The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1889-10-02
A CARPET MYSTERY.
Why Harriet's Masterpiece Did
Not Take the Prize.

The clothes line, stretched from the
June apple-tree to the mulberry-tree,
and on to the great oxheart cherry
tree in Mrs. Gideon Huff's backyard,
had for several days Haunted strips Of
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:
well, 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 | callate on
having, but it'll look mighty purity as
tits. must git my logwood an cop
peras ready for the rest of my rags, an
git 'em all ready for the rag-sewin'
Friday, for they've got to go to the
weaver a-Sattaday."
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 aud the five
dollar prize. She had 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 Huff's striped rag carpets
than two-ply ingram. She made a
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 buds fer carpet
rags fore we've half wore 'em out, "
said Mr.. Gideon Huff, little irritably.
when woman gifts to maxim rag
carpets. mans red flannins amt safe
a minute, unless he puts 'em in the
bank in his own name, an my blue
overalls gin'rally go into ball of car
pet rags 'Rre I've wore 'em dozen
The Carl et Mrs. HUFF was now max
ing was toeclipse 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
to make fast and safe the dream-sent
idea by winding the colors in the right
order around strip of pasteboard.
Then she went back to bed, saying to
herself:
Now if l could only dream of some.
thing new in FLINT"
But such dream did not come al
though she was a great dreamer, and
stoutly maintained that she often
dreamed out things" aud that he,
dreams came true. Being thus firm
believer in dreams, she occasionally
even invited dreams by overlooking
her stomach at night.
IF / eat an ordinary light supper,
she said, II don't dream much; but il
! eat pickles and cheese and cake, and
q lot of stuff of that kind, | dream g
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
were all to be sewed with her own
hands. Eight or ten of her ueighbor:
came to the "rag-sewin'." Each O
them brought her needle and thimble
and sewed carpet rags and laughed
and gossiped in the most agreeable
way all the afternoon, and in the even
ing their husbands came to supper.
Not even to these ladies did Mrs
Huff disclose the pattern OF hel
''dreamed-out"' stripe although she in
formed them that they could confident
" expect to see such \ rag carpet al
-, .S!hE a 4 II -