Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1888-08-17

lRMi X JaN6WT frockles of decided
lVWNt$,NNIM brown. She had
ElV ,Is.-S ~NNM thrown aside the
EAY IL hat, which, at some
earlier stage of its
career, had evidently been worn by a
man, revealing II tangled shock of sum
faded, hay-colored hair. Her dress,
now of no particular color or cut, had
probably once been bright-hued calico.
Much wear had reduced it to an unde-
cided looking brown.
She raked one bare foot back and
forth in the grass. Its tanned and
calloused heel bore stone bruise of
goodly dimensions.
This child was Liz, the daughter of
old crippled Harllley, whose cabin
could be seen on the side of the next
rise" and whose "south eighty"
which was sparsely covered with dis
couraged1ooking sod corn, extended
n considerable way to the right, to-
ward Copper-head mound.
A locust, whose rasping "siz-sawz"
had been heard for long time, as he
iddled his monotonous tune from the
under side of she distorted limbs of
the sGrubby iack-oalS, presently be-
came too lazy to longer retain his
hold. He dropped off and landed be-
side LIS hand, rs she lay stretched
out at full length.
She quickly grasped the insect and
fr1s axD In
his back, wholly unmindful of his evil
dent desire to escape. The mark in
question looked II good deal like an in
verted letter IN" Liz pronounced it
n "Wn ut once.
"Wonderwhat that stands forP" she
remarked half aloud. "W. That
might mean warts, or wood, or wire
or Il dozen more things. Ole man
Hanks, he says hit stands for war, an
wen you see right smart NV locusses
there's war a-comin'. Wal,n she
went on, shaking her head gravely at
the locust, II don't believe nuthin' NV
the kind. Hit don't stand to reason.
HOY could this yere locus know if
there WdS u war comm? He couldn't.
Ole man Hanks talks jist to hear his
mouth, | reckon"
She studied the struggling insect
with great gravity.
"ReckOn w means warm" she went
on presently. "Uv course that's what
hit stands for, Hits warm, an the
locus knows that"
She released the insect, and, with
buzzing whoop OF delight, the locust
shot away in the sunlight. Then the
child rolled over with her face upper
most, and, with her arm beneath her
head, lay and gazed thoughtfully up
into the clear blue of the Indian sum-
mer sky. One by one long cobwebs,
rs light as fairy lace, hoated before
her sight in their aimless driftings
from no man knows where to an I'M
known destination. Far above, buz-
zard sailed back and forth in rhythmetic
circles, coming and going in solemn,
stately fashion like n ship mt sea. The
point far below the center of his ever
narrowing circles was the top of Cop
perhead mound.
dead rabbit or coyote over there,
reckon" Liz muttered.
Then she turned her gaze off down
the slope to the little "branch" that
gurgled its way along the bottom of
the draw" There, n Cherokee heifer,
with sleek, fat sides and sharp, black
tipped horns, stood in the shade of the
little clump of persimmon and haw
trees and calmly kept the tormenting
green-heads at bay with the monoton-
GUS swinging of her long, tufted tail.
There was extreme satisfaction ex-
pressed in Liz's glances as they rested
on the sleek, well-fed heifer. ''Bet
that's the peartest COW 'twixt yere an
the Nation line, she spoke, half aloud.
''Jest few days now,n she muir
INJURED, "or two weeks, mebby, an
them
She paused, as If in happy conten-
plation of some bright prospect of the
future. For a long time she lay with
her head on her arm, looking up
through the branches of the jack-oak
Nv lilN ilbbbihE Ntpo' was Il
happy smile on her lips. Then, her
cyelids dropped, and with the breeze
from the southwest, ladened with the
perfume of wild verbenas, blowing
across her tanned checks she slept.
A little, striped-back gopher crept
noiselessly from his hole, and. with his
beady eyes cleaning mischievously,
glided close to the sleeping child. He
snuffed at her tangle of sun-faded hair,
and, concluding that it was exactly the
material he needed for his nest lining,
he proceeded to pull and tug at a tress
in the vain endeavor TO detach it from
its owners head. Liz stirred uneasily
as she felt the little jerks, and the
gopher scuttled off in wild alright.
on 10 the southwest a dark, moving
mass could be seen slowly passing the
motte OF timber that surrounded the
water hole in Tyler's creek. 1t APP
preached slowly and steadily till the
outlines OF u herd of cattle were re-
vealed. The cowboys who accom-
panied them could be seen urging
them onward. AS they came nearer
the sharp, plstol-like cracks Of their