Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1889-02-20

came saunterlng leisurely down shady
avenue leading from the one grand hotel
of the place-The Phoenix The lamp
light revealed two men as different rs
night and day One, slight, blonde and
efcminate; the other, tail, dark aud grand
beyond words to describe. The fair man
was called Frank Wood. The dark onc's
name was Carl Spencer. They both caught
sight of Bertha Us she halted near the
lamp ost, the light shining down ON her
dark face. where the roses burned in her
...~N.As, Ole sDlall haad holding fast to the
ca-r--e
" BY Jovei" cried the b,nndc, not dream
ing he spoke 50 loud that Bertha could hear,
"wha; Il lovely girl and what II diminu-
tive thing she is 10 draw such an immense
baby as the one perched there in the wag-
on. StNngat as Il ranrou. ana WIN no pcs
slble share to it, he continued :" Barnuln
ought 10 own it and call it The Shapeless
Child Hal hap
Was he laughing at her! Had he said the
words pulposeiy to mortify her,
The hlooo rushed To Berthas face, and she
started ON Indignantly when the .nendcd
handle came apart, the carriage began to
back aud so swiftly down the declivity, and
with the start ed cry of My ragsl Oh. my
rags! the girl sprung forward, two men at
her heels
In Il ditch, where rank weeds reared their
heads, and II muddy streamlet glded slowly
along, Bertha's conveyance came to n stand
still, overturned, and the capacious mouth
OF the bag yaNining open, the balls poured
out one by one, and striking the ground, run
about ~ all directions.
The tears rushed to Bertha's eyes; a sob
was in her throat.
Was ever any ono SO unfortunate as she
Then the ludicrousness Of tae thing batst
upon her, and she gave vent to Il prolonged
peal of laughter in which the two men
heartily joined, and then with one accord
they all began TO gather up The nalis, vi
every color of the rainbow.
g am glad it wasn't baby, ne at first
supposed, : Frank Wood EXCLAIMED, as be
thrust his hand in among a bevy of singing
hettles to secure ball that had lodged
there. "lf so, the poor little thing would
have broken its neckl Oh, my hand my
hand how il does srlnrt" he moaned,
s'arting with alacrity to his feet and leaving
jhe bail Of rags mi nest. "Gracious Peter!
wonder what kind of weeds you call cm}''
A crescent moon lit up the scene below
A merry one it was, all three down on their
that lay around them.
There eiccsln'od Spencer at last, in
tone of relief, rising to his feet, 1--WE have
not left a ball on the ground--not one.'
Don't be too positiye,n cried Bertha
who had counted each ball us it tunbled
into and was swallowed up by the rapaclous
mouth of the bag. "One is certainly miss
ing, for there were tbiIty-nine balls in all,
and now count but thirty-eight. Dear,
dearl 1t is the largest one, too-a gorgeous
hit-and-miss one. Do looll.for it in the ditch,
srs; it must be secretcd there"
Frank drew back INDIGNANTLY. "Fve done
my duty, all that IS required of me in get
ting down on my knees and bending over
till my back is almost broken. Pm not
such ninny as to poison my hands in
amongst those filthy weeds, and cover my
SEA from head to foot with the slime and
mud of the ditch. Ia 1lr. Spencer is fool
enough to submit to your unreasonable
demands, he may. Good evening" and he
turned abruptly away.
"Well, why don't you go too, sir?'' ques-
toned Bertha of the dark man, who made
no pretcnse of following his friend, but who
was again on his knees in quest of the MISS
ing ball.
"Because | choose to stay. | shall not
leave you until the ball is found and these
rags are delivered into the hands of the per.
son for whom they are intended.n
Neither did he. He ferreted out the hid.
ing-place of the ball, shouldered the bag,
and TO all Bertila's remonstrances merely
said:
"Lead the way tits useless to remoD.
strate."
So the rags got to Old Harrictt's in time
and-what's the use of spinning out the old
story! When Carl Spencer took his pretty
wife to his elegant city home the red carpet
went with them. "For,' reasoned Carl,
''it won me dear little wife, and there
fore it is too precious thing in my estima-
ton to be trodden upon and worn out by
Aunt Charity Bertha shall present her
with new Brussels. "--Abd " Journal
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