The record-union., 1899-07-16
PLANTATION PAGEANTs.

After the fox hunt Buster John felt
that he had recovered some lost
ground, as the saying is Up to that
time he had been somewhat handi-
capped by the experiences Of Sweetest
Susan. You will remember that it
was Sweetest Susan who discovered the
Grandmother of the Dolls. This was
a very important discovery, too, for it
led to the acquaintance of little Mr..
Thimblefinger and to the queer adven-
lures of the children in the country
next door to the world. More than
| that, Sweetest Susan had been kid
mapped by the crazy man. 1t was
natural, therefore, that Buster John
should feel put OUT as he expressed
it, by these events. But his talk with
Mr.. Bobs had led to the manufacture
of the wonderful bubble, and now he
had witnessed real fox hunt; per-
haps the most interesting one that ever
occurred in all that part of the coun-
| try
| He didn't put on any airs about it,
as some boys would have done, but
he took pains to relate every event to
his sister and Drusilla, just as it oc-
CURED, as far as he could remember
it; and he patiently answered every
question they asked him. For long
time the story of the fox hunt was the
only piece of oral literature the children
had to discuss, but there was always
something now to be said of Hodo, or
/ the Sorrel horse, or Joe Maxwell.
| Sweetest Susan hardly knew whether
| n al ENon
Sometimes she was inclined to regret
| his taking off, but when she remem-
bered the scream of the poor little rab-
bit she was willing to believe that
the old fox had received his deserts.
AS for Drusilla, she had not a spark
of sympathy for Old Scar Face. I'm
glad dey cotch 'im," she said "De
dogs done i'm des like he done de
yuther creeturs An pom top er dat
he sot up dar an grin an brag bout
how he gwine ter outdo US. 1 hear
oil folks say dat dem what do de mos
braggin' is he mos no count Pm
glad dey got i'm. He had plenty time
ter go way; he des hung 'roun here
kaze he b'lieve dey amt no dog kin
outdo i'm
This sort of talk led of course, to Joe
Maxwell and Hodo. and before Buster
John knew it, he would be describing
the famous chase over again. For a
! long time this was interesting, but
after a while the small audience grew
! tired of hearing it and Buster John
grew tired of telling it.
Christmas and New Years came and
went, and were followed by weather
so cold and stormy that the young
! sters had to stay in the house. and
Johnny Bapter had as much as he
could do to keep the. big hickory logs
piled high enough in the wide fireplace
A fire big enough, it seemed, to roast
an OK, would hardly keep the dining
room or the sitting room warm. 1t
rained and sleeted and then showed
and the snow stayed on the ground
/ long enough to give the children an
opportunity to enjoy themselves on
some clumsy sleds that Johnny Bapter
made for them.
But toward the last of March a heavy
rain storm came roaring and sweeping
| along, and after that spring came out
of her hiding place and brought warm
sunshine and the flowers with her In
little while the peach orchard, which
had looked so bleak and cherries a
few weeks before. seemed covered with
pink snow, and the mockingbirds flew
about singing.
Johnny Bapter had one sign for
/ spring weather which he said never
failed. You see dem peach blooms
! Well, OF Jack Frost kin come an mir
US, but when you see an hear de
mockin bird singin' while he flynn, you
kin go on an plant yo corn an cot
ton, kaze dey amt gwine be no mo-
fros' dat season.
| 1t was while the peach orchard was
in full blossom that the children s
mother CHANGED to remember that she
had another supply of clothing for lit
tie Billy Biscuit, the waif who had
been peft with Miss Elviry Bobs, "to be
called for" as the saying is. Naturally
enough the children were keen to go:
Sweetest Susan, because she wanted to
play with Billy Biscuit, who, she said
was the cutest thing in the world, and
Buster John, because he wanted to
have another talk with Mr.. Bobs. He
! had an idea that Mr.. Bobs could tell
him something new or show him some
thing queer every day in the week, and
Saturday too. Buster John was still
loyal to Aaron. More than that, Mr.
Bobs was so different from the son of
Ben Ali in all respects that there was
no danger that admiration for one
would clash with admiration for the
other Aaron was Aaron, and there
was nobody like him but himself. Like
wise Mr.. Bobs was Mr.. Bobs, quaint
and original.
AS both the children had motive for
going, they besieged their mother sin
giy 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-
tions 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
| concluded that he had hystericism and
carried him back to the house and pro-
ceeded 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 'fighty" in the head, and so he
| had to go to bed, though the sun was
shining warm invitation. He never
made similar mistake, nor did Sweet
/ est Susan, after this terrible warming
| DruSilla finally consented 70 mo ly {