The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1917-08-30

est or anything like that" Jane ex-
planned. "She said II was because
Miss Pratt had coaxed him to be 30
IN love Of her. An Mr.. Parcher said
he didn't care whose fault 1t was, VIII
lie was "a word calf, an so were all
the rest Of 'em, Mr.. Parcher said. An
he said he couldn't stand It any more.
Mr.. Parcher said that a whole lot Of
times, mamma. He said he guess
pretty soon he'd haf to be In the luna
| tic asylum II Miss Pratt stayed a few
more days with her word little dog
an her word Willie Baxter an all the
other word calls. Mrs. Parcher said
he oughtn't to say word mamma.
She said, Hush, hush! to him, man.
ma. He talked like this, mamma: He
said, III be word II / stand itv An
Word! Word! Word! wOR"-
THERE Mrs. Baxter interrupted
sharply. That will do. Jane! Wen
talk about something else now, I
think"
At nightfsIl Jane was saying her
mother stood close by.
"An' bless mamma an papa an ~
Jane murmured, coming to a pause
'an'-an' bless WILLIE" she added, with
q little reluctance.
go on. dear" said her mother. you
haven't finished"
II know 1t. mamma" Jane looked
up to say. Il was just thinkin' a min
ute. I want to tell you about somep'n."
"Finish yonr prayers first, Jane"
Jane obeyed with a swiftness In
which there was no intentional irrev-
erence: then she jumped into bed and
began q fresh revelation.
ats about papa's clo'es, mamma"
what clothes Of papa'sf What do
you mean. JaneT' asked Mrs Baxter.
puzzled.
The ones you couldn't nnd-the ones
you been lookin' for most every day"
you mean papas evening clothesf"
"Yes'm." said Jane. "Willies got
'em on" Jane assured her, with en-
phasis. II bet he's had 'em on every
single evening since Miss Pratt came
to visit the Parchers. Anyway, he's
got 'em ON now. cause I saw EN-"
Mrs.. Baxter frowned. Are you
suref'
"les'm- saw him In 'em. I was
IN my bare feet after got undreased,
an l was kind of walkin' around In
the hail.
You shouldn't do that, Jane"
-No'm- An I heard Willie say
somep'n kind Of to himself, or like
defamation. He was inside his room,
but the door wasn't quite shut He
started out once, but he went back for
sonep'n an forgot to. I guess. Any.
way. I thought l better look an see
what was goin' on. mamma. 50 I just
kind Of peeked In
But you shouldn't do that. DEAR"
Mra Baxter said musingly. 1T Isn't
really quite honorable"
"NO'm. Well, what you think he was
doin'r' Here James voice betrayed
excitement. and 30 did her eyes) HE
was. standin' up there In papa's cle'es
before the lookin glass. an nrst he'd
lean his head over On one side, an
then he'd lean 1t over on the other
side, an then he'd bark. mamma"
He'd whstY'
"Yes'mw said Jane. He'd give q
little, teeny bark, mamma-kind Of
IKE q puppy. mamma"
"Whatr' cried Mrs. Baxter.
"Yes'm. he did!' Jane asserted. HE
did 1t four or five times First he'd
lean his head way over on his shoulder
like this-look. mammalian then he'd
lean II away over the other shoulder.
an every time he'd do 1t he'd bark.
'Berp-werpr he'd say, mamma. Just
like that. only not loud at all. He
said: 'Berp- werp! Berp-perp-perpF You
could tell he meant It for barkin'. but
Il wasn't very good, mamma What
| you think he meant, mammafs
Heaven knowsy' murmured the as
tonished mother.
"An' then" Jane continued. ~he quit
barkin' all Of a sudden, an didn't
lean his head over any more. an COM
menced actin kind of solemn. an kind
Of whispered to himself. think he
was kind Of pretendin' he was talkin'
to Miss Pratt or ut a party, maybe.
Anyways, he spoke out loud after
while-not just exactly loud, l mean.
but anyway SOS could hear what he
said. Mamma. he said. oh. my baby
talk ladyv just like that, mamma.
Listen, mamma. here's the way he
said II. oh. my baby talk ladyr"
James voice In this impersonation
became sufficiently soft and tremulous
to give Mrs. Baxter q fair idea Of
the tender yearning Of the original
"'OA, my baby talk ladvP" cooed the
terrible Jane.
Mercy Mrs. Baxter exclaimed.
Perhaps it's no wonder Mr.. Parch-
err She broke OF abruptly. then In
quired. what did he do next, JaneT
Next" said Jane. he put the light
out an l Kind of squeezed up against
the wall. an he never saw me. He
went ON out to the back stairs an
went down the stairs tiptoe, mamma.
think he goes out that way an
through the kitchen on account Of pa
pas clo'es."