The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-02-29

! and, quite unframed, were outside be.
meath the starry sky.
Up and up and up they sped. The
apex Of the column was 50 narrow and
so slippery that Raymond was forced
to cling desperately to maintain his
position. The wind whistled around
his ears in a perfect gale, his eyes
watered, and he had most uncom-
Portable feeling in the pit of his stom-
mach.
Jump! Jump suddenly ordered his
remarkable companion, violently
twitchinfi his coat collar. And with
out affording Raymond any choice he
| hastily fell off, dragging Raymond with
| him. Together they lit in a heap on
level surface just beneath. Ray
mond picked himself up in hurry
and peered about him with much curl
, osity.
They were in the midst of a wide
stretch of country not unlike an ex-
panSe of burned prairie, with never an
elevation to break the monOtony. All
as fiat and bare and uninteresting. save
at their feet. and reaching in either
direction as far as could be deserted.
was dusty, crooked road bordered
by weedy grass. The road was whit
iSh. and the Wecdy grass was Whi[ish.
and kind of WhiiSh twilight, COM
ing from nowhere in particular. brood
ed over everything
Beside them the yeast column. now
only the diameter Of a telegraph pole.
and already higher than he could see,
was sticking up through a hole which
exactly fitted it,
is this the mcon?' gasped Ray
mond.
My. no." raspcd his conductor IT'S
the Milky Way. Wen have to catch
train. Come on
But what will that do?" asked Ray
mond, confused, pointing to the yeast
column.
"Oh, never mind" answered the 9TH
or. Probably it will be cut into
Northern Light poles, and the bottom
part viii contract with the cold until
nothing is left. Come on" and he set
out briskly along the road to the left.
Presently they heard faint rever-
heration, which rapidly increased in
icudness and resolved into mixture
Of snorting and gratings
Stand clear! Out Of the way"
squeaked the moon man, tremendously
excited to Raymond and boiling to one
side. Raymond now alarmed followed
him with alacTity.
An immense cloud Of dust approached
AID then from the cloud emerged a
vehicle resembling an automobile bus.
Us four wheels had enormous rubber
Tres and the box was vivid yellow,
with MILK" written across it in bold
white letters. A dashboard projected
in front, like shovel, close to the
ground, and held figure whirling
snaky lasso. The funny affair ratified
past, with volley of quick staccatO
puffs
The milk train" roared the little
man into Raymond's ear Cream
puffs! Hurrah!" and he galloped into
the midst of the thick white dust over
hanging the road Eat 'em while
they're hot. stupid" he babe, bobbing
here and there, and eagerly stufing his
mouth with the things he was gather !
ing.
Raymond found, dotting the soft !
road-bed. number of small objects, |
and, tasting ascertained that they were |
cream puffs. He and his cOmrade filled !
their pockets, and continued on their
route, munching as they walked.
Are you getting tired?" asked the
man, over his shoulder, after brief
Not very much" responded Ray
mond. Eat these cream puffs have
made me awfully thirsty. Can't we
ind some water about here?"
"Sh-sh-sh-sh!" cautioned the man,
facing him and laying finger on his
lip. Its treason to speak of water
in the Milky Way. Try milk" and
up handful of the dust he
offered it to Raymond.
Raymond laid a bit on his tongue
UGH" he calculated in great dis
gust, suffering vigorously to clear his
mouth of the sweet. cloying powder.
What in the world is it?''
CONDENSED milk" said his queer lit
lie guide. Don't you like it?'
Raymond made wry face and shook
lis head.
That's pity" asserted the man.
When will we catch our train?" in
lupired Raymond, growing weary Of
he seemingly interminable journey.
The moon man stopped and drew
rom his pocket a crumpled almanac.
This he consulted, and replied.
According to the timetable it's due