The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-11-09

expression on Cleopa1ra<s countenance. be
was looking at the sky.
1.-The stars are shining" he said, s'she IS
locking Tor ny message and she IS thinking
OF me-"
And Miss D~iGGenbaugh?
She was sitting il her lonely bower, look
in cut into the star-lit night, saying, His
messenger, with feet Of silence, is even now
or its way to tell ne he loves me yet. feel
his presence near me-
IN the meantime Cleopatra was carrying
out his contract after the approved manner
OF a veteran star-route contractor. He got
along very well for a quarter Of a mile, and
was making pretty good time when, while
streaking down a lonesome alley, he sudden
ly paused add said
II hope to die il I don't smell fish,.
And while he was exploring the ash-pile
he was suddenly accosted BY 9 lonesome
looking cat On the Woodshed:
''say, old indigo blue, Skinny on your own
side!"
"Whatchugivinus p growled Cleopatra,
Just glancing up long enough from an old
mackerel to take the Woodshedder's measure.
The woodshedder, being on his own prem
ises, made q violent effort to restrain his
wrath, but he came down to the ash-pile and
said, in voice that meant business
s'Il trouble you for that fish, If you please,
mister"
"All right" said Cleopatra, "I'H leave
you the bones when I'm through with it.
The strange cat reached out to take che
sarory fish, and Cleopatra smote him. Ia
less time than it takes to tell il, be stood that
cat il the corner Of the fence and wiped
enough hair off him to stuff q sofa cushion.
AND as the wailing cat dragged its lacerated
body down the drain, Cleopatra resumed his
fish, r%emarking, as he lodged q passing
backing brush, that he believed, as long as
be was out, he'd sit up q little while and have
some fun with the boys.
Ard he had it. He went down the alleys
and danced TO everything be met. He nearly
tore tbs ea1 off . smart kitten that got up on
a wood-pile and sassed him and asked him
sswhere he picked9up that paper collar" He
prowlep through back yards and he almost
mortified the life out Of q highly respectable,
eldery tortoise-shell tabby, sitting in q kitch-
en- window, BY creeping up close under the
window and then roaring out 70 know if she
danced the lancers." He scalped q harm
less Mexican dog all the way down its bare
back, in six red, raw lines, and shouted after
the anguSsh-stricken animal to 'srun home
and put on his hair" He was hit once with
an old kerosene torch that perfumed him up
like q political procession, and be craWled
through an old drain back Of the soap-works
and came out smelling worse than an Indian
picnic. AT last he heard music over in
ssStony Lonesome" and went over there and
found the boys were having q little dance,
and the first thing he did when he went in,
he spat at the bar-keeper, and slapped q one
eyed cat from Hibernia.
tsPile onto me by thousands" he yelled.
take home!"
And they didn't wait for q second invita-
ton. They piled onto him then and there,
and the babbling brook that prattles through
the.rocks of Stony Lonesome, when it heard
the wild, unearthly clamor, turned back and
ran up the hill, and ii dumb terror watched
tbs circling clouds Of misty hair drifting
about il the valley below.
u u = y = e
In Judge Diffenbaugh's hospitable parlors
his chosen friend fingered, though the hour
was late. AT the piano Miss D~ifenbeugh
dreamily wandered through the enhancing
numbers OF Schubert's Grade Song"
There was q familiar voice at the gate that
made her heartbeat wildly. The voice came
across the lawn. It was Cleopatra. And
this was what he was saying
'sHoop-pee! | can lick the first bloody
brindle son Of a rat-catcher that ever climbed
3 fence! Whoop! I'm the old he-Bashi
Bazook from Angular street, an. don you
fer-fnrgiz it-donyoufurgizft! Dance to- me,
somebody! I only weigh 3 pound e
And then that apparitioD-that nocke7y
Of q respectable, home-bred cat-strode INTO
Judge DiHffenbaugh's paTlor, and everybody
climed onto the tables and chairs. Bliss Daf-
fenbaugh tainted. The Old judge sWoFe.
Cleopatra laughed ~sardonically, and remark-
ed .sthat he'd been out all night, and he was
getting to be q big boy noW.D His hair was
mainly gone and what be had lefo was Dos
combed. His face was scratched. One eye
was closed. His ears hung loose and limp.
-#, 80 -. - n,,,anh. a nd frnad1 RI c;nc