Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1880-04-29
!. y. i.IsheA N 9heFs ahall No .Ilnd aaEr0talqrr 5

lssbegmight as well have said oiaht Or
nine hundred. tf0t afl laa g'iaamm p
II .ORt WIS staggered from that tleliei0esl
bar into the gathering night. hsFhefe5
was a man. a lAboref OF Nsofie sort,
Standing n the bar; and ~ we vent
out, NOTICED him lean over and whie-
per to the. hostess AS we went, how.
ever, YEARLY dragging our legs along,
some one came running after us. Il.
was girl, apparently servant GIRL Z
young, pretty and neatly dressed She
sae,ned in Rpeat fliirrv.i. ~ ~ ei.sa
"Please, sir,N she said, stopping us,
"i've brought message Mistress
says you're 10 come back at once. And
she wished me 10 say she is very sorry,
but she did not know you" a-
Know me! OF course not. How was
she TO, seeing she had never seen me
before. nor herP The ignorance was
mutual. fa
Let's GO" said George, cutting
further conversation short.
When we reached the inn, the hostess
bowed. ~ am sorry. sir, she said,
in a stately way, "to have sent you
away, but did not know you.n
Did not know meP What did she
mean by she did not know meP OF
course she did not know me. How was
she TOP But had no time for reAec-
tion. The servant showed us into an
inner room, the neatest, coziest, pret-
test little room l do believe ever saw.
George threw himself on the sofa; while
! sat on a chair, my feet apart, my
hands on my knees, staring into va
cancy, feeling little mystified.
In few minutes the servant returned.
"Please, win you step this way, sir?"
said she to me.
George was asleep on the sofa, and
did not notice her entrance.
1fOllowed her up stairs; we were evi-
IDENTITY among the bed rooms. She
stopped at door, aud opening IL
showed me i'm. II was a slecpingapart.
ment, quite small, but so neat, and
clean and pretty, so unlike the usual
thing you expect in hotels and inns,
that ! looked on the servant in amaze.
There were n suit Of clothes laid out on
the bed, black and seeming quite new,
and clean. white shirt hanging on a
chair; a collar, neckiie and socks on
the seat and pair of slippers ON the
floor
Mistress" said my guide, with Just
enough of the Doric 10 be agreeable,
wishes You to change your clothes, or
else yon viii get cold
I" What" " ! inquired, "is your mis-
tress' namep'
q Mrs. Mac"--something in three syl-
tables, but what ] could not catch She
then withdrew.
Taking of my drenched suit, / FIRST
had a thorough good wash, and then put
ON the clothes provided. / then went
down stairs again, aud found my Phillis
waiting at the foot TO guide me into
the parlcr, where found George still
sleeping. woke him and told him of
my luck.
"Well," said he, she's a pleasant
sort of a landlady. She seems to have
taken a fancy, TO you"
Don't talk nonsense retorted, !
thinking Of Kate and my family of
seven
81 hope" said he, among her other
kindnesses, she won't forget TO let us
have some supper"
The words were hardly out of his |
mouth when there was a tapat the door, !
and in came Phillis. please sir" said |
that admirable young person, 'mistress |
says may lay the table for supperPn
Give your mistress my compli- |
ments, replied George, with assumed |
dignity" MFR. Nettleford's compli- |
ments, and say with the greatest pleas
urc.n
She did not give her mistress his COM
pliments. at least not then; but without |
a word or a smile laid it there aud then,
covering it with snow white table |
cloth, and laying Il in that charming air
of home-like comfort that pervaded |
everything.
mthe morning we oversight ourselves,
and after breakfast began seriously to
consider the cost of our entertainment. |
We rang the bell, and in came the land
lady We rose, as she entered, and |
bowed, which courtesy she gracefully
returned.
1--WE shall be much Obliged said,
" il you will let us have our bill"
"Billr' she said, drawing herself
upright. DO you wish to insult me,
sirP"
Insult heri "Insult your l said,
. but surely this is an innrt
Yes,n returned she, with something
of wounded dignity; "this is an inn,
but not to you whatefer." af
f'Not to usp' | exclaimed, amazed;
while George, / fancy, began to take her
for lunatic.
"Do you think" she burst out, ~
would take money from the man who
saved my childP'
Saved her child! In an Instant it
flashed across me, the youngster fioun-
dering in the pool, and how the young
rogue had run away.
l"..Was.--was that your son in the
poolP' / asked beginning 10 under