Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1885-02-12
A WARNING.

Do you believe in signs, aunt Elinor?
] don't mean just putting things on
wrong side out, but other things. Mary
Ellen thinks most everything is sign
if you drop a fork on the floor, or go
out one door and come in another, or
come back after something after you
starr to go away. That was what we did
the day broke my arm, and she said it
was sure sign.
Suppose you tell me about breaking
your arm, and then can decide better.
Well, I'll tell you. 1t isn't very pleas
ant to remember, but it might be a
warning to somebody, though don't ex-
actly see how. You know they don't
buy their -four at store up at grandpa's;
they have it made al mill. David takes
bags full of wheat, days when he isn't
busy, and goes 10 the mill and has 1t
ground up into flour. Sometimes he
waits for it to be done, and sometimes
there's too many ahead of him and then
he has TO go again. This time he was
going to wait, because grandma wanted
him 10 take some more rags to the carpet
woman, and he could do that while they
were grinding. Jun and L promised to
60, but David kept putting of, Till aunt
Lib didn't have enough flour to bake
things for the sewing society, and then
he had to go. He put some rye in too,
and some corn, while he was about it,
and aunt Lib put the balls OF carpet-rags
in bushel measure, and set it on the
back porch, SO David wouldn't forget it;
but he did. Heexpected to drive around
f.,,-I nd hr,t
out to the barn, we were in such hurry
to go; and then we didn't know but aunt
Lib would think of something more to
tell us not to do. She might say to net
70 in the mill, and it is such fun to see
the wheels whir.ing, and the flour come
sitting out; and feel just little bit afraid.
David loaded on the bags while the
wagon was in the shed, and spread a
blanket over for us to ride on, with the
biggest bag to lean against. Then he
opened the great gate ana drove out.
We got most to the sheep barn, and when
David looked around to see if he shut
the gate, he just remembered the rags.
He said: What gump l be. and drove
right back.
Mary Ellen was on the porch seeding
raisins. She brought us the measure
with the rags, and scolded David for
coming back. She told him something
would be sure to happen, but David only
aughed He said ii ali her signs came
true there wouldn't be time for anything
else to happen; and anyhow, if he left
those carpet rags the lightning would
strike somewhere, signs or no signs. l
don't see as carpet-rags would have any
thing to do with a thunder storm, but
David often says such things to Mary
Ellen. He likes her; he told Jim so;
and l should think Mary Ellen would
like him because he gets her such lots of
kindlings, and always wipes his feet on
the mat. Nothing at all happened to us,
only Jim lost his hat, and a boy that was
blowing brought it to him. The miller
helped David csrry in the bags, and said
there was only one grist ahead of us,
and that was most run through, but they
couldn't grind any rye till the next week.
guess that was what the sign was for;
but David said that it took the miller a
day to make up his mind about nything
80 he must have started before We turned
back.
When they had unloaded we drove
over the bridge to the carpet-woman's.
She lives in little brown house about as
big as our chicken-house. She is little
herself, and has hump on her back.
She wears caps with wide rutiles that 60
Tapping about when she walks, aud has
big, green spectacles over her eyes.
Jane Ann Cutler said she was a witch,
and when anybody lost things she could
tell if they were stolen. We saw bot
tie hanging out of the upstairs window
with string. David s'posed it was some
of her doctor stuff, so we asked her, and
it was. She makes it out of all sorts of
leaves and roots, and then it has to hang
three week in the sun before it will cure
things. 1t is to take and to rub on you,
both; and David says it'll cure most any
thing, because he tried it for rheuma-
tism, and toothacbe, and for the red calf
when it got choked' with an apple, and
chllblains. The woman looked cross,
count of the spectacles; some like the
wolf in Red Riding-Hood," with grand
mothers cap on; but she spoke pleasant,
and wove little strip of carpet to show
US how. It's easy enough to do; told
her l believed / could do it myself She
said most anything was easy to do when
you knew how. The hard part was to
keep on doing it. That is so, aunt Elinor;
it is the keeping on that makes things
hard. The carpet she was making was
for another woman. She had to finish
il before she could begin grandma's, but
it was most done. 1t had stripes across,
first all red, AMI then all blue, and then
sort of dingy ones: but grandma has her
rags mixed together-blue, red and all
kinds. The carpet-woman thought that
was the best way, to mix the bright
colors in as you went along to liven ~
the dingy ones.
David laughed when she said that. He
said that was grandma's way with
everything; she mixed in enough bright
to keep things about even all the time;
but he'd seen more folks that were streak
ed, and such narrow stripes of bright
makes the rest all the dingier. The car
pet woman nodded her head so her cap
ruffies waved back, and said that you
could make a warm, serviceable carpet
without any bright, and that was what
some folks had to do. l s'pose David
understood what she meant, and did
partly. l guess she is one of the kind
herself that don't have any bright to put
in, and have to get along without any