The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-06-18

As both the children had motive for
! going, they besieged their mother singly
/ and collectively until. finally, she
/ was obliged to surrender and give her
/ consent. If she had known about the
wonderful bubble it is probable she
would have refused; but, since their ex-
perience with Mr.. Thimblefinger the
children had grown somewhat reticent
/ about their adventures. They had
dropped hints here and there about
what they had seen, but they were
laughed at as crude and clumsy inven-
tons of wild and impossible fiction.
One day Buster John, walking with
his mother through the lot, burst out
/ laughing at something the Muscovy
drake said To the big white gander
He laughed so long that his mother
carried him back to the house, and
proceeded to dose him with hot and
bitter drinks. He made matters worse
by telling her what the drake had said
to the gander, for she was then sure
he was "highty" in the head. and so he
had to go to bed, though the sun was
shining warm invitation. He never
made a similar mistake, nor did Sweet
est Susan, after this terrible warning.
Drusilla finally consented to make
one of the party, but she was particular
to lay down the conditions under which
she would give the youngsters the
pleasure of her company. She held up
her. left hand with the fingers wide
apart. and as she named the conditions
she would register them by pulling the
fingers together with her right hand.
You all say you want me ter go dar
whar dat OF man live at? / tell you
right now l amt achin' ter go dar. kase
] don't like de way he look out'n de eye;
he chug full er rank venom. But eff l
does go, l amt gwine ter follow after
you in no foolishness. / amt gwine in
no bubble'-here she pulled the little
finger of her left hand-''I amt gwine
in no Fimblethinger dom 's''-the third
finger was pulled down-"an' l amt
gwine nowhere ner do nothin' dat folks
don't do when dey got der seven
senses''-here the middle finger was
pulled down to join the other two.
These were the terms of the contract
To which Buster John and Sweetest Su-
san were compelled to give their as
sent before Drusilla would consent to
go.
"All dat" explained Drusilla, don't
bender you all fun gwine whar you
chosen ter go. Eff you wanter git in
bubbles an git fiew'd away wild, go an
git in UNI Eff you wanter jump in
springs and pOn's an dream youer
some'rs else, go ahead an do it. But
don't ak me ter do it; kaze eff you does
you'll have a great tale to tell Miss
Rachel, an she'll gi' nanny de wink
an mammy'll gi' me a frailin. Well,
I'll take de frailin': I'd ruther be beat
ter death on top er de groun' dan ter git
fed'd off wild in a bubble. er drowned
in dat ar Fimblethinger country
The children faithfully promised that,
no matter what happened or what they
did. they wouldn't ask Drusilla to join
about her to their mother. This seemed
to lift a heavy load from Drusilla's
mind. She breathed freely and became
even cheerful.
The journey to Mr.. Bob's house was
in all respects REPETITION of the former
Bapter driving the two
seated spring wagon and singing blithe-
", and when they arrived at their des- /
Miss Elviry was standing at
the door with smile of welcome. Lit !
tie Billy Biscuit had grown consider |
ably. He had larger ideas. too. He was |
no longer a calf in pen, but saddle |
horse tied to the fence. chair turned |
on its side answering all the purposes |
Of a fence in this case. The bride was |
2 length or two Of basting thread. and |
though ii seemed to be frail substi- !,
tute for halter. it must have been |
strong, for il served to hold this FESTIVE |
efforts to gain its freedom. paving the
ground and kicking out its heels at a
terrible rate.
The earnestness of Little Billy Bis
,uit was comical to see, and Sweetest
susan thought it was the finest spec
-acle she had ever witnessed. She
wanted 10 hug the child then and
here. but Miss Elviry shook her head
. 'Twould upset him for the rest of
he day" she explained. EFF you want
% please MIN, just say, Whoa, there,'
Ef You git on wi him you've got to
believe in his make believe You
wouldn't believe it, honey. but that
hid amt half as much trouble as a
grown person. Why. when you want
him to be still all you've got to do is to
lie him with some SEWN thread an
iay he's a boss. \ boss he'll be tell
iou come an onloose him."
The children entered at once into the
'pirit of the affair. At a word Sweetest
susan and Buster John became horses.
md Drusilla WAS a mule. The change
vas effected as suddenly as the genii
n the Arabian Nights could have ac-
omplished ii. No waving of wands
Tor incarnation was necessary.
This drama of the horses was all very
veil for little while; but the older
hildren being used to more variety.
Don grew tired of it. and it was not
ong before they succeeded in coaxipg
little Billy Biscuit out of doors Just
s they went into the yard. Miss FL
-fr-Ns Ia. !