The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-09-02
MIRANDA'S
PINGPONG
By C, B. BURcIN

rose and wonders why the Rev. Arthur
GrcatoreX thinks 80 much OF her. The
Rev. Arthur also wonders many
things.
In crises like these Miranda and I
have sometimes limited desperately to
one another Of nm eternal Separation,
with II capital s. We have drawn
pathetic pictures of how We would di-
yido everything between us, md sho
should go and live with her mother,
While l strobe into lifc's highway,
manfully putting the past behind me
I'm order TO become great, and, instead
of going to thcaters, spend my even
ings sitting by the fire. waiting her
footstcp on the stair. Miranda would
always get quite worked up by this pa
thctlc picture until she remembered
that It was useless taking half the
things, because her mother had no I'm.
tcntlon of turning the house into n
storage company for the furniture OF
others. SO the trouble generally blew
over. But this time 1t went as far as
my making out n list OF the things I'm
my "dcn" before we were rcconcilcd.
Miranda saw then that she was on the
brink of nm awful prccipicc, and 1t
made her SILVER. So 1t did me, be-
there's n beautiful bronze BRIT.
ish Hon Qrom JAPAN In my "dcu"
which she has set her heart upon hay
Ing, and 1 know we should have SQUAD.
blcd over that. When she says, "Dicky,
you're such II dcar!" pats my brow aud
with tho other hand takes the very
thing / don't want her to have, the
pathos of the situation d~cgcncrates in
to farce, and-and-oh, YOU know what
young wives are like! The next time
| marry I shall choose n solid, cstimn.
BILE lady OF mature age, with Il false
front aud without what little Noel
calls "parlor tricks"
AS SOC MS Miranda told the Rev.
Arthur GrcatorcX about her projected
plngpong tournament he smiled in a
pleased way and said that he himself
would be the first to take Il two shil-
ling ticket. He also threw out dark
hints that Miss Jarvis would like to be
asked. They're not really engaged, be-
cause tho Rev. Arthur hasn't enough
money to marry, but he calls Miss jar
Wis dear sister" and looks ut her, if he
thinks he Is unobscrvcd, In tho same
way that Sir Lancclot did ut G%uincvcre
when king Arthur was out. OF course
Miranda knew all about this "gc-hilty
passion" az she calls II, and that was
why she told Miss Jarvis that the Rev.
Arthur WAS going to play and then IN
formed him that Miss Jarvis would
also be there. SO she had them ain the
nct,' as IL Were, and the members Of
the blanket club almost cried when
told they were too old TO play. TO
| please them, Miranda made a special
rule that if they liked TO take tickets
they could get some one else to play
for them. and, us tho old men were
fond of excitement, they puwncd their
remaining blankets and bought twelve
tickets for the tournament. ut do my
old cart good to get n little permiskus
sport like this 'cre,' said CATER Hind
ley To Miranda, "nnd I've got -four
quarts OH with Joe Burridgc ns little
missile pointing to Noel-"'nl play
for mo and knock his ugly cad off. /
do ear rs 'ow Mistress jarvis sewing
club be a-goin' to try to knock us out,
and there's twelve OH us wants little
missile to do her best for us. 1t do
warm iii old carts, 1t do, to have q
bit OF real sport like this ~ncwfnnglcd
game. Most as good as II days rattln'
Ii be, surcllc."
Wher Miranda asked her little niece
Noel To stay with us. she said that
Noel blue eyes, golden hair, mournful
face, with Its 81 do want to be loved
before heaven claims me for its own"
kind of expression, made her uneasy.
II did me also. I knew the child, and
| WAS nlso aware that heaven could
get along very we'll without hcr-for u
time. at all events. She was n little
demon at lawn tennis and could pick
up any new game In ten minutes. Be
siins, MS she told me, she had been
woSHiNg hard at %pingpong In order to
lick Brother Tom" l had a little
practice with her before the tourna.
mcnt came off. and She But I antici.
pate.
Miss Jarvis. although she loved Mi.
randa dearly, did not like the success
OF tho blanket club. After I'LL, we were
only newcomers. and we ought, like
Agag, to have "wnlkcd dclicate,y" for
II few years before bursting into such
mctcoric fame. 1t occurred to Miss
Jarvis when she saw The special rule
tina II would be II sporting kind of
thing for her sewing club mcmbcrs to
enter on mnssc. Though most Of them
were the wives of the blanket club
men, she never seemed to realize that
n iousc divided against itself cannot
stand. SO she bought II dozen tickets
for the sewing club and, when Miranda
demonstrated with her on this prolific
expenditure, MS good as limited that Ii
was no business OF Mlranda's. New
corners In the place could not he ex-
pectcd to understand "the dear people"
MS we'll rs she did. or course when she
got "nnsty" like that Miranda nightly
prayed that the blanket club players
would smitc the feminine Amalekites
OF tho sewing club hip and thigh.
Noel was so popular In tho village
that the landlord Of the Spotted Dog,
as she Informed me after the tourna-
ment was over, put his last shirt on
her" a phrase which, I understand, in
sporting p~arlance means that he rlsked
all his spare cash on the event. I
wasted a good deal OF time teaching
Noel how to "servo" into the double
edges OF the big mahogany table which
we borrowed from the vicar. 1t was
just the right size (nine feet by fvo).
but tho double edges gave a sort OF
piquancy to the play which l thought
would DO lacking In a mere ordinary