Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-06-26

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/ s.How mal,y..' sihpnef Camilla
tapping theltovl with her 81 sar-tong.
and holding up three fingers as sug
gestion.
IN reply the passenger held up two
fingers. insisting by gestures that three
Jumps were more sweetening than sbs
could bear. She was therefore hel pee
to two. her hostess murmuring aloud
IN unconscious solilo luy: '.She look,
as II she d never used enough.
Boughs slashed against the windows
and the storm ratified and roared dowr
the rafters. Within, silence must have
been blank had not sounds broken on
at intervals in several keys, now
quavering, now shrill, and now full
voiced.
/ EYES, yes" responded Camilla t.
each piping.
She examined her guest with specula
tive eyeglasses and turned her heaG
toward corner of the room. Finally
she made a sudden rush, and came
b.ck to the table with bashful undula
tons to set beside her plate a inmate
wire cage containing three black field
| crickets.
81 hope you'll excuse me-" she pc.
titiOned to the passenger. ~ always
feed them when eat. They'd miss it. ~
If the passenger has made use Of
common speech, some explosive would
have accompanied the expression of her
countenance. She looked as if she
longed to shout: "a cage of crickets
Who ever saw such ridiculous thingr'
| ''She doesn't like it, said Camilla,
aloud. ''Well, she's not such very
lively company herself that she need
fgrudge me my crickets. Cheep, JAS
per! CURT, Tommy! Here, Dinkum.
your muvver will give you the first
crumb you're the baby. Bess UNI old
lives of 'em! Needn't be cared at old
cross Iady:s it's only your g an -muvver
come to visit you. sing for your sup
pers. children. Che-e-epr'
But, instead of sing ng. the children
grabbed their suppers, and in the man.
ner peculiar to them began to stow por-
tions of it within their 'giittering black
cases. The time had been when they
refused to eat beneath her eye, Juggling
their cruI BIS out of sight. or refusing
morsels altogether. She felt it a great
! privilege, therefore, to hang ,er the
cage and bring her glasses to bear
upon their movements, and to regulate
their manners by inserting teaspoon
handle between the wires of the cage 10
rap Jasper ON the back. He was q
large cricket, and wished to take all the
supplies behind his own legs, and prob
ably to issue such rat.ons as he saw fit
to his companions. He sprung from
the spoon handle, and casae down in a
corner of the cage, lifting his long
antenne like two Interrogation points,
and making bis three tail bristles ex-
| press petrined astonishment.
The passenger, drinking tea and. eat
| ing with the relish of a healthy appe-
tite, kept penetrating gaze upon Ca
milla.
"Sbe doesn't like to see me feeding
| the beasts raw meat with my naked
hands," ruminated Camilla aloud,
sand some folks consider that the finest
part of my circus. Dinkum, it's bad
night outdoors. If you lived there
now, you'd have to wedge under
stone, and your poor knees would Just
CHATTER together with the cold. Tommy,
have you torn the rutfie of your brown
pctticoatp Your muvyer wouldn't
mind it or scold YOU if she could sew
you up another. But these suits have
to last you all winter, and l don't want
to see you frayed round the edges and
out at the elbows. Oh, now that you
turn, see it isn't torn bit. Beg Tom
my's pardon. Oh, I beg your pardon,
too" she exclaimed to her passenger,
as that lady presented her with the tab
lets. Upon these was written: "You
must be very lonely here"
Camilla took her own pencil from
her pocket and lndited, for reply: ..Be-
cause play with criekets?'
The passenger took the tablets, shook
her head, and set down: Because
you are too young and pretty to live by
yourself."
"i heep." piped up Jasper while his
muvver read this statement. shading
her face with her hand.
She then wrote back: 81 have only
lived by myself few months. The
crickets are lots of company. 1 found
them over in the graveyard. They
the weather became frosty l brought
them home. May be you noticed me
talking to them and myself. l always
talked out loud, and it is an idiotic hab-
it, which please excuse.
The passenger nodded her grave head
over this, but still insisted, with a rapid
hand: .It is not fit thing for young
girl to be keeping railroad station,
and living alone in the building"
"Sueekr' piped Tommy, giving him
self fiirt to meet Camilla liked gaze,
while he worked his knobbed horns
Backward aud forward as if the situa-
ton had long been one of deep concern
to him.
sCamilla's pencil replied with dash.
There may be two opinions ABOUT
that"
a. ertainly," was granted by the gold
pencil.
Soothed by this adm sion, Camilla's
pencil then placidly enough continued:
II don't have to apologize to anybody.
and the neighbors about here all know
me. But You are n stranger, and it
seems queer to you. Mother is buried
Just the other side Of the hill. She had
to be taken care of when we lost our
home, and the President of this road
was so kind to us! He was papa
friend. He gave me this position, and
always takes an interest in my having
my reports right. and / can keep it as
long as l please We brought what
furniture we had left to this place. and
ne built more rooms That's my room
where / put Your things. The other
was mothers. It was the best chance
l had, and she never suffered want, as
she might have done if had tried some
thing else.''
Delivering up the tablets at this
point. she laid her head down beside
her plate. secretly passed her fist be-
meath both eyes, and looked up quite