will 90,
| hot or cold, wet or dry.
but why?" we ask; and Aunt Con enlightens
.Don't you know, she said, '.that tomorrow
| the railway company raises its fare? To-day
| return ticket costs Sl30: tomorrow and after
they will cost sl.S6-a clear gain OF i've cents
| you see."
| says Lou. "But why must you SO at all? VIVA
| do you need that You can not get hefe?"
"Of course You can get them all here" says
Aunt Cnr EhIIfy how tn fyyto
| for them. need hundred thlngs-pins hair
| pins, tape, buttons, paper-i could not tell you
haf."
"Send an order for them, If you must &c
| them from New York." says Lou.
land pay thirty cent for the expreSS!" say
Aunt Con. "Much should gain Dy that, to be
| sure!"
"At least you will spare yourself all you can,"
don't tire yourself out and come home SICK as
| you generally do"
Aunt Con has no time to reply, for she must
start at once for the station. She walks of
| course; Aunt Con always walks, looking on
| hacks as an invention OF the enemy to lure the
unWeary into desperate extravaganza. When
| she Is fairly off, Lou and settle ourselves to
such light and frivolous occupations as 3e1G a
| day.
Toward three O'Clock the storm clouds roll UP
| over the sky, a whirtng wind darkens the air
| with dust, and low mutter OF distant thunder
! growls from the darken1ng west. Unfastened
shutters and open doors bang suddenly with a
| force which shakes the house from top to bot
| tom, and acts on our nerves, already tense from
| the electrical influences which are abroad, like
! signals OF menace and deadly peril. We lily TO
close windows and make all fast, and as we fin.
| tsh our task, Lou says:
"Poor Aunt Con! This storm has struck the
city before it reached us. She must be thor
| oughly drenched."
| We discuss Aunt Cons probable fate in the
| pauses Of the tempest which has swept down
upon us In full force, drawing upon our fancy
| for pictures alternately fearful and ludlcrous,
| betW cen the roar OF the thunder and the vivid
| flashes of the lightning. Now that the storm
has fairly come, the vague horror which had
| weighed US down before II began has vanished,
| and We can laugh and chat gayly amidst the
tumult Of the elements.
! The four O'Clock train comes In, but We watch
| in vain for Aunt Cons figure tolling up the
| street from the station. The five O'Clock train
too fails TO bring her, and we begln to grow
| little uneasy.
"If she does not come by the six o'clock train,
| l shall telegraph" says Lou.
telegram representing to LOUIS mind the
deepest depth OF horror 1t is naturally the flrst
| thing TO which her Thoughts turn vaguely In
! emergencies; but my simple question, ITO
| whom?" seals her lips, and turns ner eyes again
| to the window. and her thoughts to Aunt Con.
| at ten minutes past six O'Clock precisely we
| see q drenched. disheyelled figure toillng
| slowly up the street, and fly to the door to
! meet and greet Aunt Con. The storm is over
| by this time; its skirts are rolling away in ten