New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-30

| bed was in one corner; a bed which sui re-
NAMED as its occupant had left It,
| A. thin woman in a dark. tapping calico gown
| ca,ne forward from somewhere where there was
| the sound Of frying. She creased her cheeks III
! the form of a smile she saw her guests.
ITS yo'. is 1t. Miss Temple?" she said. "Howdy
this mawnn? Set by won't yo'?'
! Almina could not help feeling That she was
having a thrilling and unusual experience. In
her Utmost soul she had never believed that
anybody ever said "howdy." She had seen that
word in hooks. and had always considered it
made-up term Now she Intellectually heard It,
81 want YOU to give this lady breakfast
said Temple Give 1t to ner right soon. for she =
starving She's Just from Massachusetts,
The woman. turned her cadaverous face toward
| Almina for an instant.
"I've hearn there was sucn place. she saiu
as IL she still doubted the fact.
Then she left the room, her petticoats mapping
| about her ankles.
Almina sat staring into the fire. She did not
! think now that It made much difference whether
she ever had anything to eat or not. she might
as well die first as last And she should never
know any more of Freddys cunning ways.
At this thought she could not help smiling she
looked up and found Temple Crawfords eyes
exed unon her They were rather unusual eyes,
OF a golden black. and they were set wiue apart
under heavy. straight prows But the brows
were not dark. they were light bro"h' as ""'
her hair which was shingled like boys.
, This se-cpped haif revealed plainly the
shane of her head which was high above the
ears and markedly full also In those re-
rions where phrenologists used to locate 'he
affections and passions But phrenology is now
an exploded science. and this girls head' per-
haps. was no index to ner character IL was
nevertheless somehow notable head ana "o"
that the dropping felt hat was removed Al
nina could not help gazing at IT,
81 reckon you're thinkin about your nome
said Temple, as she caught her co'"pa'''o"
glance.
Yes" was the answer, and ABOUT you' 'oo'
You don't look like your father one pt
The girl advanced and sat down in chair
near Almina. contemplating her closely IN
stead Of replying after silence she said:
Il think you have awfuy good eyes she
SIGHED heavily Too good And II you stay
with me you'll be miserable If I'm not re-
spectable sort of a girl Another sign. Ana
I'm not I'm wild animal. and IKE 10 oe'
That's the very worst part Of it. Miss Drowdy'
I like to be wild animal. reckon may get
to be kind Of a Nebuohadnezzar He ate grass
didn't he? ! shant eat grass. But don't Ike
folks and civilization. and smiling when you
wan, to swear. and making believe and all that
kind of thing DO you, Miss Drowdy!
Il don't like maxim believe
Then you don't like civilizations"
Temple pushed her chair back
81 sme, YOUR fried chicken going TO the table:
and here comes Mrs. Frady to tell you to go out
there and eat"
The girl accompanied the newcomer INTO the
! next room, where there was long tapie OH
which were a great many unwashed dishes ana
an enormous quantity Of appe-butter in big
| cracked dish There were many denuded chicken
| bones here and there among the dishes
troop of five dogs came from somewhere I'M
seen and accompanied the women into TINS
| anartnent They We're smooth haired hounds
| and they walked about the room with the solem-
| nifty OF aspect which is peculiar to hounds. rais'
ing long. melancholy noses into the air III 'he
direction Of the clothless table
The mistress Of the house pointed to chaii
and advised Amina to "dror right urp' In front
of fresh plate of chicken and biscuit
Aloina obeyed She had no more than drawn
-, he,ore one Of the hounds did the same. lie
sat down close to her and pushed his nose agains
her Another hound Immediately did the same
on the other side Almina was not AFRAID pu'
she did feel somewhat hampered, and found II
difficult TO bend forward far enough to reach th'
biscuit.
The mistress hustled few bones into 4 solet
plate then pushed the plate toward her guest
The dish slid along the table and paused neal
Miss Drowdy.
"Them thur dawgs" said Mrs. Frady. "ar'
everlastinly hongry. jest toss UNI thur nine
laig OF a rooster now an then. will yo'|' with
laugh: and directing her request to Almina. wh'
immediately seized one bone and then anothel
. | which she administered alternately TO tn
hounds nearest her. There were two or three
crunching movements and ;hen, as Temple ex
pressed IT, they were just as ready for ROSTERS
hind laigs as they ever were.
You eat your breakfast and III feed the dogs.
said the girl.
Meanwhile Mrs Frady. having dumped thu
biscuit and chicken and the coffee-pot on TIT
table. had disappeared in some back region
where her fat drawl could be heard in one con
tinuous stream uninterrupted by the sound o.
any other voice.
shes talking to herself" remarked Temple
"She does it all the time unless she's at he
eatin's or her sleepn s.
Almina drank some Of the black drink which
was called coffee. she choked little over IT
She swallowed some chicken. She had long sine
nassed the stage Of hunger and was now in tina
state of faintness and fatigue when II seemed
10 her that she could never eat again
The FIVE dogs grouped In partial cir
Gle in front Of Temple, who tried to distribute
; bones impartially. and who administered reproo
,, and reproach when there was too much snatch
ing
Now don't you be greedy as human
beings" Alnina heard her saying. Jim' yo
let Short Tail have this Stop. You viiiun' you
, I'll pull 1t out Of your mouth! You've had thre
to Devils one. Devil, why don't you pl'ch IN
get your share? Jim. you sha'n't have me whol
skeleton Of that rooster!
There was a scufile; growls and yaps dog
;e.n,np high with front paws extended eagerly
and the girl standing with flushed race an