St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1882-10-07

numberless little ragged tears; then
down to the furthest end of the pasture,
over bit of bog that quaked ominously
under the footsteps of both boys and
calves; now in among the feeding cat
tie, who looked up with an air OF sur
prise, but went on TRANQUILITY feeding
again (cattle understand boys, you
know); then through the running
brook, splashing the mud over the boys
clothes and completing the destruction
the blackberry vines had begun; until.
at last, tired and heated, the calves
were caught and yoked.
Having yoked the yearlings, the next
question was what to do with them.
Obstinate and terrified, they would not
stand, but pulled apart, strainng their
necks in a way that threatened disloca-
ton. Tom had had some vague idea OF
hitching them to the oN-cart; but what
could he do with two steers that per-
sisted in travelling round in q circle as
far apart as they could get:
"Say, Tom, tie their tails together,
said Bert, struck with a bright idea.
of the unfortunate pair were knotted
into an indissoluble tie. The boys
viewed their work with satisfaction
This last move had completely subdued
the spirits of the pair. They stood side
| by side, meekly awaiting the will OF
their captors.
But just at that moment Tom espied
the Deacon making his way down the
pasture. Deacon Jones' eyesight was
not good. and he was shading his eyes
with his hand and evidently trying to
make out the group at the extremity OF
the pasture.
"Quick, Bert" said Tom. "There' S
Father. INVOKE 'em, quick" OFF came
the yoke in a trice; but alas! the boys
had forgotten the knotted tails. The
calves pulled but the knot held. So
dismayed were the boys that they did
not once think of getting out of the
way; but stood, with a despairing sense
of guilt, awaiting the coming Of the as
tonished Deacon.
1t is not for me to attempt to picture
his establishment and anger. The calves
were released, and Tom and Bert
marched to the house and put to bed, as
a punishment, not daring to say even
one word for themselves. After which
the Deacon sat in the kitchen door and,
while he mopped his face and his
smooth, round head with his yellow cot
ton handkerchief, told the serio-comic
story to Nanny.
Nanny sighed deeply while she lis,
tened, and as she took two brown,
faky, apple turnovers from out the brick
oven and deposited them on the gay,
old-fashioned china plates, she wondered
whether it would lessen the effect OIL
the Deacon's discipline if she should
slyly slip them into the boys chambers
Chambers l say, emphatically, fol
the Deacon was too wise man to at.
tempt to punish two boys by putting
them to bed in one chamber in the day.
time. Bert was in the east room, at one
extremity of the house, and Tom was
in the unfinished room at the other.
The doors were carefully locked. The
Deacon thought he had effectually cut
off all communication between the two
but he had yet to learn the extent o.
the resources of two boys bent upor
mischief.
There was very comfortable ar
rangenent for the convenience of the
cats at Deacon Jones'. Catholics haC
been cut from the outer wall of the
house through a succession OF doors, g
the cats could have access at any hou1
of day or night to the garnet, where
grain was often kept.
AS Tom was lying in bed, revolving
in his mind all the difficulties of hi:
position and casting about for some
way of escape, old Towser walked Sc
dately through the cathode from the
outside world. Instantly way o
commune alton with Bert flashed
through Toms mind. He secured bctl
catholics at once, so Towser could no
get out, hunted up stray bit of brown
paper, fished pencil from among the
rubbish in his trowser's pocket, anG
wrote the following note to Bert:
"DEAR BERT
"lets go to see saw sl1ooner at north war
it sales in too days Father Is a Tirant / cal
bare no more take the rope out of the bed stit
and ty it to the post and git out the W1nder tt
''i'' "''@0 "ToM"
Tom did not say how he expected tt
make his escape He was not an ex
1 pert in penmanship and the compost
ton of the above short note took st
much time it was nearly sunset when j
was finished. Having folded it, hi
fastened it with a string around Tow
ser neck, and, opening the cathode il
the direction of Bert's room, put hin
through, whence he proceeded peace
fully on his way, as utterly unconsciou:
of the weighty message he bore as /
United States mailbag. In due time h
returned with the following:
deer Tom Lass
II have always wanted to go to see hop
we shall be rocked like robinson Crew SO ant
live on desert island and eat cote broth
@ "BERT"
You will notice that Bert shows tn,
superiority Of his Boston schooling b,
writing the capital / where it belongs.
! Tam Wa ted that nirht ELL be knep