The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1904-07-07

with ner; notmn ;rs nn She was romp-
In from mornin' till night or lazin'
around They couldn't get her to help
in the kitchen or darn the stockin's or
mind the babies what was thick as
peas in a pod, croppin' up under your
feet everywhere, one little higher
than the other, like stair steps. All
they could get her to do was to read
and write and add up sums. Yes. She
was smart enough at addin' up sums,
and that was queer, too, for girl; SO
smart she done all the account keepin'
| for Jim Leverin-that is, all the ac-
count keepin' he had for her to do,
which want, to say, nothin' to hurt"
YES" encouraged Mirandy, anxious
| ly filling up the pause, which showed
symptoms Of lasting till the boiler boil
ed over.
"Well," continued Jane, "after time
Jim Leverin, SEEM the girl want fit
for nOthin' on top of earth but. as l
say, this readin', writin' and 'rithmetic,
he cudgeled his brain, layin awake O
nights, thinkin' what to do. Finally he
hit on plan. 1t was this. You know
these here country schools where the
teachers teach Children for little or
nothin', boardin' round from place to
place for part of their pay and waitin'
till judgment day for the restY
"Umpl hum" replied Mirandy, with
a sigh. part Impotence and part resig-
nation.
Jim Leverin, he concluded he'd get
her job of teachin' one of them coun-
| try schools, and he did-one OF the
toughest, oneriest country schools he
could find for her to teach, up some
/ where's In the mountains where the
huts is made of logs with the wind
blOwin' through and the SNOW stays
foot thick all the year round. summer
and winter. He'd break her, he said,
| of her llarum scarum ways. He'd
show her thing or two. He'd let her
see somcthin' of life as 1t really is; just
how hard it is when you have to get
right down to rock bottom and dig.
"Shc'd see then that 1t want oil
play; that 1t was downright earnest;
that people want put on this old earth
/ to run things high handed"
'Somc of 'cm are" interjected Mi
randy.
"Jim Leverin want addn' them kind
to his calculations just then, though
I've heard him 'xpatiate OH 'em when
he felt in different humor. What he
was tellin' Margaret was this-that
people was put here to scratch for
their livin', and you must own, Miriam
/ dy, most Of us are. About all we do
from mornin' till night. most Of us, is
! to scratch and dig and scratch and dig.
But Margaret, Jim Leverin said, when
she come home from that there noun
tain school she'd realize, he thought,
what soft snap she'd been havin',
dom nothin' day in and day, out, lay
in round. refusin' to help III the kitch-
en- or pantry or wash the dishes or
comb the little childern's curls of
mornin's, to sort of help to keep things
moyin' peaceably along When she'd
had taste Of the seany side of life
she'd be glad enough when she got
back home ag'in to work her level best
for her mother and the little Children
and him.
$50 he got her ready, as much ready
MS he could get her with fifteen other
mouths to feed and bodies to clotbe,
and packed her off,
A buhbling sound suddenly issued
from the kitchen. Mirandy glanced
wildly around
hC., 10 -
cried she. Its the boiler boilin' over.
I've been waitin' for it. knew it
would" And she sped up the steps,
rushed to the stove, prodded the siz-
zling clothing with the whitened end of
u long. largs broomstck and then ran
back again.
II won't keep you mint longer"
declared Jane. Il just wanted to fin
ish the story. to tell you how it all
came out Well, went over to see the
Leverins the night after Margaret was
gone, and, swCIld you believe it, after
all his big talk about breakin' the girl
in and maxim her worth somethin' to
other people besides herself in this
world and givin' her taste Of rough
In 1t and that, there set Jim Leverin in
chair by the fireplace, all bumped
over as if he'd lost his last friend in
the world, his face every whit and
grain as long as my arm.
whats the matter:' says /.
".NOthin',' says he. But his wife.
settin' in the other corner of the fire.
place. rockin' a two-year-old baby to
sleep. with another not much more
than three years old swingin' to her
skirts and cryin'. speaks up. He's
worryin',' says she, about Margaret.
Hes afraid. now that he's sent her
way off to them mountains among
them strange people. now that he's
started her out in life, to say, driven
her from home'--she couldn't speak for
a spell for sonlethin' what got stuck in
her throat-'he's sorry for it. And he'd
oughter be- she adds when her voice
comes to her better. repeatin', and he ID
oughter be-
Jim Leverin raises his head at that.
I amt sorry neither he speaks up,
sharplike. But all the time he set
there the rest of the eyenin'. dumb as
| nm OvStor With pavo~ a x,-ovS9 - -, -