The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1910-08-25

his childhood had been one of dignity
and seriousness. At six he had viewed
the frivolous gambols of the lambs on
his fathers ranch with silent disap-
prevail. His life as young man had
been wasted And now III his scar
and yellow leaf one scornful lock from
the eyes OF Panchita O. Brien had food
ed the autumnal landscape with d
tardy and delusiye summer heat.
But a sheepman is a hardy animal.
Dry Valley johnson had weathered
too many northers to turn his back on
late summer, spiritual or real Old?
He would show them.
BY the next mail went an order to
SaE Antonio for an outfit of the latest
elothes, colors and styles and prices no
object, The next day went the recipe
for the hair restorer clipped from a
newspaper, for Dry Valleys sunburn.
ed auburn hair was beginning to turn
silvery above his ears.
Dry Valley kept indoors closely for a
week except for frequent sallies after
youthful straw berry snatehers. Then,
few days later, he suddenly emerged
| brilliantly radiant in the hectic glow of
his helated midsummer madness.
A jaybird blue tennis suit covered
him outwardly almost as far as his
wrists and ankles His shirt was OK
blood, his collar winged and tall, his
necktie a floating orifamme; his shoes
a venomous bright tan, pointed and
shaped on penitentfal lasts. A little
fat straw hat with striped band des-
ecrated his weatherheaten head. Lem
on eolored kid gloves protected his
oak tough hands from the benignant
4 May sunshine This sad and optic
i shifting creature teetered out of its
den, smiling foolishly and smoothing
its gloves for men and angels to see.
To such a pass had Dry Valley john
son been brought by Cupid, who al
ways shoots game that is out of season
i with an arrow from the CULVER OF
Momus demonstrating mythology, he
had rised a prisnatic macaw from the
ashes of the gray-brown phoenix that
had folded its tired wings to roost
i under the trees of Santa Rosa.
| Dry Yallev paused in the street to
allow Santa Rosans within sight of
him to be stunned and then deliberate
] ~ and slowly, as his shoes required.
/ entered Mrs. O'Brien's gate.
/ Not until the eleven months drought
did Santa Rosa ease talking about
Dry Valley Johnson's eourtship Of Pan
chfta O'Brien 1t was an unciassif-
able procedure something like com.
/ bination of cakewalking. deaf ane
dumb oratory. postage stamp Irritation
] and parIor charatIes It lasted two
/ weeks and then came to sudden end.
of course Mrs. O'Brien favored the
/ match as soon as Dry Valleys inten-
j tons were disclosed. Being the moth
err of a woman child and therefore a
/ charter member of the Ancient Order
of the Raj Trap, she joyfully decked
out Panehita for the sacrifice. The
girl was temporarily dazzled by hay
ing her dresses heightened and her
/ hair piled up on her head and came
near forgetting that she was only "a
/ slice of cheese. It was nice, too, to
have as good a match as Mr.. Johnson
paying you attentions and to see the
other girls fIuttering the curtains at
their windows to see you go by with
him
Dry Valley bought a buggy with vel
low wheels and a fine trotter in San
Antonio Every day he drove out with
Panchita He was never seen to speak
to her when they were walking or
driving. The consciousness of his
! clothes kept his mind busy the knoWl-
edge that he could say nothing of in
terest kept him dumb; the feeling that
Panchita was there kept him happy.
He took her to parties and dances
and to church. He tried oh no man
ever tried SO hard to be young as Dry
i Valley did. He could not dance. but
he invented smile which he wore on
/ these Joyous occasions smile that
i in him was as great concession to
mirth and gayety as turning hand
springs would be in another. He be-
gan to seek the company of the young
| men in the town, even of the boys
They accepted him as a decided dam
per. for his attempts at sportiveness
were so forced That they might as well
have essayed their games in a cathe
dral. Neither he nor any other could
estimate what progress he had made
i with Panchita.
The end came suddenly in one dag
as often disappears the false after
glow before a November sky and wind
Dry Valley was TO call for the girl
one afternoon at 6 for walk. An
afternoon walk in Santa Rosa was o
feature of social life that called for
the pick of ones wardrobe. So Dry
Valley began gorgeously to array him
self: and so early that he finished
early. and went over to the O'Rrien
cottage. AS he neafed the porch on
the crooked walk from the gate he
heard sounds of reyelry within. He
stopped and looked through the honey
suckle vines in the open door.
Panchita was amusing her younger
/ hrnfhnrS aud ssfsfprS She were >