Tensas gazette., 1917-12-07

S"lZlnS tnlS opportunity, lPIlTpu
ventured the deed and was reward
ed. The elderly horse seemed to have
forgotten his luminosity in a lit of de-
preston; he hung his head, and mark
ed the raviShment 10y nothing
more than slight shudder.
PreliminaricS 10 the great expert
mcnt were worked out with grave
care. The largest empty bottles obtain
able Were selected. cleaned, and filled
with fair water. Then, with befitting
, Solicituic, the two long black hairs
were lowered into the water. and the
bottles were corked. After that. a
label WAS pasted upon each, eXhib-
iting the owners name and address.
The fascinating work was not COM
plete, however. Penrod paid a visit
10 the kitchen clock, and. after some
severe exercise in computation, the
following note WIS inscribed in pre-
else duplicate upon the labels:
Hair from JacOp X. Krish and cos
horse tail put In sixteen minutes of
evelen o'clock July IL Snak comes six
teen minutes of evelen o'clock July 81"
Penrod took his bottle to his room
that night; it stood close by his bed
side throughout the long dark hours;
and once. waking suddenly, he grOped
for II feverishly, in fear. His fingers
found the smooth, cool curves of its
neck, and, reassured, he slept again, n
smile upon his face. And in the morn
ing. his waking eyes anxiously sought
the bottle and its tenant; all was
safe, and Penrod rose in joy.
Never was treasure more closely
guarded or more steadfastly watched;
and, as the days passed, there devel-
oped in Penrod's mind somewhat
definite pictu-A Of the little compan-
would have brown eyes-admiring
eyes. obedient and faithful, like
| dogs. And, while these thoughts
floated within him, he would sit by
the half-hOur. gazing Mt the bottle.
gentle and warming affection emanat-
ing toward it from him.
Twenty-One slow days must pass be-
fore the rapturOus event; twelve had
gone when Sam reported that symp-
toms of the great change were ap-
pearing in his SNAKE" which he had
taken to his home. (They had dis
carded the term hair on the second
day.
"Yes, SIR" said Sam, hes turned all
round I'm the bottle from the way he
was layin' yesterday; kind Of looks
like he was restless. to me. And
there's sumpthing like little bubbles on
him up at the end where his heads
goin' to be-"
The hair In Penrod's bottle had no
such accomplishment for Its owner to
vaunt he looked coldly at Sam. and
began to whistle.
"Yes, sir" Sam went on. with per-
haps too much unctiOn, shat snake
of mine looks to me like 1t was gOin'
to make a mighty fine snake"
swell, I don't know" Penrod said,
sighting. 81 like 'em kind of quieter."
Nor did the fact that his treasure ex
hibit no tokens Of the transition dis
turb him in any way, except thus to
rouse his champiOnage. No slightest
doubt ever shadowed his ardent con-
| fidence: never for one Instant Tad
! poles became frogs; caterpillarS make
themselves into cocoOns: and cOcoOns
are really butterflies; he had owned
cocoOns that showed no change in ap-
| of ha
butterflies emergence The hair in the
bottle looked every day more and
more like an attractive young snake,
and by the time Penrod discovered
that the thirty-secOnd of July would
really be the first Of August, it SEEM
ed to him that it almost was a snake,
already.
| The final week of the three was one
of internal excitement, heightening al
most unbearably as the climax ap-
preached. Then, the first of August
dawned fair and cool; no sweeter
birthday could have been selected In
all the year. Penrod woke with the
| Joyous feeling that riches had come to
| him in his snake.
AS his eyes opened and fell upon the
bottle. bathed in morning sunshine on
the chair by his bed, he stared with
| Joy. The hair had altered it's position
! in the water during the night; the mir
! acle had begun to work, and Is min
utes of IL would see it cOnsummated.
He dressed slowly and tremulously,
u-onJnripp What ha wOuld name n
Then, instead of descending to break
fast, he sat upon his bed to gaze upon
the marvel. and continued to sit-and
sit-and sit. Meanwhile. urgent re-
quests for his presence in the dining
room went wholly unheeded, until
finally Margaret, his pretty nineteen
year-old sister. appeared in the door
way.
"Penrod ="
Instinctively, he leaped between her
not see it. He trusted no woman in
any weighty affair-least of all sis
/ ter!
Papa sent me up to see what you
are doing?'
Nothing"
Then why in the world don't you
come to breakfast"
We'll. | am coming. amt II" His
tone was that of Il person unjustly at
/ tackled. what YOU all dressed up for
this porning?'
Il never did see such a boy" Mar