River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1901-05-16

Good boy" said Drayton, and paid
as per schedule.
Mrs. Collins and the mother-in-law's
nerves were not Gained, any way, by
the walleful night. 1t was the harder
for them when they came upon three
large toads in their rooms that dav.
To have a toad hop out at you from
a dark corner is not nice. 1t is still
| less to step on one and crush it. It
gives a peculiar sensation. Mrs. Col
Inns found it SO. There was a lizard
in the milk bottle, and another on
the back of chair, from where it
climbed into a mother-in-law's hair.
Big spiders infested the place.
Toward noon Drayton came down
stairs carrying on the end of a pin,
and examining it critically, a cent?
pede. Large. isn't it?" he asked,
with some pride; 81 killed it myself
at the top of the stairs. They always
come in families Of three. The other
two viii be along pretty soon, I sup
pose"
The mother-in-law shuddered. "You
and Mr. Bartlett made a 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 restless dis
position, and given to insomnia.
"All right" he reported to Mrs.
Lawrence, shortly after. "You Just
rest on your oars Wen have you
back in those quarters before the
kids have had time to 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 viii let
her have them. He's an exceptionally
oblging Q. NJ, as Q. Ms go. That's
his reputation"
1t did not run as smoothly as Dray-
ton might have wished. The women
of the Collins family did not surren-
der without giving fight. They at
tackled Drayton himself first, but were
met with an urbanity which parried
every thrust. 1t was the thinness 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
ness The attempt met with failure,
though, and the women appealed to
the commandant. The commandant
was urbane, too, but the insomnia of
his officers was evidently not a mat
ter to be reached officially.
1t was plain that the insomnia
aroused the suspicious of the Col
linses. 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
They were always getting under your
feet squashing. Spiders spun
webs and dropped from the ceiling
and the walls. And as for more ven
nous things! A day hardly passed
that Drayton did not kill tarantula
or centipede somewhere around.
They seemed to emerge only when he
was near. The wrath toward him was
tempered with unwilling gratitude
| to savior. There had also been a
garter-snake on the front porch. And
one horrible day they had come upon
Drayton, sabre in hand, standing in
the front hallway beside the deeapi-
tated body of a rattlesnake. They
neglected, in the excitement, to notice
that the body was not wriggling.
Jimmy had that morning produced
a newspaper package. Here's a
dead rattler," he had said. 81 didn't
know as you could use him. But !
found hin, and you can have him for
a dime
And the RATHER had proved the
best investment of all, as well as the
last straw. Captain Collins had car.
ried him on a stick out into the road
Then he had gone to the commandant
and Bartlett. He was heavy-eyed for
want of sleep. The whole family was
that way; and Drayton was, too. In
all humility he asked the favor OF
being allowed to change his quarters
Any other quarters would do, provid-
ed there were fewer insects. He was
not particular at all. He asked sc
little, in fact, that Bartlett took pity
on him. He renewed his offer of paint
"Now," he said to Mrs. Lawrence
"you can come back TO your own
They'll move out tomorrow. I've
just been inspecting the premises, ant
there hasn't been much harm done
They are still the best quarters il
the post. The kids have knocked {
few holes in the walls and the wood
works little scratched. But II
give you some paint, too"
Paint was Bartlett's idea of tn,
panacea for all earthly ills. He hat
not much else in the world, being
second lieutenant; but he had paint
and he was liberal with that