Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-06-23
s\s>S%e@~esSsSeAs~ s 90
! THE BLUE DRYAD. 5
J BY G. H. Powell. q
e4e@sa>S 9%S "a

I C.T0FFLES was her name, "a faulhn
y abbreyiat.c8, and Nephistophelsan
was her nature, She hid al Tie usual
vices Of the feline tribe, including
! doub4e portion Of those which IaeI. are
( zofons4 OF describing lg feminine. FAu,
ird5Fent, sc,fzh. with q hithfy-culti-
rated taste for Iszary and. neatness in
B. her personal appearance, he was dis
! tngEished t. al those little -rrl tat
Ing habits and traits foE which nothing
I but az eiIeIi..4te heart-G thing In
4. her cl-ge conspicuous By its abseace
can atone. ..
/ Te I've il q comfortable. old-tash-
Lio1ei Kolse Iaring. tho highroad. : aay
4 we, bu: Ia tact for some months had
{ been alone, GAd ny husband mad jast
, returned from one of MS sporting and
/ scien4Gc expeditions IL south Amer
/ lca. lie had already won fame SIS n
Z naturalist, and had succeeded IN bring
1 ing home olive quite variety OF beaste,
usually Of the reptile order, whose ex-
| t-eIae rarity seemed TO me nerciful
! provision OF nature, But al his pre-
| yioUa triumphs were completely
[ cell psed, I soon learned. by the capture
| alive, On this last expedition, Of TN
| abominably poisonous snake, known 20
those who knew il 40 the blue dryad,
or more familinTly, III backwoods slang,
I as the "half-hour striker" IN vague ref
| efence to its Iohiignant and fatal quail
tiles. '.e
Being Ia extremely delicate health at
the time, need hardly say that knew
nothing OF these grewsome details un-
I'll afterward. -usnry (that 10 nay hus-
band) after entering my room with q
robust and sunburned appearance that
did my heaTt good, merely Observed
90 soon as we had exchanged greeting
| that he had brought home q pretty
| make which wouldn't do tho slightest
!1arm"-an evasiye assurance which ac-
cepted aB became "a nervous wife OF an
enthusiastic naturalist / believe
insisted on It's not coming into the
house. Fortunately the weather ws1a
very hot, so II was decided that tbs
blue dryad, wrapped IN flannel and
securely confined in a baaket should DO
left In the gun and tho furthest cor
ner of the veranda, during the hour or
20 in the afternoon when my husbend
had to visit the town on business f.
He hnd gone Off with n cousin Of
mine, an officer Of engineers IN India,
gtatioued, / think, at Lahore, and homo
ON leave, remember that they were
long time, or what scened To me "a
long time, over their luncheon; and
The IdIt remark Of our guest as he came
put of the d!ninE-Toom remained In
my head as even meanIDgless words
wil run in tho head OF Gn idle inyabd
shbt up for the most part OF the day
in a silent room. Whist he rald wac,
ia the pom ii We tone, Of one emphasizing
curious and surprising statements
"D'you know, by the way, It's the ohq
snin1fll TINT docen't care 81 rap for the
cobra2" And then, ruy husband seein-
iuR 70 express disbebef and a desire 70
chbnps tic SUBJECT nsthey entered my
eoudolr; Ute holy factl Goes for IL,
20 arnnrtl Has the beggar on toast be-
fore yori can aay 'Jack Roblbaoul'"
The obscryntion did not interost me,
bat simply ran in my hspd Then they
came into my room, and only for fs"
inoucnts, ~ was uot 10 be tired. Tho
gnGrser tried 10 arnuse StDffies, who
,vas feized vgithAnch q fl Ofnorthl bore
1orn that 30 +po.raafnurcd bis attentions
to Ruby, the Gordon setter, devoted
and inssparablc friend ri miu,s, under
whore charge ] VINE shortly left ns
they won't ont 4
IBuppoBe I uony haye been asaeep for
ten minutes or 20 when | waS awake
.ned By the noigo III Huby'g heavy body.
itYnpIuf out through sfhe oper, yin
a0w. Feeling rcstlezs- and HccinG mo
pglccp, he had iy9piued himself en-
tilted 10 d short spell OF guard. Had
the door not bc,6a ostens!bly lntched he
you'd have. mp,ls. his wny out ~ ~
it<fur .,iorovghry used to open eoors
,and such trlcks-a capacity whi2h, In
fact, proved faisl 20 him Thnt ~ wns
Unmatched. a..H IL "a 70" inoincIts,
,Iur tho dog on biB return forced IL
open With puh md ir1tted uPifn q
disttrbsd rnRiper 10 rry liedsido-y
noticed tiny-ipot OF blood on tho black
side OF his nose, and naturally supposed
he had acrntoisd himseh against
bush or a picce OF wire. "Hrpy," aaih,
svhat have yoo been doingT Then he
yvhiDcd as n iupain, cTouching close 10
my aide, aud shaking IN every limb.
should gsny that J wgs myself lying
With n shawl over my feet on deep
sofa with IA high bnck. turned 70
Took at StoHos, who wess eiovvly peran-
bulating the room, looking for flies and
othEp insscta-J2cr favoribc nfnubeTncht
ON tho woinscot When ! glanced
lhgaif at the dog. hissappeaThncc1 oiled
ms with horror; he t1as sthnding OBJ
yiouBly from pain, swpging from side to
side aud brcnthing hard. AZ wotGhed,
HIS body grew more rEDd more rigid.
with his eyes Axed on the balf-oPen
door, he drow bach as ~ from the APP
prouch Of soTus dreaded object. TTused
Itisliehd with pitiful In ttc1npt atnbaJk.
(which broke of into II Etifitd bowl,
rolled over sideways Buddeniy, and lay
glead. The horrid stiffness OF the body.
almost resembling Il stuffed creatnro
pverset, made me believe that he had
died ns hc stood. close 70 my side. per
ehnpg meaning To- dofctd Tue. UnGblc
20 resist tho unintelligIblo idcm TINT
The dog had been frightened 10 death
followed tho direction Of HIS Inst gazc,
and at first saw nothing. The next mo
"cnb IpubN Ahb 'Ni"N' -
the veranlla door Il small. DARK. and
slender object. swaying gently up and
/ down like dry bough in tho wind.
II had passed right into tho room with
The snrnc slow rcRulnr motion before
) realized ,TLpt ~. syas and whht hbd
hnppctod. ny poor, stupid Rhbyn'mt
have uOscd ht the bnskcf on The YER
nndn til be guccreSed sgnrh OK in open
Ing II, and been bitten ia return for
bin palm by tho abouhnnhlo beast,
which now cav DDgrily renring itu
bend and Kissing ferccly az the dead
dog within throc yards Of my fa"c.
/ um not ono IL th6iD women who
lump on chaira or Tables when they zee
"a aInouse, butt l1ve acorSstitutioDdl hUr-
ror Of the most hs rTnless reptiles. Watch
| Ing thebluc druvd AS IL giided ecross the
4 patch OF sunlight streaming In from
4 the open window. and Knowing what n
ens, confcs, 10 being us r~.srly fright
| ened out of my wits hs / eyer hopo 20
BE- ] simply dared not Hpcak or move
| a finger for fear Of attracting Tho
bcuht'g attention 10 myself Suddenly
| 5tofics, weary ot pattiug Hioe ond
| spiders on the bncl,, appeared gently
| purriug on Ehc baelI 81 tltc sDfn,
Stoliies, 80 have Baid, wns inordinatc-
| ly vain nnd scifconscious. Stalking
along the top of tho sofn-tnclc aud benr-
| ina erect tho bushy bonner Of her 1nng-