West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1884-04-04

sides IF the scow and inso our laps with
rude familiarity - which no genuine
white lady should descend. After that
/ the dcluge, Yes our Heaven ordained
nurse was flirting round some invisible
/ corner with the elements, after the fash
/ ion of earthly maids and tangible police
! men, leaving her panic-stric&en charges
| to the mercies OF the cruel, gree "
/ waves! l think even Baby Dixie real
! lied that water up To our knees meant
sinking, and that sinking meant death ~
and so there was nothing 10 do but
shrek for poor dear daddy, with n
childish faith that he could save us,
and, failing him, To make up our seven
small minds TO sink the very best we
/ knew how, and all 90 to Heaven in IA
| bunch.
1t was quite plain the crazy old tub
/ had made up its mind to 20 to the bot
! tom. and the beautiful perSistcncy with
which She settled TO her work would
| have sent us down with sckcning swift
ness, only that roviicnce, remember
| ing us az the very last moment, rushed
to our rescue in the shape of Captain
Dan!
To say we adorcd our next-door farm
or but stability expresses the devotion
with which we assaulted the preservcr of
our useless little lives. All along, we
had known him simply rs the man with
"A beard, and bothered no more about
! him. but mart
I'm cans of my childhood, how full 20
stopping we kept you with bait. oh,
/ soft crabs, quivering like unto live poul
| tees in dingy nets! On, fat, purplish
anglc-worms. Oh, brown shouted clans ,
| We beat up cartridges from the russell
| hedges, and while his gun was smok-
lng, hunted the stubblc to bring them
To him warm and wet and dead We
let hun into the secret of every nest and
| burrow in the chaly pines, and bis
I red ourselves in the cOrn-held fighting
marauding crows. We even extended
our love TO the old mare that had come
home from the war with him all ribs
and hoISohair- AID TO the rusty little
fishing smack that had helped to save
our lives
He never made MS feel, God bless
I him! that we were not delightful to
gaze upon, or that we might be less ar
grcsSive in the way of teeth and nails
and heels. There was always n bright
sort OF welcome i'm his brown frecklcd
face when we scampercd across fields or
along roads to meet him, and his was
always the first CHEEKY word, always,
at least, until that unlucky evening
when we met him canterng from the
village with the alarming announce
men that Cousin Till had come.
Cousin till meant mas niece. She
was ono Of those big, gorgeous looking
young women a body calls stunn NO be-
hind her back-a young woman with
lots of bronze hair in dcmoralized
state of pun, bang and frizzlc, with
cheeks like peach-bloomS all pink and
waNy, and lips rs red and tempting rs
mas bush of scarlet sage.
She was rich, too. in mild sort of
way, dressed in milk-white ffockS and
blue ribbons for breakfast. and had a
beau. ma said, for every day i'm the
week. For the rest, she owned bio
farm ten miles above Us, visited ma
when there was nothing better going
on, and always went of IN huf. She
treated us children fairly enough, con
siderng, and all we knew or cared
about her was that she slept i'm mittens
to Keep her hands white, carried her
truDk Key with eNasperating consistency,
never tasted coffee ON account of her
complexion and wished her name was
I -'''H''A ihoN'siNl VI 4hldAllNli tIl we cared
ut least, until that nlucky evening.
when Captain Dan would bulge no
nearer than the garden after which |
am bound to own we hated her with n
haired too genuine TO put i'm print.
Bulge. he wouldn even look toward
the hOuse--even when we chung to his
saddle flaps and swarm Il about his
legz and tugged and coaNcd and sco!d-
cd. we could get no better satisfaction
than playful Hip of his riding whip as
he gave his horse the bride and slowly
rode away. That was the beginning of
1T. We rarely saw our prcscrver after
that, and never once ut the house-how
we hated her for IL, and how we wished
10 goodness she would have the sense
to 60
AT last, when things had become so
desperate that Captain Dan never even
scudded by in his fishing smack. nor
turned his old mares head into our
road and Cousin Till kept on being
swe as peaches we held an indiona-
ton meeting on the back piazza and
vented our wrongs i'm speech
Cut her throat and bury her in the
pines, suggested John, our harml s.
eldest, who was addicted 10 uncomfort-
ably vivid dreams
Wy tant we put ard trabs in her
b d AMI dwown her VIII wopen lisped
Aggi our Borgia Of six.
Better shave that head of hers,'
advised jim. who re lily gave brilliant
promise II being a lirst-class villain
only he died, poor little lad. before be
had tim o. work out his vocation
AMI 60 shave our Cousin lilly we de-
cidcd
We were very iubilant at the tea-table
that n'ght--O iubilant that ma moaned
go us through her bedroom door. and
papa .ni Cousin Till frowucd at us
down from their eud of the table and
when at last she had retired early bv
reason OF mas headache, and papa had
cn'ech-cd u- from "WhO made vou?"
'Wha became o. Cain2' We. too. ii. ID
mp the crooked old stairway TO the
rooms allotted 90 our sway.
We had cast John for the barber i'm
our thrilling version of the Rape OF the
Lock. but being overwhelmed with n
conscience 100 the trying moment. Jim
assumed the part at the usual five min
u, notice and doubtless would have
performed h.s role with perfect salts
faction but for tablcau not down i'm
The bin.
The harvest moon p4. ahfrtr., ILL.,, .