THE COU I -i.
-.
worn bare by bis grandchildren's
knuckles. The sunshine flickered down
through the leaves, lighted up his silky
hair and careesed his withered cheek.
For the sun was old himself and had
been young, to he understood why it
was that the old man jingled the bag of
marbles and jingled them again and
smiled.
Two girls satin the cloakroom. One of
them had a sentimental look on h face,
She absorbed the other girl with her
eyes. The other girl sat quite still and
read a lettar. It was a thick letter and
it must have been very interesting, for
leaf after leaf of it was laid aside and
the reader did not raise her eyes. The
watcher was elated.
"Why," she thought, "it must be a let
ter from her best young man." She
counted the leaves. Her eyes sparkled
Four five b"ix. It must be a love let.
ter. How nice. She felt a sincere over
whelming friendship for the other girl.
She went over and sat down near her.
"Is it a letter from him?" sho asked,
insidiously. The other raised her eyes
filled with tsars. Her cheekB were
white.
"No," she answered sharply, "it is
from home and my little aousin is dead.
I am to go home to the funeral."
And she walked away.
JERRY'S KICKAPOO GIRL.
Jerry stood on the outside of the
crowd around the Kickapoo medicine
show when he saw her first. The
show had been In town two nights be
lore.but this was Jerry's first-night
He was glad he had come if only for
the novelty of the thing. The
rude platform, the flickering lights,
the wicked looking man upon the
platform flourishing a bottle of Sagwa
in each hand, the loud voice strident
above the mutter of the crowd, the
people moving back and forth restless
ly, impatient for the auction to stop
and for the acting to begin all these
things fascinated Jerry.
But there was one other thing he
saw after awhile that fascinated him
more than ever. He was nineteen
and did not find in the flour and hay
that he handled daily anything to sat
isfy his nineteen-year-old desire for
romance. But the pretty girl face up
on the platform made him think of all
the heroines in the stories he had
read. She wasn'tan Indian of course.
The Indians didn't come on until the
acting began. But he called her after
wards his "Kickapoo girl." She was
so pretty and the black dress she wore
s0SoJerry couldn't express it very
well; he said the dress was like the
girl.
She stood up there by the side of the
wicked looking man. When anybody
wanted to buy a bottle of Sagwa she
was the one to give it out to him with
her own slender white lianas. Jerry
watched her. She smiled sometimes
when she handed the bottles down.
Her smile took Jerry's breath away.
Such red lips; such bright eyes; such
white skin. Her throat looked like
marble rising from the soft, black lace
around her neck. And sometimes she
spoke laughingly to the wicked looking
man. Then the man's voice would die
down a moment while he answered
her, to rise the next moment louder
and harsher than ever, enumerating a
long list of the incurable diseases that
Sagwa and Kickapoo salve would cure.
Jerry's listening ears turned all the
harshness and rasping of the man's
voice to purest melody. His eyes were
on the girl. There was nothing ih the
wide world that could seem discord to
him at that moment. He felt a dreamy
delight in the siren's rythmical re
frain. "Thank you, thank you; we
thank everybody who buys our Kicka
poo Indian Sagwa Sigwa Sagwa.
Dollar a bottle or six for a five. Sag
wa. Thank you; thank anybody who
buys our Sagwa."
Jerry's tongue kept repeating, "dol
lar a bottle, six for a five. Thank you
Sagwa thank you." But his eyes
were always on the girl up in front.
He found himself edging up towards
her; he jingled a dollar with the shin
gle nails in his pocket. He stood at
last within two rods of her. He
watched the slow succession of people
pass in front of the platform, Somu
were buying, some were thereout of
curiosity and some were dragged
along by the crowd. He was one of
the curious ones or what would hap
pen if he bought a bottle V He didn't
need it. ho wasn't sick. But what
might not happen if he went up close
and bought the medicine. The girl
might look at him and smile as sho
had smiled at the others. That would
be worth the dollar. He edged his
way forward. He was within one rod
three yards two yards. The man
up in front was speaking his, '"Thank
you, thank you; we thauk everybody."
Somebody else was speaking, too, right
close to Jerry's ear. Two men laughed
coarsely. One said: "She's pretty
but;" and the other answered
"She's the old swindler wife. She
goes up there to draw the suckers. As
you say pretty but."
They laughed again and Jerry shiv
ered. He would have given his dollar
now to get to the outside of the crowd
again. But it was too late, ne had
already held out his hand to the girl
with the dollar shining in the p.ilm
She reached to take it from him as he
drew back and the dollar rang down
upon the tioor at her feet. She laughed
insolen'ly and in a second Jerry was
wild with anger. She was laughing
at him, his awkwardness.
