Mower County transcript., 1895-01-23


thought constantly Of the faraway palr
But the rites 81 hospitality could not be
neglected, and by and by, stimulated
by the pu1posed gayety Of our visitors,
all Of us young folks joined, just in the.
cleaning, in a romping game Of hide
and seek. :. .'5' Y !,
Eat ordinary times our big ten room
loghouse was lighted by homemade tai
low candles, but on festive occasions
my mother used sperm ones. Numbers
OF these were now burning, in addition
to the great open fires, making all with
in doors altogether too light for the
proper enjoyment of our game; SO, by
unanimous consent, we agreed that the
'hiders' should have the privilege Of the
fast darkening wood shed, stable and
nearest barn.
''The play went merrily on for half
an hour or so, each successive seeker
generally routing out the most cunning
ly concealed 'hiders' in no time. But
then little Agnes Warwick so artfully
hid herself that the seeker Of the mo-
ment, utterly failing to discover her,
was finally obliged to call upon the
whole crowd for assistance.
High and low, up and down, through
stable lofts, between wood piles, behind
straw stacks. inside the big tanning
mill, over grain bins and under the barn,
we hunted without success. Then, gath.
cred in a cluster on the thrashing floor,
we were about to give up and let the
little mischief find herself, when,
through the open door, into which the
pale moonlight streamed, a dark body
rushed, shot past us and sprang over in
to nearly empty haymow, whence in
stantly came great rustling and Sc
ries of inartioulate cries-from the now
discovered Agnes-whioh sounded to us
like those of fear and pain.
"A bear! A bear!' screamed the
elder Miss Warwick. "A bear is killing
the childp These brutes are quite plenti-
ful in our neighborhood.
Pshawp exclaimed my brother
Hugh, bears don't come ont in winter. ,
No, nor they don't have long tails
either, guess wisely observed little
Margery.
Recovering from our momentary as
tonishment, we young men and boys
were in the act of rushing to the rescue
when out of the manhole of the NOV
crept little Agnes, laughing half hys-
terically and encircling with one arm
the neck Of a big black dogl
"'Why. it's Princel Donald's Black
Princep all of us simultaneously shout
ed, for now we plainly saw the peculiar,
heart shaped breast spot which was the
only speck of white on the glossy coat
Of our long lost friend.
1T really seemed as if the wise old
fellow had stealthily watched our play
until he found what the trouble was,
and then, with deliberate purpose to
surprise US, had dashed past without
greeting, and guided by his unerring
nose had speedily torn the hay off the
form of his we'll remembered playfel-
low, for pretty Agnes Warwick used to
spend fully as much time at our home
as at her own.
"Now, having SO we'll succeeded in
creating sensation, Prince threw off
all disguise, and after hilariously jump
ing upon each of Us in turn gamboled.
barked and frisked around in an ecstasy
Of delight, while we all started in a
wild race to the house.
Evidently some one-perhaps with
news of Donald-had arrived, for a
strange sleigh stood before the open
door, and as we neared the house we
could hear my fathers voice ringing
out in tones which did not sound like
those of grief.
There's word from Donald! Come
on!' yelled my brother Archie as he
sprang to the leading place.
"The other 16 of us followed pell-
NELL, almost tumbling over each other
in our eagerness, and burst like a cy-
clone into the big parlor. Then the old
roof shook with our half frantic cheers,
for there, in the center of the room,
stood Donald himself! He was brown
as an Indian and bearded like-well,
like any gold digger, but was the same
old Donald still, while, clasped to his
breast, with her arms about his neck,
lay my dear little mother, softly crying
in speechless JOY"
Here poor Fred almost broke down,
and not homesick man of us all could
trust himself to speak. Presently, how
ever, the young fellow-he was only 10
went on:
''Boys-I-tell u-this-was
most-too-muoh for me. I'll never
forget that time if should live thou
sand years. It seemed like getting my
brother back from the grave itself. Some
Of us cried like babies, and even the
stern old colonel himself had to pretend
that the open door blew the fire smoke
into his eyes.
''At last we quieted down a little,
and after the two hungry travellers
Black Prince and his master-had eat
eli good dinner, Donald told us his
story. Itwould take mo all night to re.
peat it in full. Besides I can't tell il
as he did, 10 I'll just give you the mar.
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