St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-11-05

Lake an lflSnm3n6 ue9.
'Great anticipations; rcalizatious
non cunt"
Now you see it and now you don't.
When these explosions were ended.
Charley Gates called out, in pitiful
tone:
This is too bad, fellows Ny heart
aches for you in your disappointment.
! long to relieve you. and. though can
do but little toward it, invite you ia
my humble apartment to share my last
bone and crust"
By this time we had all absorbed
such . spirit of fun that we needed no
urging to accompany him.
Every boy, too, was fully convinced
of the fact that we were in pursuit Of q
basket of melons, under difficulties.
Whether we should ever catch it or not
was the puzzle: but Craig Hammond,
Of course. thought he was the only fel-
low who saw the end from the begin
ming.
Like Gil, Charley undertook to pro.
cure his .'bonc and crust" through the
window. and, like Gil. failed, feeling
wildly into the outside darkness
When he turned and faced us, the
laughter that filled that room was un.
controllabie. Some Of us sank to the
fioor-it would seem almost in convul.
siOnS
Witty remarks seemed dry and out OF
place. as we realized the merits of our
case. in pursuit of melons, which
IL - l-~~Ah -
Hammond thought his turn had come.
''Now, fellows, we can't close up the
fun without something substantial.
We've fed ON air too long,"
A roar of laughter answered him. Tor
every one of us knew well enough that
another chapter of melons was coming.
Come along continued Craig. .''we'll
make = sure thing of it this time; for ]
don't depend on lounges and portico
roofs for my supplies"
"Ha, ha! When you cabbage melons,
you hide them where you can find them.
do you, Craig?" was the response.
He undertook to parry this hint and
put US OF the scent by declaring that
he was going to forage through the
country for supplies. TO make up for
Hosmcr's losses
Out we went and started across .
corner of the campus, toward his room
in the other wing of the building. when
he halted us in the moonlight and bade
us wait, while he stepped to Rev.
Clark's premises, Is he said. TO recon-
noiter."
While he was gone, the rest OF ms
ciphered out his trick by recalling Lis
late arrival At the meeting and putting
1t with Charley's statement that he
thought somebody was watching him
while he was climbing about with tho
basket
81 declare. I hope he'll miss them,
too" said Dan, mirthfully.
Never mind, Hosmer. II ever we
overtakc those melons. we'll credit
them to you IS the first mover in the
panorama"
"Basketorama, more accurately"
suggested some one.
II fear we shall never bask in tho
contents Of that basket" !" groaned Gil.
''Rut for you. prime conspirator, we
should long ere this have tasted their
sweets" said another, in mock clo-
quence. and pointing long forefinger
in Gil's face.
BY this time Craig returned empty
handed, reporting that the woodhouse
door was shut and locked, and was sa-
luted with jibes and laughter.
"Alas! alas! our poor deprived pal
ates!" sighed one.
"Palxtial humbug." exclaimed anoth-
er, in q poor attempt to play on tho
word palate.
"Meioncholy wreck of our fond ex-
pectations," mourned another.
We voted ourselves . cheated and in
jured set of fellows. and. with many .
mock lamentation, scattered to our
rooms
The next day brought to each Of us
an invitation from Mrs. Clark to call at
her home from eight to nine that even
ing.
From Craig we learned that when
some one of the family came to lock mp
the house the melons were discovered.
and supposed to be present from some
country parishioner. But, early in the
morning, Craig called ON Mrs Clark
and explained.
That evening at the minister's. our
party. reinforced by several charming
friends, overlook the fugitive melons.
and with gusto put an end to their wan
slering habit.
But, Notwithstanding the common
impression that such young fellows are
chiefly creatures of appetite, the fact
remains that we enjoyed the pleasure
Of pursuit more than that of eating the
melons-Lamar Beaumont, in Golden
Days