Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1903-08-27
"A PROPHET OF EVIL.

the Russian samoyar cigarette made IN
Elizabeth, N. J. That's rather heavy
and involved way of describing him
but mean the duck who never starts
out on a little jaunt without doing all
ne knows how TO cast a shadow of deep.
gloom and foreboding over all of the
normally cheerful people in the crowd.
eve had one Of 'em along with US last
Sunday. We had arranged 10 go on q
basket picnic out in the country some
where to gather laurel and inhale
ozone and lark around few, and we ar
ranged to meet on Sunday morning at
4 certain corner where the cars con-
verge. unless Il was actually raining at
the time of the start. We agreed TO
yet together even If IL looked like ram,
ON the chance that the look like would
be only bluff. There were ten OF us IN
the arrangement. five young married
couples, IL you want 20 get the figures
right, and we all looked forward to hav-
ing bully time out IN the woods.
probably you'll remember what
mean-looking morning last Sunday
morning was. There had been heavy
thunder storm during the night, and
the skies were heavy with gray, set
tled-looking clouds when daylight ar
rived on Sunday morning. Butt WASH I
raining. even If it did look as If cloud
burst was dueabout any minute, ana so
we all met at the corner agreed upon at
the hour set, with our baskets.
"All of us, except one, tried our best
20 make light of the gloomy, lowering
clouds. and to make each other believe
that when, little later on in the day,
the sun got good, fair crack at the
clouds, II would dissipate 'em in some
thing less than no time and wash the
heavens clean.
"Don't you people delude your
selves he said TO us after we had got
off our little line of cheerful predic-
tons as to the probable early appear
ance of the sun, while we stood waiting
for the car. It's going to rain IKE the
dickens sooner or later to-day, and l
move that we pass the whole game up
and postpone IL until next Sunday.
"All of us cried down that PROPOSE
HON ~ course, including the gloomy
little mans 23O-pound wife, but he only
shook his head mournfully and told US
that we were due for the wetting OF
our lives II we didn't turn back. All
NJ the men in the outfit tried TO Wink
M him so that the women OF the party
wouldn't take alarm over his dismal
forecast and become unhappy with the
fear that their headgear and dresses
would be soaked, but the dreary little
man utterly refused to take any no
tice whatever Of our winks and head
shakes.
"And all during the trip he kept
rioht on dwelling and chawing on his
prediction until all of the other men
In the crowd began to show their sore
ness and all of the women's spirits be-
gan visibly TO droop-women, I've ODD
served. invariably take stock in the
decentralization of the gloomy man
NJ marty such as ours was. He Kept
ducleino his head out of the car and
looking up at the clouds all the way
out to the point where we were TO get
IN each time remarldng that the rain
vas so strong I'm the air that he could
lust smell it, until finally, losing pa
tience. all of the men, in unison and
spontaneously, yelled at him; An
give us rest!'
"Then he sulked on the party, de-
clined to answer his portly wife's ques-
tions when she spoke TO him, andmaoe
blitherinr nuisance of himself gen.
orally, just because we were trying to
buov ourselves up with the belief and
hone that we weren't In for drench-
inc on the first outing in the country
that we'd started on this year. He re-
fused to be comforted for fully two
hours. but at the end of that time he
had so far forgot the sitting down we
had administered to him to look up at
the sky and again remark that he'd
bet a briar pipe that it was already
raining somewhere in the county. We
DIDN'T want to offend him again, so we
said nothing, although we thought
heap. When he made that last gloomy
prediction we had, after gathering
about a ton of laurel, spread the cloth
and set the eatables out on a nice lit
tie sward beneath huge oak. We
had just topped ourselves down at the
spread. hungry after our laurel-collect-
ing exertions, and prepared to just
macerate the products of the baskets
when there was sudden gust OF
wind, and then the rain came down in
torrents. The spread was all but
ruined and water-logged before we
could gather it together and cover IT
up. and the togs of all of US were
soalxed-there was no place to run to
cover, and we just had to stand for II.
The ruin Of the feed and our wet gar
ments weren't so hard to stand, but 1
never longed so hard to kick white
man in my life as did TO boot that lit
tie two-Iegged clod of gloom when he
saw the rain. His new hat and his new
warm weather suit we're as limp and
saturated as those Of any of us inside
Of half a minute, but do you know that
he was tiekled almost to death, at that,
because his representation Of the
morning, and all the way out, had been
indicated? He grinned over the rain
from ear TO ear, and slapped his thigh
over IL, and preened and primped him
self over HIS ability as a weather fore