The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-05-17
q HOrse-Car Idyl.


picked out a soft strap, and hung him
self up like weeks washing. The car
was full of passengers, and it struck the
demon that on the way up it would be
a good chance to study human nature,
as it appears while rolling along in the
five-cent luxury and magnificence of a
street-car with brand new straw on the
floor.
A couple of that portion of the female
sex called daisies were seated in the
corner; moreover they were looking at
the demon, which made him blush, but
he would not have accepted seat for
anything, because then they could not
have admired him to so great an ad-
vantage. The demon made up his mind
that the darlings would soon commence
talking about their friends, and trotting
out their faults and idiosyncracies for
the edification of listening public, in
that dear fascinating way of theirs; he
was not more than block and a half
out of the way in his reckoning. The
words in italics are those on which the
innocent creatures put special emphasis.
The conductor rung the bell, and the
young ladies started up; one said, in a
voice which not only made her remark
audible to every one in the car, but loud
enough to arrest traffic and block up
the streets for four squares in every
direction:
"Have you seen Lillian L. s new dress,
yet?'
No; have you?" replied sylph num-
Der two.
"Yes; and it is perfectly hideous.
"Why! l thought Lillian had good
taste
"Oh no! She nerer dresses in any
kind of harmony"
"Oh! BY the way, Fred A. has re-
turned from Colorado, and they say he
made a miserable failure out there, and
that he's, Just drinking himself TO death. y
pleasant for Fred" to have his
name banded about in this way.)
"Oh! Too bad; and is May V. still
engaged to him?"
Eyes; but then she never had nadny
admirers, and since her brother got
into disgrace Qouder) of course she had
less attention than ever, so she hung on
to him. (Glances around.)
Speaking of May ", don't you
think she is groOing palmer than she
used to be?"
"Humph! She always was homely
enough to scare herself away from the
glass
"And she dresses in such fearful
taste. Did you eUer see such a rig as
she appeared in the night of the S.
ball?"
"Strange, isn't it, that Fred could
have taken such liking to such little
dowdy as she is?"
The car here came to stop, and from
the exclamations of the beautiful de-
famers, it was evident that the subject
of their conversation was entering. To
have seen the meeting, one would have
thought they had not seen each other
since, at least, the day before yesterday.
"Oh! you dear thing; where haze
you kept yourself this ecer so long?"
said the first young gazelle; the second
chimed in: "yes, where hare you been
this age?" The unsuspecting victim,
happy in the interest and friendship ex-
hibited by her "dear, dear friends, ~
proceeded to detail her experiences dur
ing that "age" in which her friends had
been fainting for sight of her, you
know. She ended by saying, with a
pretty little blush, that Fred A. had re-
turned
"Has hep
"When?"
"Why! Who ever dreamed'of such a
thing; we have heard nothing about him
for such long time"
The demon stared; then, thinking
his ear-trumpet had deceived him, he
turned over on the strap for another
snooZe.
"What did you think of the S, ball, :"
inquired the newcomer?
"Grand. wasn't it, and we were
Just saying how WeH you looked; that
dress was so becoming"
That was too much; the demon felt
as he had felt one black bitter night
when he wrestled under the pale cold
moon with an overdose of lobster-salad,
and felt the fetid breath of a Thanks
giving turkey on his cheek; only more
so. He came down from his luxurious
couch on the strap, by means of his
handkerchief, which he had torn into
strips and knotted for the purpose, and,
as the conductor walled out the street.
in voice like the wind signing over
horse-fddles, the demon embarked in a
mud-puddle. Finding himself on the
high seas, he fired minute guns of dis
tress; he was rescued, and soon an
chored off the bar of a neighboring
restaurant, for the purpose of taking
grain of coffee on board.-Neaosboys'