The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-03-08

was out In the hall with 1t before the
hand of manor glrl--could be laid
upon him.
On the hall table reposed two straw
hats; one was Roberts; the other,
which bore the mark Of London
maker, was the hat of Ethelbert Mays
worth Bits.
Margaret, rushing through the door
way, uttered lamentable cutlery. But
Penrod Disseminated nothing between
these hats. With a mighty effort he
heaved the bowl of gold fish upside
down and poured water and fish as
equally as he could into the two hats.
Then he threw the empty bowl bold
ly into the stomach of Ethelbert Mays
worth Bits, his nearest pursuer, and.
with great and demented roaring,
dashed out of the open door and COM
eted away into space.
ugh |" said Mr.. Bits, and remained
where he was, two hands upon the
area of contact. But Robert Williams
ran swiftly out upon the front porch
where q colored boy, with bucket of
soapy water In one hand, and scrub
bling brush In the other, stood gazing
In the direction of Periods evanish-
ment. Robert seized upon the bucket,
and was back In the hall, and had the
goldfish in the soapy water almost
instantly, Topping rather feebly, but
alive.
"Quick!" he said to Margaret. "Get
pail of clear water. don't know if
they can live in these suds more than
minute. Don't stand there! Hurry"
| And when she returned with the pail
he whispered to her: ''I'll bring you
another glass bowl for them this after
noon. Don't fretp
"My hatw said Mr.. Bits. II be-
lieve that little brute has ruined 1t. 1
declare it's too bad"
That was why Margaret went walk
ing, little later, instead of driving.
And yet Ethelbert had given her the
goldfish, in the first place!
A week later, this young man came
forth melancholic from an interview
with Miss Schoiield. He had received
the information from her--in a gen.
! eral way-there were times in girls
life when the man who appeals to her
! must be of the general type of
senior in college; and that-generally
speaking-if II girl feels that way, the
best thing she can do may be-iu gem
eral-to "wait" for that senior. Cen
orally speaking, she added, she be-
lieyed so.
As Mr.. Bits walked gloomily down
the street he passed a grocers wagon
which bore the title, Jacob +. Krish
& Co." Attached TO the wagon was an
elderly bay horse, and attached to the
elderly Day horse was q black tail.
And on the other side of the horse,
concealed from the view of MIR. Bits,
stood two boys, staring morbidly at
the black tail.
"Yes, sir" said Sam Williams, "a
niger told me that the reason mine
never turned to a snake was because
you have to keep 1t three weeks with
out ever lookln' at it. If you look at
it even once, just TO see how it's get
tin along, it's spoiled. Well, we kept
loOlsin' at 'em-a hundred times day,
| bet-and that's what was the mat
ter with 'em! That's why they didn't
turn"
Mine woulda!" insisted Pcnrod lat
terly. "There wasn't anything wrong
with mine. Mine woulda turned any
way"
Mr.. Ethelbcrt Magsworth Bits did
not overhear this conversation. And If
he had, he could not have understood
it. Much less could he have traced
any connection between q hair from
the tail of Jacob r. Kirsh's elderly
horse and the fact that Ethelbert Mays
worth Bits was destined to remain I'M
willingly bachelor