Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-05-26

| shoot, down comes a thousand quail"
Never mind the quail. l don't care
| how many he kills If he doesn't kill
any one else before we can get rid of
him.
At this juncture the housekeeper en-
| tered the room and asked what was
| the matter When Informed of the
| facts she smiled and said:
Il saw your lunatic so by my win
dow. He's Tom Thursby, that Virginia
scapegrace."
And sane?" asked Miss Woodbridge.
Perfectly"
Then why appear here in such cos
| tune and ask permission to huntT
"I don't know. There was a mas
| Guerade ball in the city last night, and
! not an hour ago l saw some of the
masqueraders rolling along In their
carriages on their way home. Perhaps
Mr.. Thursby was one of them and
took fancy to do some shooting"
But why in such costume"
mo one knows what Tom Thursby
will do. He's singular. But l have
| heard he Is very bright. He'll prob
ably break his neck some day riding
across country. He's n terrible man
on horseback"
THAT would be pity" said Miss
Woodbridge Observation-Disclosures so
handsome"
Whether the lady meant that it did
not matter If homely men broke their
! necks is not of Importance to this
story. The order to send to the asylum
was countermanded. and Mr. Thursby
was permitted to bang away till mid
day. when he came to the house with
bagful of quail and asked to see
| the mistress. She met him, vainly en-
deavoring to suppress q smile.
II have only killed these birds" he
said. "for the pleasure OF the hunt. l
leave them for their rightful owner"
You are Mr.. Thursby. l believe,
from Virginia
81 am, and at your service" y low
bow.
THAT you may not think we Tennes-
seeans less hospitable than the people
of the Old Dominion will ask you to
remain for q dinner on the birds you
THAT will certainly be an honor as
well as q pleasure" Another bow.
Miss Woodbridge entertained Mr.
Thursby till the Quails were cooked
and the repast was announced. Then
she took his arm, and they went into
the dining room. Never a smile cross
ed Mr.. Thursby's face. His hostess
said nothing about having mistaken
him for lunatic, and he made no
reference to his fantastic dress.
The servants on the plantation either
had not heard the explanation as to
the guests habiliments, or, II they
had. 1t made little impression on them.
The opinion among them gained ground
that he was ha'nt though many Of
them declared that he was a lunatic.
The braver Of the colored children
fiattened their noses against the din
ing room window panes to observe the
specter. Aunt Eunice. who had been
Virginia Woodbridge's nanny" was
very much disturbed.
"Wha' TO- yo' niggsrs let yo' mist'ess
alone wild dat lunaticker fol-" she
asked the men. "Yo' gwine let him
shoot herr"
At this white headed Uncle Peter
went or and returned with his gun
and said be was "gwine to kiver de
ha'nt" Miss Woodbridge, while dis
secting a quail, discovered him stand
ing in the doorway leveling a shotgun
at her guest.
"For heavens sake, Uncle Peter.
what are you going to dof Don't
shootv'
Don yo' bodder. Missy Ginnie.
got de drop on him"
"Oh, that's nothing" said Thursby.
'Ive seen him for some time. 1t
hasn't spoiled my appetite"
And he helped himself to another
quail.
Uncle Peter was finally persuaded to
go away with his gun. and the meal
proceeded. Then when 1t was finished
Miss Woodbridge and her singular
guest spent some time together In the
drawing room. after which the guest
departed.
Miss Woodbridge was so well pleas
ed with Mr.. Thursby that she deeply
regretted he was so freaky. But when
the next day she received from him
several dozen pairs Of gloves. with
letter stating that her leniency with
him had enabled him to win bet that
he would shoot with her permission on
her plantation. she did not consider
him SO freaky after all. Indeed. she
considered him very clever.
After this Mr. Thursby continued his
mad pranks at horsemanship and 9th.
er feats. devoted himself to Miss
Woodbridge and practiced law. His
associates were divided as to whether
he were really crack Drained or very
clever till he won an important suit
by an expedient similar to the one by
which he had won permission to shoot
an the Woodbridge premises. From
that time forward all agreed that II
he were mad there was lot of meth
od in his madness
This i'm ession continued to grow
till 1t was oncluded by the people Of
Mr.. Thursby's section that they had
better send him to represent them In
Washington. and he was elected to
congress-. He took Miss Woodbridge
with him.
Do HaIIeylooyah Comet.
o sinneh. yo's a-sm!lin en- a-winkin' on
de paff,
But de Hallcylooyah comet gwine ter flick
,..Nb mid