Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-05-03
CHAPTER XIII.

. y
[ in the loft. Fatter women than | go
+ up ladders. l viii go up today and
see what it is like and put It to rights
up there You bring the little ladder
I and stand at the bottom"
/ There's one would be sorry if you
were to fall" said the Hottentot maid,
! leering at Bonaparte's pipe, that lay
4 on the table.
Hold your tongue, jade said her
/ mistress. trying to conceal a pleased
1 smile. "and go and fetch the ladder"
There was a never used trapdoor at
/ one end Of the sitting room. This the
Hottentot maid pushed open. and. set
/ ting the ladder against it, the Boer
/ woman with some danger and diff
/ Guilty climbed into the loft. Then the
Hottentot maid took the ladder away
/ as her husband was mending the
[ wagon house and needed it, but the
{ trapdoor was left open.
For a little while Tant Sannic pokeo
/ about among the empty bottles and
! skins and looked at the bag of peaches
/ that Waldo was supposed to have liked
/ so. Then she sat down near the trap
| door beside a barrel of salt mutton.
! She found that the pieces Of meat were
| much too large and took out her clasp
knife to divide them.
! This was always the way when one
1 left things To servants, she grumbled
! TO herself. but when once She was mar
( ricd 10 her husband Bonapartc it would
not matter whether sheep spoiled or
no-when once his rich aunt with the
| dropsy was dead. She smiled as she
| dved her hand into the pickle water.
| At that instant her niece entered the
room below. closely followed by Bona
| parte. with his head on one side, smil- |
Ing mawkislIy. Had Tant' Sanuie |
| spoken at that moment the life of
Bonaparte Bleukns would have run a
| wholly different course. As it was, she |
remained silent, and neither noticed |
| the open trapdoor above their heads.
"Sit there. my love-" said Bona
parte, motionng Trana into her aunts |
elbow chair and drawing another close |
| up in front Of it, in which he seated |
himself There; put your feet upon |
the stove too Your aunt has gone out |
somewhere. Long have | waited for |
this auspicious event"'
Of English, sat down in the chair and !
wondered IL this was one of the strange !
customs Of other lands-that an old |
gentleman may bring his chair up to |
yours and sit with his knees touching |
you. She had been five days in Bona |
parties company and feared the old |
man and disiiked his nose.
"How long have I desired this mo-
mentw said Bonaparte "But that |
aged relative of thine is always casting |
her unhallowed shadow upon us. Look /
into my eyes Trana"
Bonaparte knew that she comprc- |
hended not a syllable, but he under
stood that it is the eye, the tone, the |
action, and not at all the rational word,
that touches the love chords. He saw
she changed color.
"All night" said Bonaparte, 81 lie
awake | see naught but thy angelic
countenance. | open my arms to re-
ceiye thee. Where art thou, where?
Thou art not there!" said Bonaparte
suiting the action to the words and
spreading out his arms and drawing
them to his breast.
ooh. please, don't understand" said
Trana. Il want to go away"
"Yes, yes" said Bonaparte, leaning
back in his chair, TO her great relief,
and pressing his hands on his heart,
'since first thy amethystine counte-
nance was impressed here, what have
not suffered. what have | not feltl oh,
the pangs unspOken, burning as an ar
dent coal in fiery and uncontaminat-
ed bosOm" said Bonaparte, bending
forward again.
Dear Lord" said Trana to herself.
'how foolish | have been! The old
man has pain in his stomach, and
now as my aunt is out, he has come to
me to help him"
She smiled kindly at Bonaparte and, +
pushing past him, went to the bedroom,
quickly returning with n bottle of red
drops in her hand.
"They are very good for 'benaauwd-
heit.' My mother always drinks them"
she said, holding the bottle out
The face in the trapdoor was n fiery
red. Like n tiger cat ready to spring,
Tant Sannie crouched. with the shoul-
der of mutton in her hand. Exactly
beneath her stood Bonaparte. She rose
and clasped with both arms the barrel I
Of salt meat
"What, rose of the desert, nightin-
gale Of the colony, that with thine
nmorous lay whllest the lonesome
hight" cried Bonaparte, seizing the
hand that held the "vonlicense." NAY,
struggle mott Fly as n stricken fawn
Into the arms that would embrace thee,
thou
Here a stream of cold pickle water,
heavy with ribs and shoulders, de-
scending on his head, abruptly ter
minated his speech. Half blinded, Bona
parte looked up through the drops that
hung from his eyelds and saw the red
face that looked down at him. With
one wild cry he fed. AS he passed !
out at the front door a shoulder Of NUT
ton, well directed, struck the black
coat on the small of the back.
Bring the ladder, Bring the ladderl
| will go after him. cried the Boer wo-
man as Bonaparte Blenkins wildly fed
into the fields.
Late in the evening of the same day
Waldo knelt on the floor of his cabin.
IIt bhAHNi liit lDOL VI Ills uOE NIitu
had been pierced by n thorn. The
bruises on his own back had had five
days to heal in, and, except n little
stiffness in his movements, theee was
nothing remarkable about the boy.
The troubles of the young are soon
over. They leave no external mark.
If you wound the tree In its youth, the
bark will quickly cover the cash; but
when the tree Is very old, pecling the
bark off and looking carefully, you will
see the scar there still. All that il
buried Is not dead.
Waldo poured the warm milk over
the little swollen foot. Doss lay very {
quiet, with tears In his eyes. Then
there was a tap at the door. In an in
stant Doss looked wide awake and
winkcd the tears out from between his
little lids