The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1897-07-31
PREDICAMENT.

~ girl, / had funny adventure. /
have often smiled since to think how
dreadfully mortified and distressed /
felt about it at the time, and how in
dignant that everybody should laugh
at me.
And this is how it happened:
We all had the measles that spring.
There were four of us in the nursery
then, and was the oldest of the four.
Then came Willie, who was eight; Min
ME was six and Freddie was only four.
We did not all have the measles very
badly, but we did not seem to get well
very fast, and when warm weather
came we were taken into the country
to play out of doors all day, if we liked,
and to get strong and fat and rosy
again.
! We did have a pretty good time,
think. There were two children in the
house where we were staying-one of
them a year older than land Laura
Lee and l got to be very great friends.
Her sister, Kitty, was about Minnie's
age.
was ~ years old then, and think
felt at least 40.
always spoke of the others patron
izingly as "the children" and got very
red and uncomfortable if anyone
smiled.
The house was not a fine one, but
we had plenty of nice places in which
to play. We had swing under the
big apple tree, romps in the barn and
lovely house, made of some boards,
in the corner of the orchard. But the
most charming spot of all was the
bridge over the stream that ran not
far from the house.
A hundred feet or so above the bridge
there was dam, and an old mill stood
on the borders of the stream. Above
the dam the water was very deep, but
below it formed only broad, shallow
brook, that we could easily cross on the
stones.
Then there were two little islands
lying in the stream. The largest was
long and narrow, and the bridge
underneath was built up with stones,
and we could descend to the island from
the bridge on either side. The other
island was much smaller. 1t lay in the
space between the bridge and the dam,
and it was generally not much more
than jump across to reach it.
These little islands were covered with
grass and bushes, and what lovely times
we had there!-clambering over the
rocks, climbing up and down the sides
of the bridge, and jumping back and
forth over our islands.
But sometimes the mill was in mo-
ton, and when the water poured over
the great wheel the shallow brook be-
low was swollen to rushing stream,
at least one-third of our islands would
disappear, and then we had to make
bridges to cross from one to the other,
and we had all the delightful chances
of tumbling in and getting drowned, to
Increase our pleasure.
One day we all went wading in the
mill stream. We older ones generally
thought ourselves too big for that sort
of thing; but no one ever crossed this
out-of-the-way bridge except the farm
ers who brought their corn to be
ground, for the road stopped just as
1t crossed the stream to the old mill.
So we were pretty certain not to be
seen, and for once we condescended to
be children.
And we thought it great fun to walk
about in the cool water, backward and
forward, under the bridge, and round
our islands, on one of which we had
left our shoes and stockings safely de-
posted beneath bush.
Laura and / kept Freddie with us,
for he was so little that he had to be
helped good deal; and we were walk
Ing leisurely quite distance down the
stream, watching the water flow over
our feet, and the tiny fishes that darted
away, as II frightened at these strange
giants that were invading their prem
Ises, when Kitty suddenly called ont:
Here's lady and gentleman COM
ing down the road!"
Goodness gracious! What should we
do? They were very near; the bushes
along the road had prevented our see
ing them.
Hurry! Perhaps we can catch our
shoes and run before they get down."
cried Laura.
We started back as quickly as we
could, but it was slow work pulling
Freddie along.
He could not walk very fast. The
utpas hurt bis feet, and he began to
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