The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-05-10

hse large ana unpleasant spiders.
Good boy" said Drayton. and paid
as per schedule.
Mrs. Collins and the mother-in-law'a
nerves were not claimed. any way, by
the wakeful night. II was the harder
for them when they came upon three
large toads in their rooms that day.
To have a toad hop out ut you from
n dark corner is not nice. IL Is still
less to step on one and crush IL. IL
gives "a peculiar sensation. Mrs. Col
Inns found ii so There was a lizard
In the milk bottle. and another on
the back Of a chair, from where IL
climbed into n mother-in-law's hair.
Big spiders infested the place.
Toward noon Drayton came down.
stairs carrying on the end OF n pin.
and examining il critically. a cent?
pcde. Large. isn't it?" he asked,
with some pride; 81 killed it myself
Mt the top of the stairs. They always
come in families Of three. The other
two will be along pretty soon. ! sup
pose"
The mother-in-law ~shuddered. "You
and Mr.. Bartlett made n great deal
of noise last night. Mr.. Drayton." she
reproached.
Drayton looked concerned. These
government quarters were so thin
foored. he explained.
did he always stay up until two
O'clock"
He admitted being of r restless dis
position, and given to insomnia.
y n .
"All right" he reported 10 Mrs.
Lawrence. shortly after. You just
rest on your oars. Wen have you
back in those quarters before the
kids have had time 10 do much dam
age to the place. / should say that a
fortnight. at the very outside. should
see Mrs. Collins suing for another set
any other old set. Bartlett Will let
her have them. He's an exceptionally
obliging q. NJ. as Q. Ms go. That's
his reputation"
1t did not II as smoothly as Dray-
ton might have wished. The women
of the Collins family did not surren.
without giving fight. They al
tackled Drayton himself first. but wer
met with an u%rbanity which parted
every thrust. 1t was the thinncss Of
the walls and floors. and that was
manifestedly the governments fault.
AS for his insomnia. the blame OF
that lay with the doctor, he should
think. He did not like staying broad
awake until nearly dawn any better
than they did. OF course. however.
he would try TO control his restless
and the women appealed TO
the commandment. The commandment
was urbane. too. but the insomnia of
officers was evidently not q mat
ter TO he reached officially.
II was plain that the insomnia
aroused the suspicious Of the Col
But the insects did not. They
had never-not even in Texas itself
seen a house so overrun with reptiles.
There were lizards in everything.
There were frogs and toads in dark
hooks. They hoped into your lap
when you were least expecting il.
They We're always getting under your
feet and-squashing. Spiders spun
and dropped from the ceiling
the walls. And as for more ven
things. A day hardly passed
hat Drayton did not kill a tarantula
,r n centipede somewhere around.
they seemed TO emerge only when he
vas G The wrath toward him was |
tempercd with unwilling gratitude
a savior. There had also been a
on the front porch. And
horrible day they had come upon
Drayton. sabre in hand. standing in
he front hallway beside the decapi- |
.ated body of a rattlesnakc. They
in the excitement, 10 notice
hat the body was not wriggling.
Jimmy had that morning produced
newspaper package. Heres n
lead RATHER" he had said. IL didn't
know as you could use him. But I
ound him, and you can have him for
! dime
And the RATHER had proved the
,est investment Of all. as well as the
straw. Captain Collins had car
led him on a stick out into the road. |
Then he had gone to the commandment
md Bartlett. He was heavy-eyed for
want of sleep. The whole family was
hat way: and Drayton was. too. In
humility he asked the favor Of
icing allowed to change his quarters.
my other quarters would do. provid-
d there were fewer insects. He was
lot particular at all. He asked so
title. III fact. that Bartlett took pity
n him. He renewed his offer Of paint.
snow" he said TO Mrs. Lawrence, |
you a come back to your own.
move out tomorrow. I've
ust been inspecting the premises. and
hasn't been much harm done.
hey are still the best quarters in
ne post. The kids have Knocked a
holes in the walls and the wood.