The Opelousas courier., 1896-09-19

bic bed, and to the soothing nduen
OF rural stiffness.
When the young matron's husband,
who was the biuest-eyed, blondest-
haired, mildest-mannered "Dear" in
oil Of natural history, had gone, the
city guest played with the baby IN the
the hammock and the young matron
excused herself to hold her regular
morning session with the cook. But
in the early afternoon the domestic
machinery was running smoothly, the
baby had been perambulated off by a
freokled faced nurse who was ':keep-
ing steady company" WITH a private at
Fort Sheridan, the young matron had
! telephoned for a man, and the city
guest was putting on her bicycle
clothes.
"We'll ride to Glencoe and meet
Inc fronrfsr aaffea+ tvhan 20 on to the club.
will be fun if yor don't mind rough
riding. l don't, for It's more excit.
ing"
So, ate" oiling up and pumping up
and tightening up, they rolled out of
the little town into the fresh, early
green OF the country, with the mead
oWs ana fields on one side and the lake
on the other.
The roads north of the city lie more
or less near the lake, being, without
doubt, the most attractive to wheel
men, and on fine Sundays they are
traversed by many bicyclists. During
the week there are portions of these
roads which are lonely and deserted.
While pedaling through q bit of woods,
with the city guest looking into them
on either side in search Of ,~violets, the
young matron said, suddenly:
"My dear, isn't that a tramp lying
there by that fallen tree ahead of us?"
The other looked apprehensively at
the Indicated bundle OF fiuttering tat.
tiers ana discovered one nose visible
among them-such a red, red nose-a
stubbly chin, three ragged black boots
and one ragged tan shoe.
NO." she said, hopping off in or.
der to prevent the collapse of her slow
moving wheel, cts two tramps, and
they're worse than they are in the
J G"PS1S' AntIc! L Knew you q !
go over if you didn't get off"
"Let's go back" TREMENDOUSLY sug-
gested the young matron, pushing in
several loosened hair-pins and raising
Der wheel. She Was nervous and a lit.
tie pale, but she asked the city guest
If her hat was on straight. The city
guest was frightened, too, but she had
such a happy faculty Of Disgusting 1t
that she had the reputation OF being
unusually brave and ready in an emer-
gency.
"No, let's go Oh and make o rush
for It. We can pass SO quickly they'll
never know till we're gone"
But the passable part of the road
was narrow just where the wayfarers
were taking a siesta, and would per.
NIT of only II girl passing at a time.
SO the plan seemed hardly feasible, for
neither OF the riders could make I'D
her mind to go last.
Just then there was o movement OF
the t~atters, boots and nose. One OF
the men rose on his elbow and stared.
His nose was less red than that of the
but his chin was more stubbly.
Now, the city guest had a secret pas
sion for all things histrionic, and she
noticed with a thrill of quick pleasure !
this goddess man wore a bright :
handkerchief about his neck. This
one artistic touch instantly trans. ::
him from a common tramp to
something akin to the stage brlgund. =
while the background of trees and !
gas and yellow road disappearing !
below Une crest of O little hill in the I
distance made as effective a setting az
he had ever seen. Her fear was lost
n this new emotion and she laughed.
sxclaimlng under her breath to her |
!
ooh, isn't it picturesque!" t
The young matron turned her hea I
md looked at the city guests face, {
Ter dread rising to terror when she I
Jaw the radiant expression it wore.
suddenly she was seized with the fear. {
'ul conviction that fear had TEN. I
'orarily unh'nged her friends mind. I
eaving her in the hands of a maniac c
md OF two unscrupulous villains. She I
lid her face in her hands and sunk t
Town by the now forgotten bicycle c
nd wept quietly till she heard the I
'olce of her poor deranged friend t
Mingled in the most cordial converse a
nth those of the two men then she t
fitted her head and gazed at them j
u
The three were exchanging friendly v
emarks about the weather, after a
'hich they amicably discussed BIZ a
ycles and their respective merits, in Il
pite of the shrouded intelligence con- Il
both the subject and the Eng G
sh language as displayed by two a
birds of the party. But unfortun- r.
telY the eyes that accompanies the Il
I'D, red nose wandered toward the
Dung matron and discovered several
rings on her small, bare
Rnds. h
'lll take those purity rings, lady, a
ont get scared, but. just hand EN- b
yer. quiet like and wen be movin' V
n
The city guest turned sharply G;
'ound at that. For in an instant she D