Thomas County cat., 1889-08-29

This is a strange prelude to oul
picnic" remarked Annie, breaking
the silence.
care you afraid? Well. 1 shall
only drive through the grounds.
want to show you some of the beau
ties of the place Those chimneys.
rising from the ground, mark the
place of the public vault, built into
the side of the hill. and a little fur
ther dowa--over there, you see-is
the station, built of white marble. in
the exact style of a Greek temple.
What lovely sheet of water that is
in front of it, and do you see that
boat just ready for a row? But think
of coming to such place for pleas
ure"'
Il kind of wish we hadn't come. II
seems sort of pokerish. "
lit doesn't impress me that way al
all 1t seems only like a beautiful
park, because no one is buried here
yet"
And now, ascending Observatory
Hill. they entered long. shaded
avenue, so dark and silent that each
instinctively held her breath with
fear and awe.
"Isn't it beautiful? But don't let us
linger any longer than is necessary,
whispered Annie. as she clung to
Hattie's arm. "Oh! what was thatp''
Il heard nothing"
There it is again, Oh, do drive OH
faster!' for just then a cracking
sound was heard in the bushes, while
Dot, as if to corroborate the suspi-
cion, set up a series of aggressive
barks, for which he was particularly
| distinguished whenever he found
himself ensconced in place of safety.
At the same moment a huge New
foundland dog sprang out of the
thicket directly in front of vi, who.
with q succession of wild plunges,
ran up steep embankment beside the
road, and then with a sudden change
of course. overturned the carriage,
and, breaking loose, galloped away
at headlong speed, vanishing in a
cloud of dust
When the occupants of the vehicle
recovered their senses, which they
speedily did, they found. to their sur
prise, that they were still in the land
of the living, but confined painfully in
the very close quarters of the carriage
top, to extricate themselves from
which promised to be no easy task.
Had they but occupied the front seat
! it might not have been difficult mat
ter, was the unpleasing reflection.
After repeated attempts they resorted
to screams for help, but the cemetery
being some distance from the main
road no one was likely to hear them,
and the conviction gradually forced
itself upon the unhappy prisoners that
no one would know of their condition
until they should be past help. vi
would 60 back to his former home, OF
course; Harry would stay at the green
house, as usual, thinking they had
changed their plans; papa would not
reach the grounds before twelve
o'clock, and they would both be dead by
that time, they were sure, and here they
abandoned themselves to loud shrieks
| and walls since there seemed nothing
more to do. Their crampeil position
was becoming unbearable, and matters
did begin to look serious.
But in the meanwhile, what of Dot?
The girls remembered seeing him
spring from the carriage just as the
final shock came. With a yelp OF
mortal terror he had forsaken them.
and this seemed but the crowning act
Of his despicable little life. But let
us not j,dge too hastily. Had Dot
been the regulation dog of fiction he
would have fed home on the wings of
the wind, bounded into Mrs. Thomp-
sons presence. tore her best dress
halt off her, and by a series of intelli-
gible bow-wows would have announced
the plain truth in frantic manner;