The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-13

It was beautiful spring, the season when the flowers and the swallows return, ana when thoughts of love and gentleness re new themselves in the human heart. But whatever may have been the state or the other million and odd hearts Ill the porouShs of Manhattan and the Bronx certainly the I,oort of the oldest Bell boy was not un- comfortably crowded with thoughts or love fos bis neiphbors. Shaken was dead. It Is 4 hut Shaken was embamed In his ,,nster,s memory, and alone In the vast silence of the night an oath had been reg istored by il small boy that il similar me n,oriol embalming should take place Ill the case of il certain black cat or the naIhe ot pnstor And when small boy registers an oath or Vehse"iN'
 there to heed It. It., ,.
 Meantime Poster and her so-calleu ms. 4rosses continue the customary rouhu ol tiSn in fancied security, obliVious to the fnct that the youthful Hamlet across the "'nidor less timid of action than ms proto- eoii e'',i ,,.as hut awaiting opportunity to lay AZ 1,host of his murdered side partner
 the s, e mo hut catch that black monster
 . nurmured the youthful would-De shnrtener of nine lives, and II uoh settle her my names mud. a Cor
 Onnortunity, however, was coy anu iol W I doys lonely vigils upon the stairs ana III | inc shadows of the areaway bore no irul., , | Poster continued to carry her tall hisi, ~n s1 | proudly in the consciousness or prosperity and undsputed power 'i'.d put as length the moment or Vengeahce " "il tn although not exactly in the manner iu which the bloodthirsty one mad piahneu'
 Spring had entered into the Young Man heart, and love waxed impatient of delay The Sphinx should be forced to declue finally whether she would consent to wear his engagement ring; he could no longer eA' ist in the present state of uncertainty. "Faint heart ne'er won fair lady, he told himself as he dressed to accompany the Sphinx on an excursion into the country mn occasion which he had determined should be the crowning of his happiness or unhappiness. The outlook, he was forced to admit. could hardly be called favorable. Since the slaughter of Shaken In the dumb waiter Poster had found time to indulge in numerous escapades of which no written record has been made, and in which, by some occult process of feminine reasoning, the blame was always made to fall upon the devoted head of the Young Man. In consequence his standing at court left much to be desired.
 Dressed in his new spring suit with trou- sers pressed to the stiffness of cardboard, the Young Man presented himseli on the eyentful morning at the pleasant little flat, to find the Sphinx waiting for him, with the cheerful information that slc had de- termined to take Poster with her on the pie nic, as Mother was forced to be away from home and they could not, of course, trust the cat alone with the new servant.
 Are you afraid she'd do her up in the same way she did up ShakemT he ven tured to ask ''Oh well, bring her along, if it must be, but for heavens sake let's mitigate our shame as much as possible by carrying her in basket. Besides" he quickly added, to preclude the forthcoming protest. If we don't I'm afraid they won't | let us take her in the cars
 This decided the Sphinx, and five minutes | later they left the house. the Young Man carrying. besides numerous other packages and cloaks, large closed wicker basket,