The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-08-10
THE GREAT POP PICNIC.
THE DARK THE WRONG LADY WAS ASKED.
A ROMANTIC TALE BY RuDYAKD K1p11No.
|ro-nisht God knows what things shall
Tho earth is racked and faint
|Cxpectant, sleepless, open-eyed;
aud We. who from earth were made,
Thrill with our Mothers pain.

Thrill with our Mothers pain.
I'm Durance.
No man will ever know the exact truth Of
lie story; though women may sometimes
hisper it to one another after dance,
ben they are putting up their hair for the
|ght and comparing lists of victims. A
an, of course, cannot assist at these func-
bns. So the tale must be told from the
|tside-in the dark-all wrong.
Never praise a sister to q sister, in the
(pe Of your compliments reaching the
|pper ears, and 80 preparing the way for
Ia later on. Sisters are women first, and
tiers afterward; and you will find that
Ia do yourself harm.
Eaumarez knew this when he made up his
nd to propose to the elder Miss Copleigh.
(umarez was a strange man, with few
erits, so far as men could see, though he
8 popular with women, and carried
|ough conceit to stock a viceroy's council,
ID leave little over for the commander
chiefs staff. He was civilian. Very
eny women took an interest in Saumarez,
rhaps, because his manner 70 them was
fensive. If you hit pony over the nose
f the outset Of your acquaintance. he may
It love you, but he will take deep inter
! in your movements ever afterward. The
Ter Miss Copleigh was very nice, plump,
inning and pretty. The younger was net
pretty, and from men disregarding the
ut set forth above, her style was repellant
unattractive. Both girls had practi-
lily the same figure, and there was q
long likeness between them in look and
ice; though no one could doubt for an
1T ~ xx,b; %hn ~ no %uyr
baumarez made up his mind as soon as
BY came into the station from Behar to
.rry the elder one. At least, we all made
Re that he would, which comes to the same
ng. She was two-and-twenty, and he
8 thirty-three. with pay and allowances
nearly 1,4O0 rupees month. So the
Itch, as we arranged it, was in every way
food one. Saumarez was his name and
mmary was his nature, as man once
d. Having, drafted his resolution he
med select committee of one to sit upon
and resolved to take his time. In our un-
|asant slang. the Copleigh girls ''hunted
couples" That is to say, you could do
ching with one without the other. They
Fe very loving sisters; but their mutual
ection was sometimes inconvenient.
nmarez held the balance hair true between
I'm, and none but himself could have said
which side his heart inclined; though
OU6 KUC060Us x10 lOU0 W4VH bU01u q
I'D deal and danced with them, but he
yer succeeded in detaching them from
BIB other for any length of time.
Women said that the two girls kept to-
her through deep mistrust, each fearing
It the other might steal a march on her.
L that has nothing to do with man.
lmarez was silent for good or bad, and
business likely attentive as he could he,
FinR due regard to his work and his polo.
4 dor Ia ArNkt <vsw vu -
"a the hot weather drew nearer and
hmarez made no sign, women said that
could see their trouble in the eyes of
girls-that they were looking strained,
kious and irritable. Men are quite blind
these matters unless they have more of
woman than the man in their compost
b, in which case it does not matter what
, say or think. maintain it was the
April davs that took the color out
10 been sent to the Hills early. No one
nan or woman-feels an angel when the
weather is approaching. The younger
or grew more cynical-not to say acid
her ways; and the Willingness of the
pr wore thin. There was more effort
ow the station wherein all these things
pened was, though not q little one, OF
line of rail, and suffered through want
ttention. There we're no gardens, or
ds, or amusement worth speaking of,
Lahore for a dance. People were
Feful for small things to interest them.
bout the beginning of May, and just be-
the final exodus Of Hill-goers, when
weather was very hot and there were
more than twenty people in the station.
marez gave moonlight riding picnic at
I'D tomb six miles away, near the bed of
river. 1t was ''Noah's Ark picnic;
there was to be the usual arrangement
quarter-mile intervals between each
pie, on account of the dust. Six couples
might picnics are useful Just at the very
of the season, before all the girls 90
to the Hills. They lead to understand
and should be encouraged by chap
es; especially those whose girls look
test in riding habits. I knew a case
But that is another story. That pic
vas called the ''Great Pop Picnic.'' be-
every one knew Saumarez would pro-
then to the eldest Miss Copleigh; and,
te his affair, there was another which
At possibly come to happiness. The
i atmosphere was heavily charged and
led clearing.
met at the parade ground at ten the
WAS fearfully hot. The horses
ted even at walking pace, but anything
better than sitting still in our own DARK
es. When We moved off under the full
we were four couples, one triplet and
6aumarez rode with the Copleigh girls,
loitered at the tail of the procession,
ering with whom Saumarez would ride
Every one was happy and contented:
10 all felt that things we're going to
en-. We rode slowly; and it was nearly
light before We reached the old tomb.
n the ruined tank, in the decayed gar
where We were going to eat and drink.
late in coming mp; and, before went
The garden. ] saw that the horizon to
north carried a faint, dun-colored
or. But no one would have thanked
pr spelling SO well-managed an enter
hent as this picnic-and dust storm,
or less, does no great harm.
gathered by the tank. Some one had
ght out a banjo-which is a most senti-
al lnstrument-and three or four of us
You must not laugh at this. Our
ements in out-of- the-way stations are
few indeed. Then we talked in groups
gether, lying under the trees, with the
aked roses dropping their petals on
et, until supper was ready. 1t was q
iful supper. az cold and iced as you
wish; and We staid long over it.
ID felt that the air was growing hot
nd hotter; but nobody seemed to
1t until the moon went out and q
ng hot wind began lashing the orange
With sound like the noise of the sea.
We know where We were. the dust
was ON "a, and everything was roar
hiring darkness. The supper table
(lovn bodily into the tank. We were
OF staying anywhere near the old
for fear it might be blown down. So
our way to the orange trees whore
orses were picketed and waited for
prm to blow over. Then the little
hat was left vanished. and You could
your hand before your face. Tho
hesvy with dust and sand from the |
the river, that filed boots and pock- |
drifted down socks, and coated eve