Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-06-17
CHAPTER III (Continued.)

BY this time Blinkie concluded that
she was being imposed upon. She
shook her head violently and twitched
the rope from Lark's hand, for. Lark
now shared her sisters confidence and
. held it loosely. With little cry she
tried to catch the end of it but Blinkie
was too quick for her. She gave a
scornful toss OF her dainty head and
struck out madly for home. With
great presence of mind Carol fell fiat
II upon the cows neck and hung on for
dear life. while Lark, In terror, start,
I ed out in pursuit. ~,
Help! Help" she cried loudly.
Papa! Papa, Papa!"' ,r.gsS,,,., ......,s
In this way they turned in at the
parsonage gate, which happily stood
open otherwise Blinkie would I'M
doubtedly have gone through or over.
AS luck would have it, Mr., Starr was
standing at the door with two men
who had been calling on him and hear
/ ing Lark's frantic cries, they rushed
\ to meet the. wild procession and had
the UNIQUE experience Of seing par
i sonage girl riding fatgon her stomach
] on the neck Of a galloping Jersey,
/ with another parsonage girl IN mad lav1
/ pursuit. 4E2s
Blinkie stopped beside the barn and
turned her head about inquiringly.
Carol slid to the ground and burned
her face in her hands at sight of the
4 two men with her father. Then with
never a word, she lit out for the house
1t top speed. Seeing that she was
not hurt and that no harm had been
done, the. three men sat down on the
ground and burst into hearty laughter.
Lark came upon them as they sat
thus, and Lark was angry. She stamp
ed her foot with violence that must
have hurt her. ~ I'll 49, n r.;
Il don't see anything to laugh at
4 she cried passionatelY, ut was awful
1 It was Just awful! Carrie might have
i been killed! tit r.. z..,S
Tell us about it, Lark" gasped her
father. And Lark did so, smiling a
little herself, now that her fears were
relieved, Poor Carol she said,
she'll never i've down the humilia-
tion- i must 60 and console her"
And a. little later the twins were
weeping on each others shoulders.
Il wouldn't have cared -" ~ sobbed
I Caro-, III 1t lad been anybody else in
the world! But-the presiding elder
And--the president of the Presbyter-
I'M college! And I know the Presby-
terians look down on us Methodists,
anyhow, though they wouldn't admit
1t! And riding COW! Oh, Larkie, IT
you love me, go down stairs and get
me the carbolic acid so I can die and
be out of disgrace" .a...... ...... 49,.
This, however, Lark stoutly refused
to do and in little while Carol felt
much better. But she talked it over
with Prudence very seriously. '.,..
II hope you understand, Prudence,
that shall never have anything more
to do with Blinkie! She can die of star
her to and from the pasture again.
couldn't do it, Such rank ingratitude
as that COW displayed was never equal
ed, I am certain"
Il suppose you'll quit using milk and
cream, too," suggested Prudence.
ooh, WE'LL" said Carol more toler-
antly, II don't want to be too hard on
Blinkie, for after all 1t was partly my
own fault. So won't go that far. But
] must draw the line somewhere!
Hereafter Blinkie and I meet as
strangers" =
tits perfectly disgusting, / admit,
father said Prudence sweetly, "but
you know yourself that it very seldom
happens. And l am sure the kitchen
is perfectly clean, and the soup is very
nice indeed-if it Is canned soup!
Twins, this is four slices of bread
apiece for you! You see, father, l
really feel that this is crisis in the
life of the parsonage" nr n.
How long does a parsonage usual
ly liye?" demanded Carol
1T wouldn'trli long if the minis
terschad many twins, Z said Fairy
quickly. ##
Ouch" grinned Connie, plagiariz-
Ing. for that expressive word belong