Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1890-10-01

slidin' down de snow mountaln!,
"Hump. hump, he humps er long,
Po' ole darkey aint much strong
chimes in the deep voice of the random
soloist.
"He gettin' in er weavin' way. Ike.
do yo' bes'-cut her clean throo A.,
Show um whsr you been raisedl''
shouts an enthusiastic sdmirer in
spasm of glee.
"Mek Elvirs jine iml" yells the
bsnjoist- "Pun 'er out, mex 'er show
up. Dey aint fitten' ter marry Iess'n
dey kin dance tergerr. See witch kin
outlas' de longest"
In an instant Elvira is drawn into
he ring. Ike emits defiant guffaw
10 greet his antagonist.
you'll find me light yer on di.
plank at ssn-up, Elvira." he ssy-;
YOU better not tr, me; tex er gal, en-
one at amt long -winded.v
"Shuhl" This exclamation of su-
preme and defiant disgust is all that
Elvira can spare the breath to say, as
she vigorously bends herself TO the
contest.
"She Amt gwine talk" laughs q
woman above the roar of voices and
music. "She's er savin' 'er win: ]
ooun' You see Ike laid out lax er tree
fell on i'm. / done see too many
women shuttle Ike's er fool; she kin
DO it en- not half try. See 'er hor 'er
dress lax she is drivin' er brood er
chickens; she amt even wuk ell
hams"
The dance continued till Ike began.
indeed, to show signs of tagging
Under the applause aud enthusiastic
praise of the audience, Elvira kept
up brightly, and Ike skunk with hang
ing head and quivering knees from the
ring. For some moments Elyirs re-
fused TO quit the circle, but at las; she
allowed two other sspirants for eclat
To take her place, and she staggered
proudly from the ring.
Marie turns gloomily away from the
loor, and closes her ears 10 the sound
Of this merriment.
NANNY" she says, standing behind
SuZette, who is lifting live coal of
fire from the hearth TO her pipe. The
woman has accomplished the trick in
Vulnerable times before with infallible
deXterity, but now her trembling fng-
ers fail in adroitness, and the angry
coal inflicts bu n on her hsrd palm.
Nanny" Marie goes on, painting so
that she can hardly speak, "have you
heard what Marse johnson said about
me and Jake?-
The momentsry sufferer of bodily
pain applies the srnarting spot TO her
tongue, and then rubs it on her gown
over her round knee with a greater
show of pain than the incident calls
for, and obviously to excuse herscl.
from making a reply to the girls earn
est query.
NANNY" continues Marie, her
words almost inaudible, and touching
he.. bowed companion with ges ure
Of despair, al can't bear it. q God,
| want to die!"
"Honey, but no effort of Suzette's
can induce the words TO come forth
which tremble in he brain. She low
ers her turbaned head almost into her
lap.
Marie turns from her to the door
with deep sigh and face void OF
blood.
"whsr you 'gwine?" asks Suzette
quickly.
"Let me alone a little while, NANNY;
I'll be back soon. / feel I'm burning
up, soul and body. Let me 90 out in
the night air."
She goes out into the fields. The
clouds are swirling dark overhead,
and dazzling electric hieroglyphics
split their density. On, on she strides,
the turbulence of her mad thoughts
giving springs to her feet. a fine
mist is blown into her fevered face.
low, threatening rumbling comes
from the clouds, and the mighty trees
on the mountain are tortured to groan-
ing in An upper current of air The
music in Elvira's cabin dies away into
faint hum. At last she finds herself
on the river bank. and experiences a
faint sensation of surprise to see that
she has walked so far. In fact, she
can't remember when she crossed the
branch, about halfway between the
river and her cabin. She does not
wonder over il long. however. The
water ls-hing the sandy beach Is deep
and dark, and seems To- have voice of
its own, n solacing kind of murmur
which seems to promise to relieve her
If her great, weighty, heart breaking
burden if she will allow it.
The stream may be the great lin
MD. restfuI arm of God extended To
embrace her They should find her
flcsting somewhere, on the morrow,
md should know then that they had
made a mistake in trying to dispose of
her n they had. Perhaps the sun
would be shining then over the place
she loved so well, for the hurrying
clouds, with their vivid CLEANS of
lightning, seemed only to boast of
their power to storm. The good, Kind
,Id colonel, who had not, she was sure,