The Opelousas courier., 1885-08-01
The S~choo]mistress of Sill.
yer Gulch.

lEf
astir. A crowd of men were gathered
in front of Major Haslett's internal
refreshment saloon, gazing at a poster
stuck up on one of the shutters. The
thin, lanky man reading the notice
aloud for the edifcation of the less
gifted portion of the crowd is the edi-
tor and proprietor of the only neWspa-
per in the town, the St10er Gully Ban
tam, and the poster in question is a
sample of his skill in the printing line:
"NoTIcE-The citizens of Silver
Gully viii he on hand tomorrow at 2
p. N. to meet the San Francisco stage,
and give a hearty welcome to our new
school-mistress.
"GEoRGE v. HAsLETT, MAYOR.
"P. S.-White Shirts"
Ten minutes after the poster was
read there was a corner in white shirts.
Old Levy's stock of seven, which had
been in his store ever since the town
came into existence, realized for their
owner about 1000 per cent. profit.
The unfortunates who found them
selves without the coveted shirts were
downcast and disconsolate, but genius
finally found a way out of the difficult
ty. A roll of muslin was cut up into
false shirt fronts, which were intended
to be tucked under the vest and pinned
to a paper collar. Noontime found
the Gullyites out in full force arrayed
in their finest. The Mayor soon
emerged from his home, and the way
he strutted around, all respondent in
a full dress suit and a shiny high hat,
would have caused a peacock to die
with modification at being outshone.
The loW-cut vest revealed "sparkler"
big as o walnut, and emitting such
brilliant rays that one would almost
feel inclined to believe the owners as
sertion that he didn't need any light in
his house at night time.
It was a proud moment for the first
citizen of the town when he mounted
q soap box and delivered himself Of a
speech, the preparation Of which had
caused him a sleepless night:
"Fellow-citizens: Veni, vidi, vici-
we came, we saw, we conquered. We
came to this now blooming paradise
when II was nothing but a rocky waste.
We stuck to 1t and struck rock, and
then We spread like a grease spot on
q Sunday pants. Soon we was big
enough TO support d furst-class paper,
and now have concluded that we kin
support a schoolteacher to make
scholars Of our young uns. Now, when
introduce you fellows you must bow
and take your hats of, like this" and
suiting his actions 10 his words he re-
moved bis head-eoyering. and in at
tempting to make a bow he threw his
center Of gravity out Of line, end. as
q natural consequence, the soap box
tilted and landed the aowery orator all
In q heap On the ground. The Mayor
did not let this mishap annoy him. and
Don had them scraping and bowling in
4 manner that would have delighted
the heart of d French dancing-master.
~
Way down the road a cloud of dust
was arising, groWingaarger anil larger.
until finally from its midst the stage
coach burst Ia view. The horses were
galloping like mad, and instead Of the
braWny form OF Tom, the driver, hold
Ing the lines, there stood Il girl, her
feet firmly braeed against the foot
board, lying back with Ill her strength
on her reins. The trained leaders
slackened their speed as they approach
"a their usual stopping place and
stopped ssiIl,
As so0n as the coach came 10 4
standstil The girlish form dropped
back ID faint. 4 dozen men spranp
% the eosch-top and i ghaatly sight
they saw There lay Fonas ale driver,
with i terrible holsin bis cgsst. from
which the blood poured With each
hvArtthr0h Tender hands lowered