The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1905-08-31
Fishing
bp KEITH GORDON
.....Cepplioht. 1905. BY Keith Goldon.....
bp KEITH GORDON

tdully AuIlcN AAc hA0o aOOul luS 'oh6
poles and slowed them away as best
he might In the covered buggy that he
had procured in the village the shad-
ows were already long and pensiye.
When he reached the village the hush
of early twilight lay on the broad, dec
orous streets which were almost desert
ed. Their very emptiness, however.
was full of suggestive cheer. Pictures
of broad, low rooms with bountifully
spread supper tables, on which feath-
cry biscuit, cold chicken and preserves
made a tempting array, rose before his
dreamy eyes; cheerful, natural faces
loomed in the thick, red light Of old
fashioned lamps; the rag carpets, rock
ing chairs and secretaries-all the de-
tails Of the rural household scene were
vividly, pleasurably before him.
Behind him the long poles dipped
with rhythmical, monotonous motion
as the horse logged evenly along. At
the crossing of two streets the slight,
graceful figure Of girl paused for him
to pass. In the shadowy light she
seemed like spirit-the spirit of the
advancing night.
Thus sunk, lost, wrapped in revery,
he drove OH, the poles waving up and
down behind him like long, hungry ten
tacles, exploring the evening air for
something to catch and hold. A jolt
and a rumble and the buggy rolled
over the crossing with an energy that
sent the poles dipping lower than ever,
and then the tentacles hooked some
thing-hooked 1t tight and after brief
resistance on the part Of the hooked
thing, which manifested a strong in
clination to remain where 1t was-lift-
ed 1t high in triumph and maliciously
disappeared down the dusky street,
leaving a paralyzed, shadowy shape
staring after It with astounded eyes.
For a moment the girl stood speech
less, bewildered. To have her hat sud
denly plucked from her head as If by
hand thrust from the sky in sleepy
little village Of the new world-well,
it was an experience that stopped her
mental machinery with jerk
Had it been in Greece in the year
something or other B. c. it would have
been explicable 40 the deed Of some
goddess, Jealous and angered at the
beauty of her love Of a hat Jealous
goddesses, she recalled, had done even
more extraordinary things than snatch
ing a mortals hat.
Or had 1t been later, in mediaeval
| times, she might have ascribed this
| hat lifting to black magic. But in the
| of 1905 neither of these explanations
could hold, and that was the reason
she stood as il she had taken root
while these thoughts shot rapidly
through her mind.
Meanwhile her hat, dancing up and
down in a tantalizing, diabolical fash
ion, as IL to wave her a mocking fare
well, was being borne, slowly but in
exorably, into the g1oaming. Before
she recovered the power of speech ant
motion the buggy was halfway dowl
the block. She made a step after it
then stopped. She had sharp, hu
morous vision Of herself, hatless ant
disheveled, pursuing that dancing
mocking, bobbing will-o'-the-wisp of :
hat through the village streets, maxim.
frantic, Intellectual jumps at it, as ;
dog at biscuit held just beyond it
reach, and the vision caused her t.
pause.
"Here! Oh, I say, stop, won't your
she called imploringly, but the quad
ruped drawing the buggy proceede'
with a dexterity that reminded her o
the juggler who keeps four balls in th
air at the same time, while the fall
it's hoofs came to her in more ant
more distant cadence.
"Oh, man." she called desperately
but the owner of the fishing rods wa
wandering in a dream world, sniffin
the damp, earthly, evening smells, com
muning with the approaching spirit o
night, deaf to any but trumpet voices.
"Well" she exclaimed explosively
with an energy that emptied her lung
to the remotest corners. "Well, l lik
that! I'd just like to know what IL
going to do?
And in answer to the query the o1
ficious, obtrusive, subconscious SCI
set her in motion, and she found hel
self heading toward her boarding plac
to the monotonous inward wall O.
"And it's the only hat have with me!
Meanwhile the young man drove o
musingly, blissfully, until he reache
the house where he was staying, a
: unconscious of his latest and most III
! usual catch" The light was stream
! ing warmly from the windows as b
: drove past the side Of the house up
the barn and jumped out.
}, At the sight Of the dark object diml
visible at the end Of his poles he stare
s In surprise. A moment later, when /
9 had carried them into the patch
y light from the nearest window, h
!. hands dropped helplessly.
8 There it was, trim. natty hat-a "
mans hat. or. NO. girls hat. Even