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al r FRANCs D 8 opyrIglh by 1W CHAPTER VI.-Continued. About this timeo tl he (efraided fowl lOw from1 iler nest and attelled)l to get out by her rightfuil exit. Ptid ing it stopped up )y i wriguliig, squirming body sle perclled herell01f on the littie boy's n'ei aid ilapp;ed her eiraged wings In hIs face. "Pull!" yclled the h 4 id Igail, "hlelp Me til'oo. iy, 'forl, thisI fool chicken pecks all tie Ieat off 'm Illmy hones." Billy gralbbe(d the F'ieky limbs and ave a vHlieit tuig,. 11u the body did lot move an inch. Als, Jimmy with his c-aIrgo of biolien eggs was fast "'uli :again!"' I."i the Scared and nngr y chill, ".u 'hoIt the idjetest ldj(t they is if you ca'!t (o no better illY jred w ith11 all his strength, but witl no visible rsiult. "Pll) ha rder ! You Ilo-Colnt gimp!" screanied tile prisoner, beating off tile hen with his bands. 'I'll )oy On the outside, who was strong for 1Ils years, braced iminself and gave a mighty wr'ench of the other child's stout extI'elities. Jim my howled in pain and gave his friend an elerIgetic kick. "Lemmie go!" he shlrik(, "yol (11(1 impe'dunt blackbi ter. 1'1 goilng to tell Miss Minerva you pulled tmy legs out by tile roots." A small portion of the prisoner's blouse was v'isilie. 11ily caught olid of It an1d gave a strong jerk. There was a sound of rillping and tearing and the 0(1e boy fell sprawling on his back with1 a goodfly portion of the younger- child's r Im111n11 t Ill his lilIs. "Now see what you done," yelled the victim of ils eClrgy, "you ain't got the sense of a buffalo gnat. Oh, oh! This hole is 'bout to cut Ily stom ach open." "Illish, JiMMY!" warned the other clil(l. "Dlon't make so luch noise. Aunt Minerva 'It hear you." "I want her to hear me," screamed Jimmy. "You 'd like mle to stay stuck in a chicken hole all night. Oh! oil! oh!'' The noise did indebd bring Billy's aunt out on a tour of Investigation. She had to knock a -plank off tile hen house with an axe before Jimmy's re lease could ho accomplished. Ile was lifted down, red, angry, sticky, and perspiring, and was indeed a sight to behold. "Billy got to Ali time plep0ose S0110 thing to get little boys inl trouble," he growled, "and got to all tille get 'Om stuck in, a hole in a chicken house." "Aly nephew's name is Williai," corrected shle. "You Irposed this here yo'selft!" cried an illndignant Billy. "Me anl' Wilkes tdooth Lincoln donl' know noth in'. 't ali 'bout no rabbit's eggs sence 'we's born." "It doesn't matter whlo proposedl it," mild lis aunt firmly. "You are going to be pun~tishled, William. I have just flblished one of your night-shirts. Come 'withI me1 and~ put it onl antd go to bed. Jimmy, you go home and show your seif to your mother." "Pick up yo0' shlIrt-tail offer the grouni' what I tore off, Jimmy," ad v'isecd 11111y, "an' take it homie to yo' ma. Aunt Minerva," lie pleadedl, fol lowing mlounfully behlind( heu', "pliease don't plut me to bed ; the major hie (don' go to bed no0 dafytitmes; I won't never get me no mo' eggs to make rabbit's eggs outer." CHAPTER Viii. Tellers of Tales. The (lays flew rapidly by. Miss Miner'va tisulally, at temp itedi to train Hilly all the mor01ninig, and bly thle mid day dinneltr hourw she wais so exhauted)( that sile was gladl to let hlim piay in the front) yar~d doinJg tile afternoon. 11(ere he' was ofteni joinled by the three ciiren--u whlose aequlainitance lie had madet the day after his arrival, and the (Iuartet belcamne staunch frIends andl chlums. All four- were sitting in the swing one warmt~ spring day, under the suir vellhince of Hilly's aunt, sewIng on the verandali. "Let's tell tales," suggestedl Jimmy, "All right," agreedl F'ranlces. "[Il tell the first. Onice there's-" "Naw, you ain't nelthe1r," initerruplt ed the little bloy. "You all time talk ing 'blout you going to tell tile first tale. I'm going to tell tile first tale myself. One time' they ' "No, you1 are not eliher," said Lina