Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-11-05

around it. Upon the mantlepiece
another big round pumpkin shell serv-
ed as candle stand, frame being
set into the top 80 as to hold brill
liant cluster Of candles, Bach side Of
the big central pumFkin was little
pumpkin head lantern, with the light
shining through Its grinning teeth
and its nose and eye sockets. And
flowers and leaf decorations in the
autumn colors-red, yellow and
brown-were just beautiful
Part of the show was fancy dress
performance in which the actors
were masked and the rest had TO
guess who they were. Spike" Tay-
lor the tallest, thinnest, awkwardest,
jolliest boy of his age in Kiddville,
danced a jig, dressed as ballet girl,
Miss Peacherina on the programme.
To add to his. apparent height and
thinness strips of black and white
cloth were wrapped around his legs
and arms. My, but he looked long
drawn out--like a jumping jack-but
his Jig brought down the house. It
didn't take the Kiddville kids long to
guess who Miss Peacherina was.
1t took them longer to make out
the red Indian chief down on the pro-
gramme as Kick-a,Hole-T Through the
Sky, wearing buckskin leggins and
moccasions, with a gaudy Navajo
blanket wrapped around him and
bristling turkey feathers stuck into
his hair, looked SO fearsome as he
bounded into the audience room
brandishing glittering bread knife.
and a Ratchet that he scared some Of
the younger children at first.
How, how, how screamed Kick-a
Hole-Through-t he-Sky, and bounced
upon the skeletonlike Miss Peacher-
ina and drove her out of the room.
But presently girl recognized the
Navajo blanket as one belonging to
Mrs. Gordon. There was something
in the spring Of the Indian chief, too,
that was very like the movement Of
plump, mischievous Sue Gordon whel
she came bouncing in anywhere,
fairly shaking the floor as she had a
way Of doing.
"sue Gordon! Sue Gordon, come
down out Of that" cried several
voices at once. 1t was Sue sure
enough.
There was one character, however,
that none of them could guess out,
That was Queen Gypserina the palm
list, who sat with her mask on in
corner and read the childrens hands
till supper time. This part Of the
entertainment gave them no end of
fun and excitement. The truth was
that Queen Gypserjna was the young
peoples teacher, Miss Pope, who had
made a study of palmistry for just
such occasions as this
After supper they tried fortunes in
half dozen different ways. 1t would
take q whole newspaper page to tell
you all. For one thing they put three
wash basins in row. One held clean
water, another dirty water while the
third was empty. Then one by one the
guests, blindfolded, approached the
basins and put a hand into one Of
them. If the hand was thrust into
the basin with the clean water that
meant that the person testing fate
would marry one who had never been
welded before; If into the dirty water
then the boy would marry a widow
the girl w'dower But if the luckless
fate trier's hand went into the empty
basin that meant he or she would
never marry at all.
A great roar of laughter went up
when Spike" Taylor showed his long
hand into the basin that was empty
At midnight the girls went into the
vegetable garden and, blindfolded,
each, pulled up cabbage. If the
stalk had whole lot of earth about
its roots, that meant the girls future
husband would be rich; If the stalk
was long, slim and straight, that he
would be good looking. Each girl
had to take the stalk of her cabbage
home and put it over the door, and
the first boy that came in under it
would be her future husband. Sue
Gordon got a cabbage with a long
slim stalk and duly placed the stalk
above the doorway at home. And
the first boy that valdez under it
was that long, slim Spike" Taylor,
whom the oracle had doomed 10