Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-08-19

hasn't dress"
"Iknowl" said Irene. Her voice
had little tremble in II. And there
was such o look in her eyes that
Dwight turned red and coughed.
"Pshaw! 'Twasn't anything" said
he, and he began to talk about Lynn
Trumbull's new shotgun.
When he started for school the next
morning, Irene was waiting for him
ct her gate.
eve had an idea" she said, Fan
inspiration. You can have your party
inst the same, if you will It won't
be the kind you were going to have,
but-wait till tell you'll thought
it up last night"
They were still talking SO earnestly
when they mounted the schoolhouse
steps that they bumped squarely into
Bob Logan. "What are you two
Ginning about?" he demanded, "that
you can't see fellow of my size?"
He found out the next day. He and
the rest of the s. T. @. club, and q
few chosen outsiders, received invita-
tions from Dwight Hopkins to party.
They came in yellow envelopes, and
they were written on neatly cut strips
of brown wrapping paper. "Hard-
times Party" was penned in one COR
ner, and "Please wear your Oldest
clothes" in another.
Curiosity and excitement ragged
among the s. T. G. Dwight was be-
sieged with inquiries. So was Irene,
whose completely in the matter was
more than suspected. But they had
nothing to say. ''It's all on the in
vitations," they averred. Its hard
times party, and you're to wear your
worse clothes; that's ALL"
An atmosphere of fascination sur
rounded the affair from the first. 1t
was not too much to say that the s.
L. G. had never made preparation for
q party with more eagerness. Evelyn
Burns germans even had never caused
more discussion and Capitalization and
general excitement.
"Everybody's accepting; 1 haven't
had regret. Look herep" Dwight
said to Irene, with glee, and he
pulled out of his pockets several hand
fuls of strange looking missives. They
were written on all sorts of cheap and
outlandish papers, from foolscap to
the back of an advertising card and
the torn off margin of a newspaper.
Good They're getting into the
spirit of it already. Well have no
end of fun, said Irene.
Dwight's father had some business
out of town that day, and it was $50
when he got home. Dwight had in
formed him that his party came off
that evening; and he saw the lighted
windows with pleasant thrill of ex-
pectation.
Somebody came forward, when he
entered, with hearty, How are you,
father? Glad you've come'-but he
did not for moment recognize the
person.
What's this?" he gasped. "Eh?
what's this?"
Dwight was receiving his guests,
and Irene was assisting him. Dwight
was attired in coat he had outgrown
two years ago, and whose sleeves did
not reach much below his elbows; and
a pair of trousers in which he had
helped to paint the back porch; they
were not only ragged at the knees, but
daubed freely with paint; and an old
red handkerchief concealed his lack
of collar. Irene Winslow wore
faded old shirt waist, bicycling skirt
with two large rents in it and the hem
partly ripped, and some old shoes
with their toes stubbed out.
"What is it?" said Dwight. ''It's
a hard-times party, father"
Flora Osborne and George Clement
were coming downstairs. They shook
hands with their host cordially. Flora
was arrayed in an old cotton frock, in
which she had picked berries and
helped her mother can them, until its
original color was lost in solid mass
of stains; and George wore a jacket
whose buttons were missing, trousers
wrinkled and mud-stained and frayed
round the bottoms, and some tennis
shoes which were burst out at the
sides.
Irene's mother was there, and
Dwight's father took seat beside her,
and there they sat and watched the ar
irving guests, and laughed until they
were fairly tired.
Certainly it was remarkable oc-
casion. The parlors filled rapidly with,
apparently, disreputable crowd of
young tramps and beggars. 1t looked
as if all the rag bags in town had been
emptied. Every fresh arrival was
greeted with hilarious shouts, and
surrounded by loudly gay mob.
Their mirth swelled to deafening
clamor.
Sheridan Rider was the last conner,
in costume any respectable boot
black would have scorned. When the
merriment he excited had subsidized,
the host made an announcement:
Ladies and gentlemen" he said,
''we will now begin to dance. The
orchestra will consist of Miss Winslow
and myself, who will play selection
after new method" And Irene
struck up waltz on comb covered
with paper, and Dwight twanged
jewsharp in accompaniment And the
motley throng waltzed"
They danced for two hours. The
guests took tnrns providing the music.
The boys whistled, the girls played
the piano, but the comb and paper
stood high in favor, and some of the
performers produced surprising re-
suits with it. Bob Logan said it beat