The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-07-27
FRANKLIN, La, SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1901.

my conversation, for the volley Of
"tukyoOs' that emanated from his
little yellow breast seemed distinctly
to say:
We'll. you're not such bad chan,
after all, and, demme, l rather like
you. You're sOciable, at all events,
and I guess I'll let you stay he"e. Well,
so long, old man-I'll be back about
dinner time" And off he went down
crack in the wall
And so we came to know each other.
The hours no longer dragged, and
night had for me no more horrors, for
it was then that my little friend would
often call on me:
"Tuk-yoo-tukyO yO-O. | say, old man,
how are you?-asleep, Ell? Go away;
you shan't sleep when I'm around"
Come, come, my friend" | would
answer playfully. not in the least
meaning what | said, ''it's time all re-
spectacle lizards were asleep"
"Tuk-yoo. do you call me lizard?
l am Tuk-yoo-Tuk- -yoo-that's my
name, and don't you forget it. Tux
yoo-o-o-that's the correct pronouncia-
ton"
ooh. beg your pardon. Senor Tux
10000 of course l meant no offence"
and then he would crawl up into my
hand. laughing boisterously at the
joke.
Often. during the day, especially
when eating my meals, he would
bounce up from apparently nowhere.
and seat himself on the end of his tail
beside my plate.
Hello. old chap. what you got for
dinner? Rice. eh?" nibbling a few
grains from my hand-"rice again. eh?
rice, with the window full of nice fat
flies?" and off he would scurry to the
window for his dinner.
One day | missed Senor Tuk-yoO.
Evening came. and still he failed to
show up. My anxiety was great. Next
morning, as l sat mourning the loss Of
my beloved little companion, he sud-
denly made his appearance on the sill
with loud, joyful shrek of greeting.
God! how happy l was! | would have
embraced him at once had our respec-
tive sizes permitted it.
. But he was not alone.
ALLOW me to present to you Madame
Tuk-yoo, my lady" he said.
bowed very respectfully. and mad
ame, a demure little thing in green and
yellow. received my salutation with I
low, gurgling "Tuk-yoo."
i. We were married yesterday" he
observed, with a sly wink at me of his
off eye from Madame. "and we think
Of setting up our household in the
neighborhood herein fact, we three
should be as one family. Well, by-by,
old man lots of work now and less
play, but we'll make you regular call
this evening sorry you can't return our
calls, you big. hulking fellow!"
/" And so they left me to take up their
new duties. Sly little Mistress Tux.
yoo.-the way she took the gay jumps
out OF her rollicking mate. and didn't
know how she did it.
Great responsibilities-hard on a
gay young fellow like me-" he would
often remark to me. Here l have to
catch the flies for both OF us. and later
on when the family comes-oh, don't
say word!"
So time passed-minutes, hours,
days and weeks. OF nights would lie
in bed conversing with my two little
friends-they sitting on my shoulder
or on my arm, and sometimes crawling
I'D into my hair. Then the officer OF
the guard. hearing the sound of I
voice, would sometimes open the door,
strike a match. look around. shake his
head. and withdraw again. inutfering:
"Esta loco ese-loco-lOcO' (mad-
madD.
But one day crisis came.
"Brr-o-o-m. br-o-o-m!" rcared the
guns Of the bombardiag warships;
shells cracked overhead. crashing IN.
to roofs, and the town fell. Liberty!
Hurrah: Liberty at last: and, with the
insurgents fleeing and the Americans
entering, what wonder If. for short
time, forgot my two little comrades
Not for long. however. After the
tumult came the calm, and then
thought of my littleScellma es. But
we were to part. 1 was to go to Manila.
Closing the door of the room-no
longer a prisoncr-I softly called:
yoo-tuk-yoo-o-o.
In a moment came an answer, and
I held them in my hand.
"Good-by. little comrades; you have
been dear friends to me, but now we
must part. Good-by!"
Softly pressed them to my cheek
and then set them gently. down in their
own little corner by the window. They
were as motionlcss as stone.
"Good-bye," whispered again, as
held the door, about to close it good
by"
Then, as softly closed it, heard
them:
"Tuk-yoo-o-o-o-yoo faint
". barely audible, like the cooins OF
doyes.-A. Sonnichsen, in Harper
Weekly.
Something to Re Thankful For.
Bill-When a dog wags his tail, what
&, ~ cipn off