The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-01-07

" pOuih ohh hhiohy Dihs Il huS IL
still, I suppose" -.
l did not much relish the business,
but ] hated to see him beaten, so l
v%cntured. 81 have run a Punch and
Judy In an amateur way ut the var
[ sity."
He sprnng to his feet with n yell.
you have! You mean to say 1t?
We've got them! We've beaten them!'
He had an extraordinary way of taking
your help for granted. The miner
chaps, mostly English and Welsh, went
mad over the poor old Snowman and
made him so wealthy that In sheer
gratitude he drank himself to DEATH"
He walked up and down in high ex-
element II In such evident delight
that l felt pledged TO my best effort.
NV II" | said, first the poster. We
must beat them in that" fc
He brought me large sheets of brown
paper. and after two hours hard work
I had half Il dozen pictorial showbills
done lin gorgeous colors and striking
designs. They were good, If | do say 1t
myself.
The turkey, the magic lantern, the
Punch and Judy show, were all there,
the last with n crowd before 1t In gap
Ing delight. A few explanatory words
were thrown In. emphasizing the high
ly artistic nature OF the Punch and
Judy entertainment.
Craig was delighted and proceeded to
perfect his plans. He had some half a
dozen young men, four young ladies
and eight or ten matrons upon whom
he could depend for help. These he or
ganized Into n vigilance committee
charged5tw will the duty Of preventing
miners and ~lumbermen from getting
away to S~lavin's.
THE critical, moments will be imme-
diately before and after dinner and
then again after the show Is over" no
explained. 1.-The first two crises must
be left to the care of Punch and Judy,
and, as for,the last, 1 am not y%etrsure
what shall be DONE" But I saw he had
something in his head, for he added, ~
shall see Mrs. Mayor."- ~
"Who Is Mrs. Mavor?" l asked.
But he made no reply. He was a
born fighter, mt he put the lighting
spirit into US all. We were bound to
win. a>.
The sports were to begin at 2 o'clock.
BY lunchtime everything was in readi-
ness. After lunch l was having O quiet
smoke in Craig's shack when in he
rushed, saying:
"The battle will be lost before it is
fought. If we lose Quatre Bras, we
shall never get to Waterloo"
whats up?" - e,p
"Sluvin, just now. The miners are
coming in, and he will have them in
tow in half an hour"
He looked Mt me appealingly. I knew
what he wanted.
"All right. I suppose I must. but it
Is an awful bore that a man can't have
a quiet smoke"
"You're not half q bad fellow" he
replied, smiling, ~ shall get the la
dies to furnish coffee inside the booth.
You furnish them intellectual nourishs
ment in front with dear old Punch and
Judy"
He sent a boy with a bell round the
village, announcing, "Punch and Judy
in front Of the Christmas booth be-
side the church." and for t%hree-quar-
tiers of an hour I shrieked and sweated
In that awful little pen. But It was
almost worth 1t to hear the shouts of
approval and laughter that greeted my
performance. 1t was cold work stand
Ing about, so that the crowd was quite
ready to respond when Punch, after
being duly hanged, came forward and
invited oil into the booth for the hot
coffee which Judy had ordered.
In they trooped, and Quatre Bras
was won.
No sooner were the miners safely en-
gagged with their coffee than I heard q
great noise of bells and Of men shout
ing, n on reaching the street I saw
that the men from the lumber camp
We're coming in. Two immense sleighs,
decorated with ribbons and spruce
boughs, each drawn by a four horse
team gayly adorned, filed with some
fifty men, singing and shouting with
all their might, were coming down the
hill road at full gallop. Round the cor
ner they swung. dashed at full speed
ocross the bridge and down the street
and pulled up after they had made the
circuit of n block, to"the great admira-
ton Of the %onlookers. Among others,
Slavin sauntered up good nnturedly,
making himself agreeable to Sandy
ohN I'VE YIN MSiC hSipli6 " uiiuitCh
his team.
ooh. you need not take trouble with
me or my team, Mike Slnvin. Batch
eco and me and the boys can look after
them fine," said Sandy coolly.
This rejecting OF hospitality was per.
fectly understood by Slavin and by all.
Oats too bad, heh?' said Baptiste
wickediy. "And, Sandy, he's got good
money on his pocket for sure too"
The boys laughed. and Slavin, join.
ing in, turned away with Keefe and
BIaney, but by the look In his eye I
knew he was playing Br'er Rabbit and
lying low.
Mr.. Craig Just then came up.
Hello, boys. Too late for Punch
and Judy. but just in time for hot cof-'
fco and d~oughnuts."
~Bonl OATS fuss rate" said Bap.
tiste heartily. Where you keep him?"
up In tho tent next the church
there. The miners are all In"
"Ah! OATS SO? OATS bnd news for
the shanty men. heb, Sandy?" said the
little Frenchman dolefully.
There were a clotbesbasket full of
d%oughnuts and a boiler of coffee left
as ! passed just now" said Craig en-.
couragingly. !.
"Allons, mes garcons. Vite! Never
say 'keelp cried Bnptiste eycitedly,