The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-02-06
a PINEAPPLE CHEESE.


There girls said Ieg as she laid
an apopiectic parcel on the dining-room
table. there is probably the finest pine
apple cheese on the isle of Manhattan"
tFmeapple cheese a chorus Of dis
may end derision arose. why pineap-
pie? Why not Bris or Camambert
or-
eOh, ] know said Peg loftily, that
ycu swells, with d bitter enphasis on
the word, afect an kinds Of evil
sEqelling cheese with your after din
mel coffee, but as am plain end demo
cratie il my tastes lsbuy pineapple
ell ese w~herewlth to regale myself
wien l come in, worn, iaJed and faint
with hunger after my days TOLL
Then she hung up her sailor, cut oil
tho head of her pineapple cheese.
scaoped out a chunk, and proceeded to
eai it like a piece Of cake. Meantime
three eered.
as Peg stood there greedily devour
ina her cheese, she did not look much
like d girl whose heart was broken. Size
wa plump, rosy and sturdy. h curled
hef hair. She was as different as
pos ible from the accepted type OF love
lorir maideu wasting away to- prema-
ture grave from disappointed love. Yet
we girls knew an about the dreadful
quarrel Peg had with Jack Sheppard
d diarrel that broke off her engagement
and sent reg out into the world to seek
a career.
We four girls, Grace, Eleanore, Mar
garet, otherwise Peg, and the writer,
hat Tiny Iittle box of a fat uptown
where we play at housekeeping. We
lbsSin a schaiing dish and the fire es-
caiic IS d refrigerator. Every week
or So We are visited by a big good mas
tured officer Who tries to look stern
when ne states he wilIsurely be obliged
to arrest ussif we do not keepour fre. es-
cape clear of bird cages, vegetables,
fruit, and flower pots.
Then there nsue a spasm of tidying
up, the plants and birds are arrangediE
the drawing-room,'' as we call the tiny
reception room, the vegetables are stor-
ed ia the Kitchen closet and the
fun heaped ostentatiously on the side
board But some way. gradually, de
~1aOrnHzation again creeps upon us, tie
fire escape aIlures and beckons US and
Haunts its attractions as a store house
before as and we again succumb to its
f~ascfnations.
Therefore we we're not greatly sur
rrised when Peg, after satisfying her
healthy young appetite, proceeded to
place her cheese Just outside the win
dow upon the fire escape.
HPegyou are crowding the refrigera-
tor objected Grace.
"31o YOU. want a. call from Dan
FiynM asked EIeanore.
Dan Fiynn, Il may be rsInagtr01T-
CARY cleans u our refrigerator.
.Daa FlSm won't see it to-nighty
said leg calmly, sand / may eat the
rest of il for h~reakfaAt"
This silencedsus; there really was no
argument to that proposition.
We adjourned to the drawing-room
and while Grace prepared an article on
sHow 70 Turn the Back Breadths of
an Old silk Skirt" for a ladies' maga-
zine, and Eleanore ran over the new
song she was to introduce in her next
role, / gossiped with Peg about the
newcomers who that day had taken
tile Tat under us.
-sa Where cant be any women" / re-
marked, "foe there wasn't a rocking
chairs piano or a sewing machine, and
therewere whole cases of stuff inciden-
tai To the Accursed Sex carried i'm
It IS by this term we are accustomed
to speak Of men in Pegs presence. We
feel IL to be due her.
saThen there were rifles and walking
sticks and clubs galore Icontinued,
"a whole arsenal. I counted all sorts OF
weapons except q Calling gun. Can
they be social h~ighvaymen, do you
thiniST'S
sAu men. said Peg oracularIy, are
ina measure social highwaymen. Very
likely this is an organized band of cut
throafs. The details assuredly are sus-
picious. Grace, you know the chief of
polices | believe
II interviewed him once drowsily
came from Grace, who had just arrived
az the sponging and pressing stage of
her article.
ssVery we'll, YOU know him then, said
Peg severely. "Ithink, you should call
Oh him and ask aim to look up these
creatures and see whether four unprc-
ttcted women are safe in living SO near.
them. w
wouldn't Dan Flynn do as well as
the Chief asked Eleanore, lazily hum-
ming over the last bar Of her song.
ssYou see. Peg, the head Of the depart
nsent is a rather busy man, and as Dan
Flynn is on our visiting list, ii might be
qnite as Convenient, mightn't it?2
But Peg made no answer to this idle
banters She sat ~engrossed in deep
thought. Her blue eyes grew larger
ard dreamier. We all watched her
with undisguised admiration. She was
So abaminablY pretty
made sure Tint she was wandering
through the maze Of memory with her
lost Ioxe, and ventured to rouse her.
hoping she would rehearse some ro-
mantle chapter for our delectation.
Peg, asked, softls. of what, dear,
pre you thiulking2
an wondering, said she, with
y lfftie start, whether those miscre
ants below us would steal my pineapple.