Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-07
They Fell on the Prize
ut the Same Time.


the Same Time
weeds and were soon the Shore where the dusty
road ran close by The rest easy. With your body
wet the soft dust would stick nicely and if you daubed
it all over yourself carefully in horizontal stripes, it
made you look quite like prisoner in his convict suit
Then you put the stripes the back of
else, and he did the same by you-and there you all
were.
"Say, bony to be sheriff.
Nav you don't! I said it first.
Les count out
Seven of them lined up in a row dust smeared muddy
little bodies, crowding pushing like little pigs in pen
until, somehow, order came, and there was silence for
moment, while the counter-out began:
On-ery. two-ery, ckery Ann,
Filis-sy. folos-sy Nicholas John.
Queevy, quavy.
Wee wackl
The whom the "wacI" fell, being counted
out, left the line turned handspring the side of
the road and began to daub himself with more stripes
molstenng the dust puddle at the roadside make
it stick One by they fell until at last there was
single one left. He gave yell, rushed to fence and
tore off picket
How much Start?'
"No hittn' with that stick now!"
go on down the road till tell YOU
The striped convicts dashed away. A yell from the
sheriff stopped them and they lined up.
"Now go!"
They were off, bunch of flashing, speeding urchins
their bare feet spatterng the dust of the road and
raising cloud through which sped the pursuing sheriff
Chipmunks on stone wall saw the coming mob and
field saw and foundered into swamp. Yells and bowls
of JOY rent the air
The sheriff fleet runner and soon he was on
the twnking heels of the rearmost The painting con-
vct, with strength drawn from desperation eaped for
ward to escape the whacks from the weapon of the law
that must fall his unprotected shins; but
though he sped the sheriff pursued hotly The club
Thwack! 1t came down the brown legs
yow and the leaders of the convcts turned to
who caught. They did not however, sacken
speed, the sheriff dashed forward to overake the
next within reach.
Come on, felows called the leader, and the bunch
swerved from the road and dashed through the open
bars of pasture fence: They knew what lay beyond
the row of pine few rods distant On they sped
with the sheriff close behind They reached the pines
and dashed through opening.
IN the open space into which they bounded was
gathered the picnicking Baptist Bible class. Table
cloths spread the grass laden with good things
to eat. The young men, with napkins at their chns
were passing sandwiches to laughing Young women or
bringing water from the spring that flowed into Will
ioughbys Pond. All was rural peace and happiness
when the fleeing bevy of escaping convcts dashed YELL
ing upon the scene clad only in stripes of mud and
desire to put much space between themselves and
the relentless sheriff possible.
The desperate conv1cts were upon the Bible class
before they knew it, and right behind them was the
sheriff. To retreat was njudicious; to 90 forward
was bad. They would have swerved when they
heard the shrieks of the bushing young women; but
a sudden and concerted rising the part of the
young picnickers interpreted as an effort to
cut off their flank. The convicts knew not what to
do. They did Cervera did when he made his gal
liant attempt to escape from Santiago harbor, that
July day in 1898, they made dash for it directly
forward
Bare, muddy feet battered destroyingly over the
damask tablecoths laid the grass, treading ruthless
y in boxes of sandwiches plates of chicken salad and
layer cakes Sarsaparlla bottles overturned when
they CHANGED to get in the way of bronzed flashing
little legs. The feast was ruined Shrieking maidens
hid their faces the cavalcade swept on Young men
hoarsey protested and pursued The convicts utterly
panic stricken, merely dashed forward Willouphbvs