He seized tho bottle that she gave
him and would have smashed it ag.iin
on the platform, but the sound of the
wicked looking man's voice came di
rectly to him. The rytlim of it steadied
him. "Thank you; thank you, we thank
everybody that buys our Kickapoo In
dian Sagwa". Jerry moved on with
the crowd, ire felt the bottle in his
hand a bottle of Sagwa! What did
he want with Sagwa? He suddenly
laughed. Tilings did not seem quite
the same as they had fifteen minutes
before, the crowd was there the same,
but hecouldsee their faces plainer.And
the girl, he looked at her; he could see
face plainer too. She was pretty, but,
He walked away sleepily. He was
murmering sarcastically the wicked
looking man's tune, "Thank you,
thank you; we thank everybody Sag
wa thank you, we thank everybody."
ANNIE PKET.
On Monday the Round Table met
with Mrs. M. D. Welch. About eighteen
were present.
THE OMAHA MEET.
All railroads will sell, within 153 mites
from Omaha, round trip tnksts to Oma
ha on Juno 8th to lltb, inclusive, for
one fare.
The trotting races occur on June 3, 9,
10 and 11.
The field of horses, an unusually large
one, includes many known trotters, as
well as several new ones, which give
promise of many surprises and a lively
and interesting meeting is assured.
The great pacing horse, Johnny, rec
ord 2:12, will each day attempt t) lower
his own record, goinj without driver or
harness.
The horseless carriage is another
novelty. It will race each day with the
fastest horse on the grounds, carrying
four occupants, and will afford visitors
the opportunity of eeeing the first horse
less vehicle in the west.
The events include free for all trotting
and free for all pacing races
t
t
?'
The Courier's Great
Offer to Subscribers.
THE COURIER has arranged to offer free of charge to
every one subscribing this month a year's subscription
to the most popular magazine published in this country.
To every one sending us two dollars to pay for one
year's subscription to THE COURIER we will give
a one year's subscription to
OPlxree dollars
for trwo dollar's.
Do not miss this chance. We cannot afford to con
tinue the offer indefinitely. Our object in making it
now is to secure an immediate response which a less
liberal offer might fail to attract.
' ' ltiftm
Mr. Sticker I always pay as I go.
Mies Ticker Well, you dont owe m3 anything, do you?
Tha German Emperor Mldrea,
How the German emperor will bring
up his only daughter is no subject
of wonderment to the Berllners. They
know that, princess as she is, she will
be taught to be a good housewife, to
sew, to cook perhaps, and to order din
ner certainly. For the sovereign's ideal
woman Is a strictly domestic person,
as his ideal man Is a stout soldier. His
little boys haven't much fun in their
daily lives. Concerning these lives the
Sketch .says: In the Spartan upbring
ing of his children the kaiser rivals hi3
ancestor, Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia.
According to Klausmann's "Leben in
Deutschen Kalserhaus," the life of the
royal children of Berlin is not sweet
ened by hours of inactivity. In their
years of infancy the kaiserin ministers
to almost all their wants, spends a
good part of the day with them and
enters into all their amusements. When
the princes arrive at the age of 9 things
are all changed and it is all work.
They are then allowed about an hour
and half out of their waking hours to
themselves; all the rest of their day
is spent in study and physical training.
Even In holiday time their tutors ac
company them to superintend their
tudiss. Philadelphia Ledger
iur ucre campaign outions oi mm
with eyes to 'em, so that ef the demand
la smaller than the supply I kin tell
'em to some overhauls factory or some
thing of that kind."; Itfiian.!
Journal
Or (toad Tktm to Blind Aiylam.
"I think," said the statesman who
dldm't have any great hopes, anyway,
"hat it woujd be a good plan to rsake
Sfo Wcnidrr It'a a Cmzr.
The silver question, a it Is under
stood In some parts of Kentucky, is
graphically Illustrated by a letter
which one of the statesmen at the cap
Itol received from a correspondent in
that state. It appears from this epis
tolary evidence that a controversy was
being waged between a sound-money
man and a silver champion. The gold
man thought he had the best of the
argument. He asked his adversary why
he thought that the free coinage of sil
ver would make times better.
"Simply because it would put mora
money in circulation," said the white
metal crank.
"But how will It put more money in
circulation? " demanded the gold man.
"How?" asked the silver man. with a
smile of contempt at his opponent.
"How? Why, you blamed fool, if you
can take one gold dollar to the treas
ury and getsixtee'n dollars for it, won't
that Increase the circulation?" Pitt,
burg Dispi .-
