The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-04-10
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The trio laughed mcrlly. and the con-
cert of voices was not at all discordant.
The contralto, mezzo and baritone
blended charming1y in the midnight air
The stars twinkled and winked at each
other and the sharp pointed morn
tipped away back, indicating wet
spell. The few stray clouds of the
nimbus clan rolled by and the sky
blue canopy under which the major
portion of Butte slept was lovely to be-
hold. The trio laughed merrily There
was brief lapse Of silence which end
ed in wave, downy uncapped wave,
a mere ripple, followed by another roll
of monotone, then another, and finally
there was a succession of ripples which
burst forth on the placid stiffness of
the midnight air in volume SO rich and
intense as to assume the proportions
of the horse laugh. There was convic-
ton in the notes of the last bar of the
interlude A dark gray cloud was
snagged by the neither hook in Smiling
Lunas profile. 1t was the parting of
the ways. There was rag time literal
and measured, as the baritone's figure
cut the Dutch roll in the direction of
transparency and there was a duet Of
canary voices which to the untutored
| ear might have been mistaken for a
pair of feminine giggles. The yellow
birds cooed and chirped as is their priv
| ilege and wont when the parent takes
| it's flight to the corntield in guest of a
| grain of corn or a worm. The little
| ones stood in waiting under the shadow
| of an electric wire, their natty capes
and toques shifting about as is fearful
| lest some unexpected gaze might alight
| on them and spoil a plan. They moved
| down lot or two and lodged in dark
ened doorway. Four bead-like eyes
| peered up the avenue. now almost de-
| serted, save for an occasional tamale
man or a tackie. The street arc, near
by, sputtered and szzed, hummed in
| it's doleful way a tune that suggested
| fatigue. Then it Kissed. groaned and
| relapsed into a deadly painful, iliumi-
| mated silence. The duet resumed in
| muffied, tremulous cadence. Something
| in those vibrant notes indicated abject
disappointment it might have been
| disgust. There was painful want of
| a sterner voice--the baritone was lack
| ing The moon slipped behind a cloud
| and the carbons in the arc refused to
| fuse on a hard proposition, and that
| street corner became at once submerged
| in a flood of 1890 darkness. A gust of
| mirth shot out from the darkened door
way Darkness was welcomed. Glad
voices caromed from door casing to
electric wire pole and off against the
| tall brick opposite. From the darkness
| could be seen the rapidly approaching
baritone bearing something under his
arms There was a splash a buzz and
| snort and the carbons came together
with a burst of radiance. The moon
melted the cloud. and the trio was glad,
for a minute. The long wait met its
reward, the reunion was joyful, for a
I minute The trio laughed aloud, the
baritone loudest. Brief and terse, spas
| modic almost, were the feminine admo-
nitions, and prolonged were the ex-
/! plantations of the single member of the
sterner sex Then the sombre vel OF
| advancement fell over all. The trio
| divided into two parts, the baritone
standing alone, his face the picture OF
despair. With simultaneous shrug Of
the shoulders, the sweet duet carried
| it's presence out of earshot range of the
flimfammed baritone, and as it fitted
| past an unobserved figure on the voices
said:
THE idear. Of course not. What
would the crowd say? Three bottles OF
beer at an after the ball supper! He
must be crazy"
"I speak from my own experience, az
others can from theirs--there has beer
no more civilizing invention in the pres
ent generation than the invention O.
the bicycle, which is enjoyed by al
classes and by both sexes, and by al
ages That is what Mr.. Balfour saio
not long ago in the course of an afte
dinner speech before the Nationa
Cyclists union IN London. If Balfou
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