The Press., 1902-11-20
A FLAG
 RAISING Rx, tAMrS RIJcKHAM
By JAMES BucKHAM
Copyraght, 1901. by Jan,es Buclsham

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 The little white house of the Par fridge girls" lay basking ill the sum- Ter sunshine. It seemed the very em- Lodiment of orderly thrift and domes- tie peace. The bit of green yard was as clean and tidy as if it had been swept and then every separate grass Llade dusted and set in orderly array. i he two glistening paths that led one uD to the front door and the other along the side of the house to the ..kitchen stoop' were inclOsed by slen- der round posts, through which ran 8 single strand of wire. The posts and their connecting wire were painted a fresh, lustrous green. There were also six green posts along the sidewalk in front of the house, strung together by a green wire, and at each corner of the two paths stood a large white washed stone, so dazzling white that 1t made the eyes ache like new fallen snow. The entire premises had a look of immaculate neatness that made them seem sacred, like some fane or little temple, and indeed they were sacred to the Partridge sisters, who had descended from q long line of old fashioned New England worshipers at the shrine of home.
 Inside the place was as neat as out side. Nobody ever found the Partridge girls" in muss. Even when they cleaned house they did it so stealthily and with such amazing rapidity and cplf- fered to be out of apple pie order for more than ten consecutive minutes.
 It was a marvellous little home this of the Partridge sisters. The minister once said that it was a composite of Puritan conscience and New England sentiment, and that there was only one thing more impressive than its sever- ity, and that was it's sweetness.
 In such home as this. it would seem, one. might retire and be at rest from all the cares and strifes and trou- blcs of the uneasy world. There were not few who envied the Partridge sisters their little patrimony and their little home, the one just equal to the other, with an eXactness beautiful to contemplate in this world of exasper- ating misfits.
 Yet there is no corner of old earth, however remote and peaceful, where some trouble does not find it's way. The skeleton in this quiet closet was chronic difference of opinion between the sisters, trouble that is almost sure to rise between two persons of the same blood and sex who are com pelled to spend most of their time in one another's company. With the Par fridge sisters this mental divergence seemed to have no root in divergence of principle. It made practically no difference what the opinion was. So long as 1t was held strongly by either sister the other felt bound to disagree with it. Jane and Ellen could be of one mind on but one matter, and that was purely congenital-the passion for neatness.
 The June sunshine rested like ben ediction on the Partridge cottage. The roses in the front yard and the sweet peas in the back yard were in bloom. A golden robin was singing in an elm across the street, and the Partridge sisters canary was wing with him from his cage in the open window. Jane and Ellen were out in the yard wedding their flower beds and roam ing hither and thither after the man. ner of hens to pick up infinitesimal bits of litter between the grass blades. Suddenly Miss Ellen strengthened up and gazed curiously at something that was coming down the village street. It was an ordinary lumber wagon, with the box removed, and far in the rear an extra axle and pair of wheels. Something long and white and taper ing was stretched from the forward axle of the wagon to the extra axle and wheels trailing behind.
 "What in the world can that be con- ingY asked Miss Ellen.
 T presume it's our new fagpole," re- piled Miss Jane, the elder spinster.
 Our new flagpoleY' cried her sister shrilly. What do you mean, Jane Partridge? Who said we were going to have a fagpoley'
 ''I said so," answered Jane. q or dered it, and it's coming. I didn't say anything te you about it because I knew you would object beforehand, and thought you might as well do your objecting afterward; 'twould save time. wanted to have the pole here in time for the Fourth of July. I've been thinking for some time that we ought to be more patriotic than we are, and I couldn't think of any better way for two lone women to show their patriotism than by owning a flag and fagpole. We can't go to war, we can't vote, we can't speak in town meeting and we can't fire gun on Independ- ence day. but a woman has just as much right to fly the stars and stripes as a man, and you and I are going to do it, and we are going to do 1t for the first time on next Fourth of July"
 Miss Ellen Partridge listened to this long explanation from her sister with Il set face. "Old maids have no call to be patrioticr she snapped when Miss Jane concluded. Tt ain't their prov ince; it's no woman's province. won't have flagpSle in this yard. Jane Par fridge. and you may as well under stand that first as last. They shan't bring that thing in here if have to fight 'em with broom and scalding water. A fiagpole's dangerous thing to have around house to begin with. The first big wind it may snap off and smash the roof in, just as the college fiagpole broke off and smashed the fountain over to Chester It's more dangerous than big tree. because it hasn't any roots. Patriotism! Huh! I guess we show patriotism enough, considering our privileges, by paying our taxesy'
 By this time the long fagpole, at- tended by crowd of boys and village loafers, had arrived opposite the little. cottage. and the four men who were. perched on it's trunk dismounted and proceeded to unfasten the chains that bound 1t to the wagon. Miss Ellen strode out to them. You are not to bring that thing in here," she said firmly.