Richland beacon., 1881-08-27
pAyvIILE LOUISIANA SATURDAY, AUGUST q, 1881

never smile on nae again. A woman
must be an angel to forgive an irrepara-
bic irjury to a new dress.
OF course I apologized, and of course
she pretended not to care; but certain
freezing dignity crept into her manner
for the remainder of the call, and by the
time we reached "the cunning little
yellow squashes " her enthusiasm was as
dead as Julius Cesar.
The visitors declined an invitation to
enter the house and rest. Mrs. Ciggs-
well, with an infinitude of pins and an
abundance Of sympathy, made Temporal
ry repairs in the pink polonaise, and J
bowed them out Of the front gate with
an unwonted chill at my heart.
Looking across the street 1 espied
ragman's cart standing at the Widow
Dickerman's. A wild impulse seized
me. snatched the "iend" from the
ash barrel, and, as I ran upstairs. called
out, bridget, run over to Mrs. Dicker-
mans, please, and tell that ragman to
BE sure and stop here"
The rag-bag always hung by Arabel-
las sewing-machine in the bedroom.
Twisting the fend into the smallest
possible compass, wrapped and tied it
securely in . ragged dish-towel, and
pushed it down, down, down, to the very
bottom of the bag. No, that wouldn't
do. With Machiavellian cunning 1
pulled the L" fiend up toward the mid.
die. "He will never discover it till he
gets to the paper-mill," thought /; ;
farewell, ruthless destroyer OF my
pt ace, farewellr
BY the time my arrangements were
completed the Widow Dickerman had
come to the end of chaffering for half
pint tin cups and griddle-cake turner's,
and the cart was at the door. With
stolid countenance, but a throbbina
heart, I stood nonchalantly by, while
the peddler weighed and emptied the
rars and counted out the cash. l dc
not draw full breath till 1 saw tn
back of the cart vanish over the top o
the long, hilly street, on the road t.
H.
The next day Arabella (dear girl re
turned with Aunt Carraway. As we sa
at dinner, plying our elderly relatlv
with all the delicacies of the season,
heard an animated discussion at tn
kitchen door between Bridget and
strange man. Bridget's voice gre
, shriller, the mans gruffer, then heav
: footsteps came near. I quaked with
!, fearful presentiment. The door opene
and the rag man stood before m
: with indignation on his freckled face.
0 "Ef you suppose that Hiram Ss'
{ thiel Bangs is agoin' tew pay 5 cents
o paound for old hupskirt wire you'l
a lust leetle out Of your reck'nin', fl
a he don't calc'late to kerry on bizness
!. any sich style. I'll trouble yew for
1 cents, mister" and he handed me Il
e "fiend," still tied in the ragged towel
y Arabella was completely mystiie
3 Aunt Carraway looked unutterat
> thingsl handed out dime; Hira
rs salathiel departed flung myself ba
in my chair, in an attitude OF ut
'r hopelessness.
;" cts no use, Arabellal I've tried
to Get rid of that Internal thing ever sir
er Tuesday, It's bewitched Wher
II nv hat?" and I plunged wildly out
as the house.
nd cts all right, Philly. Aunt Car
way wasn't nearly so horriied as
ay would suppose. She's asleep in
ed own room now, like blessed old Ian
~ kim"
or She led me up to the side OF the 70
n where the bookcase stood, and poin
c'- roguishly to a mysterious looki
'c' serpentine arrangement on the "
lined with Turkey red, finished of
ed bows of ribbon and filled with news
'"0 pers.
"You know, Phil, You never can
eg- your paper again when you lay it do
er- SO this afternoon I made you
y pocket for a surprise"
looked again. Could I believe
vay ewes? Yes, it must be; it was
'ast "fiend" transformed into an object
useful and ornamental by the ready
do and deft fingers of woman !
let. 81 acknowledge myself surpas
yel- Arabella. Men sometimes don't k
ons half as much as they think they do.
Arabella smiled demurely.
g q -"
ired 4 1ooL1sH AASl1'
rel rh.-. Z. m occasion for swearing