The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-03-26
An EXCITING SLEIGu.RIDE.

or Mr.. aud Mrs. Frost.
Josephine POllud, in n. Y. Independent.
AN EXCITING SLElGH.RIDE.
Bang, bang, bang! went Philip Sulli-
vans hammer, as he pounded on his
sled "Chain Lightning.' "Chaiu
Lightning had needed mcnding ever
since last winter, but Phil had con-
cluded not to touch it till lust before
the snow came"
"Neycr do to-day what you can put
off until tomorrow. ~. ... -.
The consequence was that the north
wind suddenly pulled up midnight
storm, and Master Phil was awakened
one morning by the shouts of the six
Dyke boys. who were coasting merrily
down "Sullivan HILL"
Phil was out Of bed in a twinkling.
Ten O'clock found him still working
tiercely ON "ChaiL Lightning" his
glue-pot simmering before the fire in
company with his fathers best chisel
and his mothers machine oil-can.
The shouts Of the Dyke boys still re-
sounded; and not only their jubilation
but that Of forty more coasters drove
Phil nearly frantic. ..... r.. ...
With all his might Phil worked on,
and "Chain Lightning was beginning
to look as if it might hold its owA even
among newer sleds. when the door
leading into the library opened softly,
and fair-haired Rosabel, Pills sister,
appeared on the threshold. At the
same moment an opposite door flew
open with a jerk, and there stood Rosa
bel "done in sepia,' as it We're; little
brown Kate, Rosabels twin sister.
Phil glanced up. and then became
more than ever absorbed in his work.
There was q peculiar expression on the
twins faces. Phil instantly recognized
it. "The errand cast of features" he
grimly called it.
"Phil. DEAR" began Rosabel.
Phil, DEAR" echoed Kate.
Phil handled screw-driver dex-
trously.
"Phil, dear, will you please run over
to the station and see if nv new skates
have come by the twelve-o'clock
trainp Go when the cars are due, won't
you3" a
"And Phil, DEAR" chimed in Kate,
"can't you manage to 60 into the city
to-day and call for roll of music
which is to be left for me at Hale a.
McPherson's?
Now, could anything be more trying
to tho temper of the average youth
than requests like these, make under
the existing circumstances? Perhaps
some Of us may find it in our hearts to
forgive Phil for answering with GER
tain touch Of asperity:
don't Phil dear nc! I'm not 90
ing to the station and I'm not going to
the city, and l."
Bang. bang, bong! the hammer ex-
pressed the rest of his sentiments. 'en
Rosabel arched her eyebrows, and
mildly withdrew.
h Kate tarried to wheedle the enemy a
bit, and, that failing, gave it as her
opinion that boys ought never to have
been created. Departing she closed the
door with more force than was strictly
needful. and left Phil alone. g..
That individual worked on in an in
jured and gloomy frame Of mind.
"Mean enough in themto be forever
nagging me. Mean enough in me not
to get their skates aud music.''
1t was hard for Phil to decide which
was the greater wretch, himself or
Kate. Rosabel, he concluded. could
never be "blot on the EARTH" what
ever she did. 1t was kosabel who had
helped him write his composition on
"Spring;" it was Rosabel who knit his
mittens; it was Rosabel who never
shirked her share of the stirring when
they made moIasses candy.
The remembrance of Rosabel's vir-
tues haunted Phil even after ..Chain
Lightning was in order, and he was
shooting down "Sullivan Ill.," lying
prone on his sled, with his legs waving
in the air.
Perhaps that was the reason that
when his elder brother Will came hasti-
ly mp the hill and offered him five cents
if he would carry q bundle to a store
next the railway station (you see that
Phil was regarded as the family errand
boy, he cOndescended to saunter in
that direction. Not that he cared for
the pennies. although he accepted them
as token OF brothcrly esteem,
He even quickened his pace as ashrill
whistle sounded in the distance, and
ended by racing up to the depot just as
the twelve.o' clock train stopped.
No one seemed to know about Rosa
bells skates.
''Ask the man in the express Office
perhaps they came on an earlier train,"
suggested Fred Rodman, who was
standing on the platform. "pll keep
your sled for you. Or, see here, just
slip the rope through this iron ring on
the rear car
Phil did as he was hidden, and leav-
ing his sharp-shooter tied with a ship
knot, went into the express Office.
The man in the express Office had
never heard the proverb concerning
- place for every things" or, If he
had, knowing it was not among the Ten
Commandments, felt under no obliga.
ton TO heed it. He remarked that