The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1916-04-06

!
Fern and Molly looked at each other
with dismay. If this was the start Of
! the evening what else might they ex-
pect.
"Why didn't Mike take them both
away?" whispered Fern. ''You poor
girlr'
I'm notr' denied Molly fiercely. Il
said this morning that I'd like to see
Bob. and, Of course. Mr.. Sledge brought
him. The only trouble is hes so
quick"
Hes Instantaneous" corrected Fern.
You have to admire it." laughed
| Molly. WELL the only thing l can do
is to he as game as he is." And upon
Sledge's return from some careful d.
rections to an unseen. companion Of
| Mikes she introduced him to her
friends with all !he sprghtliness Of
which she was capable,
In that process she firmly intended
to make him the center of things anf
to see that he had good time. He
| relieved her of that tremendous bur
den. however. for after moving through
the introductions with a cordial ease
which not only delighted but surprised
her. until she was reminded that he
had been introduced to more notables
than she would probably ever see. be
quietly disappeared into Marley's den
and smoked fat cigars in calm COM
fort, with 4 stein Of cool beer at his el-
how. leaving the young people to enjoy
their hilarity without the damper Of
his presence. 8
Molly, mindful of her duties as host
ess, dropped in occasionally to see that
he was satisfied, and each time she
found him in exactly the same position.
is placidly contented as he could pos
sibly have been in the little back room
IF the Occident saloon. On one of her
visits. after answering in the affirma-
tive her inquiry if he was all right, he
rose from his comfortable nest in the
Dig leather chair.
Il suppose we eat" he guessed.
81 think you'd call it bluff" she
laughingly returned.
Il get you," he replied. MOSTLY Gee.
orations. Souvenirs?'
The usual"
Hand 'em these" and he thrust into
her hands two bundles Of small envei-
opes, red ones and white ones
She looked at them blankly a mo-
ment
"I-get you," she smiled, flushing
slightly as she wondered whether her
adoption of his phrase was tiattcry or
ridicule, Red ones, in honor of the
roses, are for girls, and the white ones
for the boys. What are they? ~~sa~ ---
Jaw, nothing much.' he diffidently
replied as he resumed his seat Sea
son tickets for grand opera week in
the red ones and for the Athletic club
fights in the white ones. Admit two
Is it all right?'
"Is it all right? It's gloriousr' she
assured him, with shining eyes.
Delighted with this unmatchable nov
city, Molly was herself placing the
red and white envelopes at the covers
i'll the dining room when Bert Glider
found her there and closed the door
after himself.
Molly, you're carrying this sledge
joke too far!'' he hotly charged.
"Who elected you" she quietly
wanted to know and laid white en-
velope at his place with extreme care.
angling the corner of it just so.
Both Of us, hope" be stated, dis
| ,Io cin hv of
the top of his collar to give his throat
more room. Molly And he advanc.
ed toward her.
The symptoms were unmistakable.
Molly, having rounded the end of the
table, slipped out through the pantry
door and handed her remaining en-
velopes to the intellectual looking but.
| ler
place these on the table just as
have done. Alternate red and white
ones,' she kindly directed, and the
next time Bert saw her she was the
live center of the laughing taffy pull
ing. She had preferred to escape
rather than to treat this matter either
seriously or flippantly when she was
annoyed with him.
At 11:3O Mr.. Marley, with the worry
of eight absent mothers on his own
shoulders, was fretting over some in
vention to send them home when the
earth split open in the wide stretch of
vacant land across the street and
elected into the sky, with loud, un-
earthly noise, tremendous assortment
of fiery meteors, mostly red. Roman
candles in reckless punches shot up
from behind every bush, skyrockets
dragged their spiraling tails through
all the available 'circumambience, while
fancy bombs carried their aerial float
ers and other brilliant pyrotechnical
surprises into all the celestial terri
| tory hitherto unoccupied.
Through it all Sledge stood as i'm
movable and as impassive as if he had
been glued to the spot and frozen.
Even when the display flowed out into
the middle Of the highway and piled
up the street cars for two blocks in
both directions he remained a calm
and disinterested spectator. The pres
ident of the traction company was
thrown into extreme agitation by this
excess of zeal, for he had some con-
sideration for the feelings of the pub
lie, and he rushed right out to restore
the scattered schedule.
Here, what's this?' he demanded of
a demon with a smoke blackened face.
why are you holding up the cars?"
''Sledge's ORDERS replied the demon,
lighting the fuse of q red rose set