Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-09-03
A HAUNTED HOUSE

neither hog. dog nor devil" and GER
tninly seemed able to deal with any.
thing In tho way Of terrestrial or su-
pernatural beings.
In fact (for such Is the Inconsistency
of woman). 1 rather began to wish that
tho ghosts would walk, or otherwise
make themselves known; or that any
thing exciting would happen For, af-
ter the advent Of my two Celestials,
my occupation was entirely gone: no
longer did l daily wrestls with the
kitchen brasero, and hsrangue tho fruit
man and the other purveyors to our In
| ner needs. In other words, matters
waxed deadly dull and borous, 30 that
l complained bitterly to my Other half,
who only laughed uproariously. and
gavo me little sympathy. (You see, he
had his work. And said he: MY good
wife, you don't know a fine thing when
you see 1t. Here you are with plenty
Of leisure and all the chance you want
to shine In the American Colony Of
Pinal.' yet you let 1t slip. Put on your
gaudiest gown df you have one); all
the Jewelry you can beg, borrow or
steal; go and pay your calls, and I'll
wager you Virot hat that you'll have
all the diversion you can stand"
Meekly. but without the jewelry,
did as l was told. l called on my la
dies, and l opeend up a new horizon to
myself In the way Of topics of CONVEX
sation. For in Pinal you always dis
cuss your servants, and other peoples
servants; your own. and other peoples
position In society; and the fact that
society In Mexico is not what It Is at
home" To hear the wives Of the gro
ceryman. cheap clerks and machinists
discussing social position" gave me
rather sort Of "Alice-in- w Wonderland"
feeling. but held my peace.
Not many weeks passed before 20
ciety and mutually dropped each 9TH
er. and | gave my husband no peace
until he decided upon and arranged a
nice. long ducking trip to the lakes,
somc forty miles from Pinal. And, oh
me, how enjoyable 1t was hut when
we returned, with sunburned faces and
hands showing traces of powder and
hard work, the ladies OF the American
colony shook dubious heads over me
and my probable fate. A woman who
actually went hunting with her hus-
band. could ride thirty miles In a day,
and was reported to shoot as well as a
man, was a paradox to them. For their
parts, they wondered why any man
wanted to marry such q woman 30 I'M
lit for society.
To tell the truth, l rather regretted
the tan and sunburn myself. when |
found upon our return invitations to
the usual yearly big bale at the Ca
sino. / hadn't been to a dance OF any
sort since our last country house visits
on Long Island. had a particularly
pretty gown. knew that the floor would
be good and slippery, the native Mex
lean band fair, and that there would
be plenty OF presentable men to dance
with, mostly delegations from the out
lying camps. But how In the name of
all that was consistent could | appear
In an evening gown, topped or by
face, neck and arms that were about
the consistency of color OF burned
leather2 My husband unfeelingly sug-
gested whitewash. but applied lemon
juice. and mourned. 1t really was dis
appointing. you know.
Three days before the dance. the
partner OF my joys and sorrows was
called away TO inspect the installation
of some new machinery. He left with
reluctance; for, while our big. old
house seemed absolutely safe. there
had nevertheless been some burglaries
OF late, and he dreaded leaving me
alone with the servants for a couple of
nights. But l urged him to go. saying
that the doors were perfectly robber-
proof. the servants trustworthy. and
that / would keep a shotgun handy. so
that he need have no fears. In point
OF fact for once l preferred his room
to his company. having a face bleach
ing process In view, the which l knew
he would never consent to, did he come
to know of 1t. So he departed, and,
feeling relieved and sneaky by turns, 1
set about preparations for the surrep-
titous whitening of my unlucky coun-
tenance. Most school girls will recog-
nize the beautifer which 1 FASTENED to
apply, as soon as my light dinner had
been dispatched that night. With
doors carefully locked, and a revolver
handy, in case of burglars, expert
mented with . piece OF channels akin