Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1915-02-19

jes' a-cryin'! And | thought it kind
o. strangelike, and stopped and hol
Tered: What's the matter Of ye,
Tod?' and he ups and hoilers back
'Stumpt my toe, durn yet and thinks
], MY youngster, they'll be a day o
reckonin' fer you!'"
TIE old world worried on, till July
came at last, and with 1t that most
glorious day that wrapped the baby
nation In its swaddling clothes Of
stripes and stars and laid 1t in the lap
OF Liberty. And what a day that was!
And how the birds did sing that morn
ing from the green tops of the trees
when the glad sunlight came glancine
through the Jeweled leaves and woke
them! And not more joyous were the
birds, or more riotous their little
throbbing hearts to pipe the trail and
cheep and twitter twenty million
loves" than the merry children that
came futtering to the grove to join
their revelry.
y brighter than a dream swept
the procession of children from the
town toward the boy that swung his
hat from the tree top near the brook
And he flushed with some strange &c.
stasy as he saw little girl In white
with wreath of evergreen, wave her
crimson sash in answer to him, while
the column slowly filed across the
open bridge, where yet again he saw
her reappear in the reflection in the
stream below. Then, after the dull
opening of prayer, and the more tedi
GUS exercises following, how the woods
did ring with laughter; how the boys
Wed with one another in their labors
of arranging swings and clearing un
derbrush away preparatory to a day
of unconfined enjoyment; and how the
girls shrieked to see the black man
coming" and how coquettishly they
struggled when captured and carried
off by that dread being, and yet what
eagerness they displayed in his be
half! And "Ring"-men and women
even joining in the game, and kissing
one another's wives and husbands
like mad. Why, even the ugly old
gentleman with a carbuncle on the
back of his neck, grew riotous with
mirth. and when tripped full length
upon the sward by the little widow in
half-mourning, hustled nimbly to his
feet and kissed her, with some wicked
pun about grass" widows, that made
hin laugh till his face grew as red
aH his carbuncle. That bashful young
man who had struggled off alone, sit
ting SO uncomfortably upon log, kill
ing bugs and spiders, like an ugly
giant with monster club-how he
must have envied the airy freedom OF
those "old boys and girls"
AID SO time wore along till dinner
came, and women with big open bas-
kets, bent above the snowy cloths
spread out upon the grass, arranging
the substantials" and the dainties
of feast too varied and too tooth.
some for anything but epicurean mem.
cries to describe. And then the aban-
don of the voracious guests! No
dainty affectations-no formalities-
no etiquette-no anything but the full
sway of healthful appetites melted by
the exhilarant exercises of the day
into keenest rapacity and relish.
Don't you think it's goin' to rain?"
asked someone suddenly. A little
rosy-gilled gentleman, with the aid Of
chicken leg for a lever, raised his
fat face skyward, and after a serious
contemplation of the clouds, wouldn't
say for certain whether it would rain
or not, but informed the unfortunate
querist, after pulling his head into its
usual position and laying down the
| lever to make room for a bite OF
bread, that ''if 1t didn't rain there'd be
long dry SPELL" and then he snorted
mimic snoWstorm of breadcrumbs
on his vis-a-vis, who looked wronged
and said he guessed he'd take an.
other piece of that-air pie down
| there"
1t was looking very much like rain
by the time the dinner things were
cleared away Anxious mothers, with
preserve stains on their dresses, were
running here and there with such ex-
CARNATIONS to the men folks as do
hurry up!" and For goodness sake.
John, take the baby till find my para
SOL" and There, Thomas, don't lug
that basket off till l find my pickle
dish!"
! Already the girls had left the
swings, which were being taken down.
and we're tying handkerchiefs over
their hats and standing in despairing
contemplation of the ruin of their
dresses. Someone called from the
stand for the ladies not to be at all
alarmed, 1t wasn't going to rain, and
there wasn't a particle of danger of
80; but there a clap of thunder in.
terrupted, and went on growing men,
acingly, while little girl, with her
hair blown wildly over her bare shout.
ders, and a face, which moment be-
fore glowed like her crimson scarf,
now grown whittier than her snowy
dress, ran past the stand and fell
fainting to the ground. rs there a
doctor on the grounds?" called a loud
voice in the distance, and, without
waiting for response-"For Gods
sake, come here quick; boy has fall
en- from the swing, and maybe killed
himself"
And then the crowd gathered round
him there, men with white faces, and
frightened women and little, shivering
children.
Whose boy is it,"