St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-11-16
A CARPET MYSTERY.
Why Harriet's Masterpiece Did
Not Take the Prise.

The clothes-line. stretched from the
June apple-tree to the mulberry-tree.
and on to the great ox-heart cherry.
tree in Mrs. Gideon Huff's backyard,
had for several days Haunted strips oil
bright green, orange yellow and dark
crimson cotton. newly dyed.
On Monday there appeared several
yards of pale blue. and on Tuesday a
strip of bright red. When Mrs. HUFF
hung the last strip on the line. she
stepped back with her bare. round, red
arms akimbo. nodded her pink sun
bonneted head to and fro in an approx
ing manner and said:
We'll. I've had good luck with ev'ry
single piece. If I'd made the aniline
dye a leetle mite darker. it'd mebbe
looked better along with the green an
yeller in the twisted stripe l callate on
having. but it'll look mighty purity as
It's. ! must git my logwood an cop
pcras ready for the rest of my rags. an
git EN- all ready for the rag-sewin'
Friday. for they've got to 60 to the
W csthcF a-Sdltauay.
Mrs. Huff's rag carpets had taken
the first premium at the county fair
every autumn for three years. and she
was laying her plans again this year to
capture the blue ribbon and the five
dollar prize. She had a way of get
ting up twisted stripes" and cOloring
and warping the chain. that no one
could initiate. Her neighbors often
said that they would rather have one
Of Harriet Hufrs striped rag carpets
than Il two-ply ingram. She made
great point of having her rags cut very
fine. and sometimes lay awake at night
planning something new in the way of
"hit-an' miss film"
She cuts up our duds fer carpet
rags fore we've half wore 'em out"
said Mr.. Gideon Huff. little irritably.
Nv hen woman gifts to maxim rag
carpets. a mans red fannins amt safe
minute, unless he puts EN- in the
bank i'm his own name, an nv blue
overalls gin'rally go into ball of car
pet rags fore I've wore 'em a dozen
times"
The carpet Mrs. Huff was now maxi
ing was to eclipse all of her former ef-
forts. She had actually dreamed of
something new in twisted stripes, and
had risen in the middle of the night
10 make fast and safe the dream-sent
idea by winding the colors in the right
order around strip of pasteboard.
Then she went back 10 bed, saying to
herself:
Now if I could only dream OF some
thing new in fillin'!'
But such a dream did not come. al
though she was q great dreamer, and
stou.ly maintained that she often
dreamed out things" aud that her
dreams camo true. Being thus firm
believer in dreams. she occasionally
even invited dreams by overlooking
her stomach al night
If l eat an ordinary light supper"
she said, Il don't dream much; but il |
l eat pickles and cheese and cake. and
a lot of stuff of that kind. I dream a |
sight" which was no doubt true.
She made a rag-sewin' that week
to finish up her hit-and-miss rags. but |
The rags for that wonderful stripe |
y ere all to be sewed with her own
hands. Eight or ten of her peighbors
came to the ''rag-sewin'." Each of
hem brought her needle and thimble. |
and sewed carpet rags and laughed
md gossiped in the most agreeable
way al the afternoon, and in The even
ne their husbands came % supper.
Not even to these ;s.diee did Mrs.
Hun disclose the pattern OF her
'dreamed-out' stripe although she in
ormed them that they could confident
, expect to see such . rag carpet as