Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-03
"PLRAsE READ FROM THIS TODAY. o


chorusing. Then an old fellow sprang
upon bench. waved a SLOUGH hat and
shouted: "Give us Dixie do! It's got
the Fo'th err July feelin eff it amt ma
tionalw
"Hurrah! Hurrah-h-h! Hurra- a-ah!"
came from the crowd. A one armed
man set up cry, keen, vital, tumultu-
GUS, instantly, echoed by every mascu-
! line throat. 1t was the Confederate
yell and swept the singers out of all
! self consciousness as they broke into
"Dixie" Instantly the crowd was on
/ It's feet singing, too, not loudly, but
! with a sort of murmurous ululation
4 that underyoiced the glee clubs chant
| Blacks, that makes me feel 40
years youngerw stout man said to his
crippled neighbor, who smiled and
nodded toward the stars and stripes,
saying: Eve never dreamed o. such as
this back when we fought an bled an
| died for Cousin Sally Ann Maybe it
all happened for the best. Uncle Sam
seems to treat us pretty middlin fair"
The stout man nodded emphatically.
''Our man gifts his chance now" he
said. "Dancy's singin sorter took this
crowd off its feet, but Page is thor
oughbred. I'll back him to come in on
the home stretch"
with Thomas Jefferson to help
him." the other said, smiling half visit
fully. Page was walking to the plat
form alone and In dead silence. John
Mimms sat there; SO did the perspiring
grand marshal and old Judge Greer a
sort of Nestor i'll state politics. He
was Pages good friend and meant to
be wholly kind in saying, at is with
pride and pleasure that introduce Mr..
Leslie Page, a Tennesseean who knows
| what Thomas jefferson wrote by
| heart"
| Page bowed thanks for the applause
which greeted him, thrust his hand in
to his breast pocket and drew out a
slim packet. AS he unfolded it he al
most let it drop. 1t was all blank pa
per. At once he understood that he
had been tricked, that defeat stared
him in the face. After all, he was a
thoroughbred. Dropping his hands Ell
Their side of him, he began, not loudly.
but with penetrating power, to repeat
the Declarations first paragraph.
He did know by heart the substance
of it, Could he, dared he, undertake to
recall the form? He kept on and on.
his tense voice reaching and thrilling
the outermost of the throng. Suddenly
mental darkness enwrapped him. He
faltered, hesitated, but nobody wonder
ed. All were looking at slim girl in a
blue Bingham frock and sun hat, flush
ed and dusty, with hair blown out of
curl. But her eyes were clear and rails
ed confidently to Page as she walked
up the aisle holding toward him what
seemed to be banner. At the foot of
the stand she halted. saying clearly:
II hope am in time, Mr.. Page. Please
read from this today. My great-grand-
father, who was Andrew Jackson's
friend, had it printed in honor of the
great Lafayette"
Page raised the yellowed silk rever-
emily and held it above his head so all
might see the furnished gold Of the let
tering. ut seems to me almost sacri-
lege," he said, "for me, for any man. to
read anything to people who own
such memories and keep them green"
1t was ten minutes before he could
say more. Even then the marshal had
to order the fiddles to strike up 1.-THE
Eighth of January" by way Of quieting
the crowd. Under cover of it Miss Hill
said to Buck Darden with her airiest
toss: 1.-THE Fo'th O July must be catch
In. Marina Key has declared her indie
pendence Of the Mimms tribe, an Mr..
John looks mad enough to have fit"
Congressman Page is serving his sec
ond term and likely to serve others.
His wife is young and beautiful, and
her name is Marina. People who know
say that the pair are easily the hand
soonest and the manifest Couple in
Washington.