The Red Cloud chief., 1881-09-29
BEFORE A FALL.

TUT I'll , - Iftall,
And yves n shadow"
Ana that is the ditty that Margery sings. .
=. T.. Hedu'eTiy, tg Temple Bar.
BEFORE A FALL.
Dnc Saturday evening 1 sat upon the
doorstep waiting for John and Jennie.
We had been to choir-meetings togeth-
er all summer l~ong-Jennie was such
good friends with me. and John was
such good friends with Jennie. She
lived just over the hill from our house,
and John lived just beyond that. She
waited till he came for her, and | wait
ed for them both. 1 should not have
thought of starting without them, and |
sat quietly, not noticing the flight Of
time. L was thinking what a lovely
evening it was, and that mothers
china asters were coming into bloom
and the c~rab-apples were ripening, and
that always thought crab-apple Jelly
the prettiest mother ever made. Twas
rs peaceful as the old cat that came and
curled up beside me, and had no more
thought than she of its being late.
But suddenly 1 heard Jennie's voice
calling me; it sounded so sharp. out of
the quiet, that l was really startled.
She had paused ut the gate and was
saying: Come, Phuber' / knew i'm a
minute from her ton that something
had worried her. | was wondering
what it might be as l rose and went
down the path. and suppose | went .
little slowly.
Hurry, Phpber she cried; don't
You know we are latc?"
But, instead of hurrying. | stopped
short, for | suddenly saw that John was
not with her.
Where's john" / asked.
Il don't know" she answered.
shortly. Don't stand staring, Phoebe!
i tell you we're late"
Now some people are afraid of Jen.
4 ME when she speaks that way, with her
= cheeks red and her eyes swapping. But
! am not; it only makes me a little
cooler than / was before. | Just stood
still. She shan't drive me if / do love
her.
Suppose we are late?" 1 said; 81
think We might wait a little for him,
Just for once
You can do it, them" said she, and
walked straight IN.
looked up the road and reflected.
John was not in sight Ii anything had
happened TO detain him il was Jennie's
company he would be sorry 10 miss, 50
my waiting could do him no good. l
might as well 90 with Jennie. | ran
, and caught her before she had gone
far. 1 suppose it Modified her TO have
made me run. for she laughed a little
as | came up. You didn't wait as
long as | did," she said.
Then you did wait awhile?'
why of course. Didn't L tell you
il was latc:?"
We'll you needn't have got mad
I about it, Jennie"
II didn't" said she;-"or at least |
was only mad at myself for waiting.
There is no reason why we should ever
wait for John or expect him TO come
with us every night Just because he
lives next door. He's never said a
word about always ~escorting us. He's
Just let it be a matter of course, ana
I'm not going to have it SO any longer.
He might want to &C home with some
of the other girls some time. and then
Just think how ridiculous we should be,
sitting waiting for him. I'll never do
il again. Next week l mean to start
real early. and you may wait for him if
You like. I'll not expose myself to
n being sighted again. L don't doubt
. Ls gone the other way, by East Side,
to-nigl~
Now Jes sSsers hved on East Side.
john was the ouly fellow in the village
whom she could not ,sossibly induce to
fiirt with her, and it Sc 'med as if for
! that reason he was the ,nc she most
wanted to make an impression upon.
He said nothing about it and kept out
- of her way, but everybody knew-ex-
>ept Jennie-who might have known if
2~pleased-that he disliked herr So
when Jennie made that insinuationl
thought it was my turn to be angry. I
faced about upon her with the facts. \
Jennie Morris" said /, "you know
just as well as | do that you're the only
girl in this town John ever cares to 90
anywhere with. / don't see how you
can be so mean as to talk about him in
that way!m
Jennie's face got crimson, and she
= hung her head and looked quite cowed.
: / wa glad of it.
II don't see where he can be then,n
she murmured, after awhile. He
might have sent us word if he was NOT
going. You'll acknowledge it was hu-
initiating for us to sit and wait for
him."
II don't see why"
You're such q child" she said, pet
tishly.
If it is childish to be unreasonable"
-hutthere l stopped. / saw Jennie's
face was twitching. and her color came
and went. She was always high-strung.
swift and spirited. and tonight she
seemed touchy and unnerved. l felt
sorry for her, and thought we would
talk about something else.
will explain now what had detained
John. We learned about j. in good
time. There was an Irish family living
little way from his fathers house.
They were always in trouble, and al
ways keeping the neighbors in trouble.
That night, just as John was ready TO
start for meeting, his mother came to
bis door looking quite distressed.
John" she said" "Maggie Nc
Creery and her children are in the kitch-
en-. and Peter has come home drunk
again"
lis he very bad?n said John, VINO
knew his neighbor of old.
Yes. On, John. he has given her
d terrible black eve! She and the chill
dren just fed for their lives, and they're
crying and waiting so that l could hard
~ get their story out of them.n
well. what can We dot"
why. somebody has gotto 90 down,
Z you know, John. he was Is Wild a :
madman. They. left him crashing the
15ebes upon the door and putting the
Xed-clothes and fufnitura into the Ar.
Maggie il afraidhefn set the house afre,
and he's in - fair way to do il you
The bat thing he could do" NUT
&ered John.
.Yos uustn'tssyso. you know, dpr.
r