The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1901-05-16

clothes; how she would regard the
: helpless frame as an uncanny thing,
endowed with supernatural powers,
and look askance at it, and shrink
: from touching it; how she would
watch for the sign to come true, and
: tremble lest it come
He turned about dragging and
Juggling this weight OF concealment
after him, re-entered the house and
sat down before the fire.
His uncle Jacob Smith had gone
to his own home The others were
telling stories, calculated to make
ones hair stand on end, about signs
and warnings, and their horrible full
fillment.
Granny" said Solomon suddenly.
"Waal, sonny" said his grand
mother
When the eyes of the family group
were fixed upon him, Solomon s cour-
age failed.
"Nothin'," he said hastily, ''nothin'
at all. -
why, what ails the boy?" exclaim-
ed his mother
Il tell We now, Solomon" said his
grandmother, with an emphatic nod,
Eye he'd better respect yer elder-an'
a sign in the house!"
Solomon slept little that night.
Toward day he began to dream of
the warping bars. They seemed to
develop suddenly into an immense
animated monster. from which he
only escaped by waking with a sud-
| den start.
Then he found that a great white
morning, full of snow, was breaking
upon the black night. And what a
world it was nOwi The mountain
was graced with soft white drapery,
on every open space there were vague
suggestions of delicate colors, in this
hollow lay a tender purple shadow;
on that steep slope was an elusive
roseate flush and when you looked
again, it was gone, and the glare was
binding.
The bare black branches of the |
trees formed strangely interlaced |
hieroglyphics upon the turquoise
sky. The crags were dark and grim |
despite their snowy crests and the
gigantic glittering icicles that here
and there depended from them. A
cascade close by in the gorge had
been stricken dumb as if by a sudden
spell, and still and silent it sparkled
in the sun.
The snow lay deep on the roof of
the log cabin and the caves were dec
GRATED with shining icieles. The en-
chantment had followed the zigzag
line of the fence, and on every rail
was its embellishing touch.
All the homely surroundings were
The potato house was
a vast white billow, the ash hopper
a marble vase, and the fodder stack
was a great conical ermine cap, be-
longing to some mountain giant
who had lost it in the wind last
night
Il mought hev knowed that We /
lns war a-goin' ter hev this spell o. i
weather by the warpin' bars fallin' l
las night, says John Grow, stamp
ing off the snow as he came in from
'eeding his horse.
II hope faint no worse sign, said :
his wife. But l misdoubts." And ,
she sighed heavily
. 'Taint no signs at all, said Sol !
0mOn suddenly. He could keep his {
secret no longer. IT war me ez flung
Down them warpin' bars
For moment they all stared at
him in silent amazement-
What fur?'' demanded his father
at last. Jest ter eniye sottin' 'em t
up agin? I'll teach We ter fling down e
bars
WAL said the peaeemaker, hest :
Eating, 1T 'peared ter me ez Uncle
Jacob Smith war 'toler' bic drunk
take him all tergether-an' ez he had
1rawed a knife, thought that We an
him he'd bout guarded enough an
so | flung down the warpin' bars to
git the fuss shet up.
"Waal sir exclaimed his grand
red with wrath. "Ez eff my
son couldn't stand up agin all the
Smiths that ever stepped, Ye must