The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1896-06-27
AMANDA TODD.
M MARY =. VILLAINS

DH MARY y. WILkINA
Amanda Todd's orbit of existence Is
restricted, of q necessity, since she was
born, brought up and wilLt1ie in this vii.
iage, but there is no Doubt that IL ie
eccentric. She moves :<partcn her own
little course quite separa.o from the
rest of us.
Had Amanda's liner, of life been cast
elsewhere, where. circumstances had
Pnsnefi her, inster.d of hemming her in,
san might hav, become the feminine
aPosde OF a new creed, have founded
sec1 or II .stituted a new system of fe-
maze orvs. As it is, she does not go to
meeapg, she never wears a bonnet and
sh4 Keeps cats.
Amanda Todd is co, and she never was
married. Had she been, the close fric-
rtion with another nature might haze
worn away some of the peculiarities of
hers. She might have gone to meeting,
ishe might have worn bonnet, she
might even have eschewed cats, but il
as not probable. When peculiarities
ARE In the grain of a persons nature, as
they probably are in hers. such friction
only brings them out more plainly,
and 1t is the other person who suffers.
The villagcmen are not, as a rule very
subtle, but they have seemed to feel
this instinctively, Amanda was, they
say. very pretty girl in her youth, but
mo young man ever dared make love to
her and marry her. She had always the
reputation of being 'an odd stick
even in the district school, She al
mvays kept by herself ut recess, she never
sseemed to have anything in common
with the other girls and she always
went home alone from singing school.
probably never in her whole life has
zAmanda Todd known what it is to
Ibe projected by some devoted person of
the other sex through the mighty perils
of our village street.
There is tradition in the village that
once In her life, when she was about rs
years old, Amanda Todd had a beau
tiful bonnet and went to meeting.
Old Mrs. Nathan Morse vouches for
the reliability of it, and, moreover, she
hints at a reason. when Mandy, she
was bout 25 years DID," she says,
rGecrge Henry French, he come to
town, and taught the district school,
and he see Mandy, an told Almira Ben
ton that he thought she was about the
prettiest girl he ever laid eyes on, and
Almiry, she told Mandy. That was all
there ever was to 1t, he never waited on
her. never spoke to her, fur's know,
but right after that. Mandy, she had e.
bunnit, and she went reg lar to meetin'
Fore that her mother could scarcely
get her to keep a thing on her head
out of doors-allers carried her sunbun-
init a-danglin' by the strings, wonder
she wasn't sHnstruck million times
and as for goin' to meetin', her mother,
eie talked and talked, but it didn't do
n mite Of good. Is'pose her father kind
of upheld her in ii, He was most as
odd as Mandy. lie wouldn't go to meet
In unless he was driv, and he want a
member. 'Nough sight ruthcr go out
prowlin' round in the woods like wild
animal, Sabbath days, than go TO meet
in. Once he ketched wildcat, an
tried to tame it, but he couldn't. 1t bit
and chewed SO he had to let it go. l
guess Mandy gets her liking for cats
from him fast enough. Well, Mandy,
she had that handsome bunnit, and she
went to meetin' regular most year,
and she looked as pretty as n picture
sittin' in the pew. The bunnit was
trimmed with green gauze ribbon and
had wreath of fine pink flowers inside.
Her mother was real tickled, thought
Mandy had met with change. But
land, II didn't last no time. George
Henry French, he quit town the next
year and went to Somerset to teach,
md pretty soon we heard he he'd mar
ried q girl over there. Then Mandy,
she didn't come to meetin' any more.
j dunno what she did with the bunnit
stamped on II, most likely, she al
ways had considerable temper-anyway,
] never see her wear it afterwards"
Thus old Mrs. Nathan Morse tells the
story, and somehow to reflective mind
the picture Of Amanda Todd in her
youth declSed in her pink-wreathed
bonnet, selfishly but innocently attend
ing in the sanctuary of divine love in
order to lay hands on her own little
ehare of earthly affection, is insepara-
BILE from her, as she goes now, old and
bare-headed, defiantly past the meet
ing house, when the Sabbath bells are
ringing.
However, If Amanda Todd had elected
to go bareheaded through the village
street from feminine vanity, rather
than eccentricity, it would have been
no wonder. Not young girl In the vii
1age has such head of hair as Amanda.
It is of beautiful chestnut color, and
there is not q gray thread In it. 1t Is
full of wonderful natural ripples, too
mot one of the village girls can equal
them with her papers and crimping
pins--and Amanda arranges 1t in two
superb braids wound twice around her
head. Seen from behind, Amanda's
head is that of n young beauty; when
it turns q little, and her harsh old pro-
Ale becomes visible, there is shock to
the stranger.
Amanda's father had great shock
of chestnut hair, which was seldom cut,
and she inherits this adornment from
him. He lived to be an old man, but
that ruddy crown of his never turned
gray.
Amanda's mother died long ago;
then her father. Ever since she has