Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-03-18

and faded for day or two, then 1t re-
sumed its pristine brightness of hue,
all its exquisite bloom, all the subtle
odor of perfume which it had borne in
the wood. Every morning Mickey
watered it from an old tomato can, and
! powdered the earth around it until the
soil was soft and loamy. Only the
morning sun was allowed TO shine upon
the violet, for at midday the hot rsys
| would have blasted the flower. Under
such fostering care the violet becans
ambitious, and put out another stem
! From the top of this stem there grew
another bloom, with yellow heart anc
with purple petals softer than imperial
velvet. Every morning before he
went to school Mickey knelt over the
tower, and his nosnils dilated as the
perfume greeted his freckled nose.
Then he covered the delicate plaint
with roof of brown paper to shade
It from the MONDAY heat. All day
long as he toiled over his spelling book
and primary geography the picture of
the nodding violet danced on the page
before him. 1t obscured the naked
savages in Terra del Fuego; it came
. between little Mixes eyes and the Cape
Of Good Hope, and with tantalizing
lnsistence interfered with the boys
spelling of "phthisis." In fact, violets
nodded srchly all over his desk.
Hide, violet!
But the kerosene evsporated from
the rope which bound the billy goat,
and he began to chew upon it as he
had in days gone by. He was in no
hurry about the job apparently, for hs
chewed with painstaking persistency.
knowing that patience always brings
recompense for toll. After chewing
for three hours without once relaxing
his jaws, the rope fell apart. Once
more he was free TO roam at his own
sweet will over hill and dale in Stumpy
Field, and cen in the balmy Linds-
ley's Wood if his fancy led him thith-
sr. Instead, however, he went straight
to the shanty. 1t happened that Mrs.
Finn saw the goat coming. She closed
the gate and made preparations for
defense, but billy vauited over the
fence, and began his old time foraging
in the back yard for cabbage stump.
and the juicy potato pairing. Mrs.
Finn was afraid of the billy. Frequent
encounters had taught her he was not
to be trifed with. She stood in the
kitchen door armed with clothes pole.
When the goat came within reach she
used this weapon upon the goats back;
nht when the goat resented this famiI-
iality she retreated into the kitchen,
and closed the door behind her.
After number of these encounters
the goat rambled around into the front
yard. Here he fed upon the fresh and
Juicy crocus and the budding hya-
cinths. Mrs. Finn looked helplessly
out of the window at the destruction
going on. She dropped a sad-iron up
Oh billy's head, but he only shook his
head and resumed his feeding. A stove
lid reused q little animation In the
goat. Still he pursued his wicked un-
dertaking.
Take care, violeti
When the goat reached Mckey's
fower he ate the brown paper first, and
then with one snap of bis jaws took in
the precarious violet. This must have
proved very toothsome to him, for he
fingered over the choice morsel like q
gourmet until Mrs. Finn deluged him
with kettle of hot water. Then he
rolled over on the ground in pain. !
Finding no relief In this, he jumped |
over the fence and went down the Old |
Point road at gallop. After his de-
parture Mrs. Finn went out to esti-
mate the damage. Suddenly 1t oc-
CURED to her that Mickey would be
heart-broken If he discovered that his
violet was gone. How could she re-
pair the damage? Ha! she had 1t.
There must be other violets In the |
wood. Flying down the road went
Mrs. Finn, fire shovel in hand. She
climbed a stone wall and went head !
long through brake Of blackberry |
bushes in the wood. The birds were
singing and squirrels Gathering over
head, but she paid no attention 10 them.
At last, in little shady hollow, her
search was rewarded. Carefully sho
dug up q fine violet and started for
home.
She put it in the place where the
other had been, and fifteen minutes
later the brown paper was In position
over the violet, and all signs of the
goats invasion were removed. Then
Mickey came home. The first thing
he did was to examine the flower.
While Mrs. Finn was still washing the
dirt from he, hands her boy dashed In.
"Mother," said he with shining
face.
"Fwhat's tn matther, me b'y2
"Me vi'let has tree flowers. Wan |
o'thim has growed since l left in tn
mornin'"
"Ha, ha, me bouchali Faix, them
wild flowers grows mighty fasht thi,
worrum weather."
Mrs. Finn kissed the rosy face Of
har Inv snd they want ont toGefhar to |