St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1891-08-15
AN EVENTFUL DAY.

ancholy half whine which was habit
AL to her. The rain leaked in on tn,
boarder's bureau all night long, an(
She says she won't stay here if SHE
ISN'T to be properly protected against
the clements"
jamie tied the last puce cOlored tu
lip to its stake and Strengthened her.
sclf up.
"Who is to do it," sighed Mrs.
Barr. "And il Mrs. Lcpcll goes away
what shall we do about the interest on
your fathers old notc?"
"She won't 60 away, mother never
ieac," said jamie, brightly. "Don't
fret. You'll see that things will come
out right
"But the shingles must be fixed right
away" said Mrs. Barr.
"They shall be fixed, mother" said
jamie.
'Who will do it?" impatiently re-
pcated the widow.
81 wllln' said jamie.
"That's all nonsense" groaned Mrs.
Barr.
But jamie had never been more seri-
Dusty in earnest in all her life.
Mrs. Barr went to the parish sewing
| society that afternoon.
Col. Addison, from the Valley hotel.
who was paying his addresses to Mrs.
Lepell the boarder, came with a spirit
ed horse and a buggy to take her to
the sea beach.
"Now is my time" said jamie exult-
antly to herself.
But Mrs. Iepell came back before
she had got twenty-five yards away
rom the houee.
Jamie" she said, II forgot to tell
you that ] left my three diamond
rings in the little left hand drawer OF
the bureau. might lose them in the
water. / thought l would tell you in
case OF fire, you know, or any other
accident"
yes" said jamie, but there won't |
be any accident.
Mrs. Lepell laughed, and ran back
to the carriage and the impatient col
onel
And not until then did jamie per-
celve that a tall, half grown lad, Turk
ing behind the porch rails, was wait
ing to speak with her.
"Who are you?" said jamie, brisklv.
"What do you want? No, we haven't
any old clothes. If you really want
work, you had better 60 on to the
new buildings, about q mile up the
road. dare say they can find some
thing for Won to do there -
The lad lnumblcd out something.
whether thanks Or otherwise jamie
could not discriminate, and shuffled
away. And our heroine, slipping on
Ter hat ana boiling the front door,
an across the back meadow to Jack
Parsons carpenter shop, some quart
II OF mile by the wood path.
II want a few shingles, )" said she,
Ind pound of shingle nails
"What for? said Ralph.
mo matter, calmly retorted jamie. S
She nodded good-by, and hurried E
way under the canopy OF pink apple t
blossoms. c
Ralph looked edmiring1y after her. c
"She's q regular clipper of girl. g
hat jamie Barr!" said he. sIf ever t
m able to support a wife, that will
e the one I'd choose" /
Light as thistledown, jamie hurr-. h
back with her precious bundle Of II
linses, and the pound of nails in her O
ocket. G.
Now I'll show him whether can
lcnd the roof Or not" she said, as, h
18th a hammer added to her stock in W
AIDE, she assembled to the garnet and ii
imoed the odd Gttle ladder that led t,
through the rusty trap door to the t!
eep roof. fc
The slant was abrupt, the old shin az
es we're wet with recent rain ard h
lppery with green moss incrusta- CT
ons, but jamie Barr was not one 81
5htly to be discouraged, and present.
she found herself neatly balanced, OF
tn herfeet braced against the board h;
tier, one elbow leaning on the roof, b;
ID the hand busily tearing away the he
d shingles and replacing them deft-
with overlapping rows of now, frag- Ia
mt wood. The click of the hammer,
e ring of the nails was like music in
r ears. Suddenly, however, as she
perched like a squirrel on the
lnting roof, the sound of voices ~
'uck on her ear. She paused to lis
Three diamond rings! I heard her pit
SO herself. In the left hand draw -,
of some bureau" said the same ac- SCI
its which half an hour ago had ask res
Tor her charity. "And no one but Iss
woman in the house." IN
Sure OF that?' said q deeper voice. ~,
rolss
nd wouldn't wonder if there were ait
Ter things for the picking up" the
Come in, them" said the other one, me
nd step lively. We can't stand here est
ing all day. The door is bottled, is in,
Wait minute; I've got q little Do
er here rs would start any staple str
5 side of Denver" of
anle had listened in breathless hor- am
. In an instant, us it were, she der
nprehended the full danger that far
aaced Mrs. Lepell's treasured gems loo
ne three diamond rings that the OF
rider had once told her were worth Dre
usands OF dollars. And here she me,
J alone and helpless! self
she turned over the crisis wit
!, iiiiiiu. II sile We're to re-enter con
house by the same way in which f
had lett it she must certainly meet Won
rufiians. and any resistance which t e,
could offer would be speedily over crib
'ered. Mo,
tnie Barr was not one to hesitat heir
!. While the thought yet careered tbir
'ugh her brain she sprang down mo,
r