The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-06-16

Tels'
anu u.s. -. lonely in the deserted camp
te'l.0 and narrow, and the twilight
oee 81, n the Afternoon gathered rolnt
ear! s,rl. snruces which lined the sides
" W the creek. Yet the place haa
.. ~. and dreary grandeur OF its own
us . ssld one in CERTAIN fascination
20 Eve mortals were sore put GO i
.,.,os 70 find occupation which
y "a take our minds from the fact
so.' go we're cut off from the rest OF
. .uas Every piece OF necessary
n. w.. vas elaborated and spun out
', s0 ,he extreme limit. But Of course 1t
I'D eventually come 70 an END ana
,ssn we we're Obliged to invent some
task. ra h,,s,.
.,.s,rrcting a small water-mill, jack
s,on1el in his whiting and tossed the
,rifa 10 his boy. saying:
Mt .Tois thing wouldn't cut warm but
a. RIM oyer to the mill, Willie, and
oire # q rub on the srindstone. Sally,
1on 90 too, and turn tie stone Ter
your brother.
Tho children trottei cheerfully of,
al were soon swallowed UP in the
esverpous mill, while Jack and | sat
dawn 10 rest, watching the sunlight
e.,on IN the eastern canon wall.
Suddenly shrek after shrek rang
o,t from within the mill. Jack fairly
sev in that direction, grabbing up an
Ak as he ran
Imade for the cabin to get the rife
Something wrong with the chill
aren," I shouted to the astonished
Ms Stevens. as | dashed into the
house | snatched up the rife and
n,sbed out again, followed by the
frightened mother.
Halfway to the mill We met little
sally She was almost out OF her wits
with fright.
what is it. DEAR What is it," ask
cd her mother, shaking her vigorously,
from excitement
Great big dog-tried to-tried to
lump on u.s." cried the child between
gasps.
That was enough for me. | knew !
there we're no dogs round, but several |
tines lately We had heard tae squallilg |
Of mountain-lion close at hand, and |
!. had also seen the prints of his padded |
feet in the soft earth Of the creek |
banks. We paid little attention to
these signs for the puma, generally |
speaking, is a cowardly brute, with
but little stomach for attacking a
strong foe, unless urged on by the
pangs Of hunger Then, however. with
bis great strength and agility, he be-
comes a very formidable antagonist
indeed
Evidently" I thought, ''the brute
has made his den in the mill, where
there are so many hooks and crannies
that be could stay year without our
being whit the wiser, unless he chose
to reveal himself"
By the time | had this reasoned out
was at the door of the building.
Where are you, Jack?" l called, for
4 was dark as pitch in there, and at
arst could see nothing.
Hereby the first set of stamps.
Got the gum
Yes, indeed. What happened?"
Willie says that he and Sally were
happening the knife, when they heard
: noise and looking up. saw on the
sacksmith's bench "a"
Great big yaller animal" burst in
Willie Most as big as a horse. And
y began to kind O. wriggle his nose
= US an boiler, and Sally she screech-
- an ! picked up the knife an got
Eady Tor him. But he didn't like the
D'se mat Sally made, | reckon, for
Jumped clean over the boiler. an
rs IN behind there somewhere now" .
ms little story without stops was I
elective.
weren't you scared, Willie?" |
%asa' rather in awe of the youngster. s
, "eH-kind o." he admitted. But
was going to stay with him Just the .
ame."
~. rre'ty sandy boy, eh?" said Jack, i
sltn fatherly pride.
"eil' ! should say so! But what +
hn" q. '"' -iioo ntaiii'
Sure"
~ maat are you going to doo" .
lnmptly. A1eu 'aeN'
I'M" said I.
:. WHAT'S the matter? Amt afraid .
Ne your" 'n aifaiu' e
"o-ao. Not at all" I answered I,
sIasstiy of course not. Whv n
Z uu De. The worst that he could 6
\. "ouid De to scatter me all over
! mlh TO be sure, I should prefer !,
ra S.le collected end, as it were
W., W you Plan of campaign" h
,A "us, Willie will run up to the $