Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-03-02
RGINIA. FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1900.

naturally looked pale; at least she said
looked pale and didn't deny it.
She suggested new brush. l said
all right, | could get nice one for
about a quarter of dollar SO off
went, returning with nice one with
a pretty red streak around it and its
venerable grey hair parted in the mid
die. | will digress here and say to
the girls, that if the boys who part
their hair in the middle are up to
such tricks as that brush, give them
a wide berth. The first thing it did
was to deposit its red streak upon
my hands and pants. A gnat got in
my eye about this time aud so did the
red paint. | began to itch all over,
and the red paint was accordingly
spread and rubbed in all over me.
until | looked as bloodyas an Apache
Indian in time of war. Finally af-
ter using about barrel of rain-wa-
ter and such language as is known to
help such causes, l disposed of some
of the red and putting my new brush
on my pine pole, l went to work.
Well, those hairs in that brush were
not grey for nothing-lt was honest.
hoary age. This brush, after insult
ing me by squirting a fine stream of
water in my left eye, literally col
lapsed, and having no arms to fold
it folded its hairs aud positively re-
fused to work. Now l don't like to
compel people and things to work
Qike the yeast cake did the tramp
against their will, but | rubbed this
old headed, -streaked brush
against that wall in such an energetic
manner that it was compelled to work.
But behold the wall! 1t was artisti-
cally decorated with perpendicular
streaks of red upon a greyish back
ground mixed with the hairs from
the brush. Desperately 1 fought
with that brush and bloody was the
conflict The house rasounded with
the noise of the battle, mingled with
the roar of the fire in the cooking
stove, near which was fighting. Ev-
erything got to fighting, even the
lime and the water trying to overcome
the red paint and sweat. My mother
and sister rushed in. was standing
stern and triumphant, with one foot
upon the biscuit board across the
flour barrel and the other upon q
large stone crock upon the table,
fiercely welding the now bloody
brush, while the showers of lime and
red raint fell unheeded about me.
"Get out of that crock" cried my sis
ter "Oh heavens, look at the hoorr'
said my mother. i got out of the
crock and looked at the floor. felt
weak. "Why that aint white-wash,
said J." and so it was not. 1t was
cream that / had upset in the con-
flict. My mother and sister glared
at me, and the cream began creeping
toward me like great white SER
pent. This was too much and 1
fainted -
81 told you So" were the words
that first fell upon my ears
when / opened my eyes. Then l
began to say things about the brush,
things not to be repeated, aud prom
ised to hire man to obliterate the
picture that 1 had painted on the
wall. Oh, what a picture First,
a dull mass of hair and lime and
above were angry boiling clouds
from which there seemed to come
blood-red rays of light. l went out
to wash; scrubbed and scrubbed, but
the red seemed loath to part with me.
Finally got brick-bat and sue
seeded in filing some of it off ard went
to dinner with clean hands, il not
pure heart. About half way through
dinner l looked at my hands and dis
covered that they were still decorated
for all the world like two United
States flags in the patriotic colors of
red, white and blue. That was my
last experience in the white washing
business. d. III. .