The Forrest City times., 1891-08-07
PARTY'S TOPPER.

uo4 Aho"H WHht Tcdly rOuRninR It meant for five years. and after five years experience roughing tito use an Americanism-had come to kinder pail.
 Twas not sorry to wash my hands of America, of it's dreadful climate, and of it's dreadful people. do not want to be ungrateful, but the whole of my time in America had been pass cd in Firetail canyon, and the people l met in Firetail canyon were decided y dreadful; and when l turned my back on Firetail Canyon and meta phorically speaking, shook the dust oh my feet against America, was de- lighted; for was tired of the brutal uncivilized, sordid life, and the ex- ceedingly brutal uncivilized, sordid people whom it had been my misfor- tune to have to associate with in Fire > tail city.
 xV Thefacti is, had been engineer to Hhe Uncle Dudley silver mine, and hAving, to say-speaking in quite an humble way you know--made my pile, was coming home to England on six months leave with the intcn- ton of bettering myself, if possible, Aoand of not returning to America, Fire tail canyon nor the Uncle Dudley mine if could help it. 1 carried my little fortune af f6, GOO on my person in thousand dollar notes. It was a stupid thing to do. did it to avoid loss on exchange.
 had four delightful days on the Bithynia. l need not describe the Bithynia-yod all know the Bithynia. These four days were peculiarly de- lightful, because they were passed in the society of Parthenia Persimmon. Parthenia was & She had lips rud- dier than the cherry and riper than the berry, they were archcd like cupid's bow, and on her cheeks the lily and the rose and innumerable dear. de- lightful dimples struggled for suprem- acy. Her luxuriant hair was a delie- ious golden brown--but need not say any more; 1t will save your time and mine il state that Parthenia Per simmon was Duck of Diamonds. You know what meang Exactly so.
 Ifyou ask me how Parthena and cmployed our time during those four RRys, fear must reply, "ln delicious \ 18liance, which is q poetic phrase, and expressive. We had never seen Zach othor in our lives before, and my Partys pepper was lying in his state room very seasick, indeed. Parthenia is such n mouthiul, you know. and she has bidden me to call her Party, on he third day of dalliance. Pepper always calls me Party" she had ob- served. may explain here that pop per Is American for father.
 As yet had not seen party's pop per, but on the fourth day ofdalliance . gentleman of 30. looking very green, indeed, about the gills, was intro duced to me by Parthenia as that relative.
 Party's pepper was evidently gen tleman. Hewas very quiet, he dressed unobtrusively, he did not talk politics, and he spoke particularly well, throw ing in an occasional archaic word or two, which gave q certain special flavor nd picturesqueness to that clear, cold, genuine English of his.
 was rather sorry to see Party's pepper. Nomore moonlight walks on the saloon deck, thought; the days of dalliance are over. Perhaps he would ask my intentions. 1 did not mind that particularly, for my inten- tions were strictly honorable, but and it was a very big but, indeed--I had no idea in the world of the posi- tion in lite of Party or Party's pop per. That is the difficulty about traveling Americans, it is impossible to judge of their position by their clothes, or their luggage, or their talk.
 Of one thing alone can you be cer- tain. If an American man or woman sports jewelry save at a ball or big dinner, then you may be sure that he or she is '.shoddy." There was noth- isg ''shoddy" about Persimmon or his dHlighter. The father sported three and half dollar Waterbury and steel guard. That gave me courage. myself. "I am desperately in love with Rarthenia, and l have f6.00o, I'll propose to her"
 0iu PTOPosc tO ucT.
 You know nothing of me, Mir. St John, "she said in astonishment. She said great deal more. So did I. The Interview ended by her telling me to zee as much of her pepper as possible. and to try and get down his back"
 understood enough of the American language to know what she meant.
 Mir. Persimmon and l grew very friendly. We saw n good deal of each other, and in the evening we went into the smoking room and we played at poker. When say i've" Imean that did; for Mir. Pernmmon declared that he did not know enough about cards" l confess that played h.- tie higher than l could afford. with the idea of daxzline Mir. Persimmon and 90 creating favorable impress sion, which is what Parthenia meant by getting down his back
 If had hot been so taken up with Party l might have discovered in time that Colonel Jabez Jackpotts. Senator Pat Straddle and Dr. Cap- perton Fudge were professional sharp CTS. On one fatal night they won five sixths of my little fortune, exactly e26,0O0. lthappened this wise.
 The game ofpoker stripped of it's de- l.. tails is very much like the old-fash- ionsd game of brag. As played in the