positively. "Frances is a girl aind shie A'.ght to be the first if she Wants to. D~on't you thin1k so, Billy?" "Yas, I 11009," chlamplionled he; "go ITat little girn, thus encouraged, prolceeded to tell the first tale: "Once there 'a a manif named Mr. Elisha, and he hlad a friend named Mr. IElijah, so his mantelpiece fell on top of his head and make him per fectly bald; lhe hasn't got a sinlgie hair and lhe hlasn't got any mlonley, 'cause mama readl me 'bout he rented his garments, which is clo'es, 'cause he didn't have none at all what be long to himi. I a'pec.' he just rerated lhin a si:rt and a 'pair o' breochles anad wore 'emn next to is hide 'thout nor unlerrhirt at aill. Ile' was dJrea'fhjl 1'oor and had a miser'bte times and mean Mr, Per'dventure took b m up on a high mzountain' and 1qtt I4h 40 flEVA GREEN Mil )YD CALHOUN illy & Britton Co.) wheni he come down some bad little children say, 'Go 'long back, bald head!' and they make pock-mocks on him. Seems like everybody treat him bad, so he cuss 'em, so I tiever see anybody with a bald head 'thout I run, 'cause I don't want to get cussed. So two Teddy bears come out of the woods and ate up forty-two hunderd of 'em." "Why, Frances," reproved Lina, "you always get things wrong. I don't believe they ate up that inany chil dren." "Yes, they did too," championed Jimmy, " 'cause it's in the Bible and Miss Cecilia 'splained all 'bout it to me, and she's our Sunday school teacher and 'bout the bullyest 'splain er they is. Them Teddy bears ate up 'bout a million chillens, which is all the little boys and girls two Teddy bears can hold at a time." "I knows a man what ain't got no hair 't all on his head," remarked Billy; "ho's a conjure-man an' me an' Wilkes Dlooth Lincoln been talkin' to him ever sence we's born an' he ain't never cuss us, an' I ain't never got eat up by no Teddy bears neither. lluccome him to be bald? lie's out in the flel' one day a'pickin' cotton when he sees a tu'key buzzard an' he talk to her like this: "'I say tu'key buzzard, I say, Who shall I see unexpected to day?' "If she flop her wings three times you goin' to see yo' sweetheart, but this-here buzzard ain't flop no wings 't all; she jes' lean over an' th'ow up on his head an' he been bald ever sence: ev'y single hair come out." "Did you-all hear 'bout that 'Talian Dago that works on the section gang eating a buzzard?" asked Frances. "Naw," said Billy. "Did it make hii sick?" "That it (lid," she answered; "he sent for Doctor Sanford and tells him, 'Me killa de big bird, me cat-a de big bird, de big bird make-a me seek.'" "Them Dagoes 'bdut the funniesl talking folks they is," said Jimmy "but they got to talk that way 'caus< it's in the Bible. They 'sputed on th< tower of Babel and the Lord say 'Con found you!' Miss Cecilia 'splained I all to me and she's 'bout the dandies 'splainer they is." "You may tell your tale now Jimmy," said Lina. "I'm going to tell 'bout William Tel 'cause lie's in the Bible," said Jim my. "Once they's a man name' "William Tell isn't in the Bible,' declared Lina. "Yes, he is too," contended the lit tle boy, "Miss Cecillia 'splained it tc me. You all time setting yourself up The Defrauded Fowl to know more'n me and Miss Cecilia. One time they's a man name' William Tell and he had a little boy what's the cutest kid they is and the devil come 'long and temp' him. Tfhen the Lord say, 'William Tell, you andl Adlam and Eve een taste everything they ia in the garden 'cepting this one ap pie tree; you can get all the pears andi bunnanas and peaches and grapes and oranges and plume arnd persini mons and scalybarks and fig leaves and 'bout a million otheor kinds of fruiit if you want to, but dlon't you tech a single apple.' And the dlevil temp' him and say he going to put his cap on a polo and everybody got to b)ow' down to it for a idol and it William Tell don't bow down to it he got to shoot a apple for good or evil of'm his little boy's head. TIhait's al the lit tie boy William Tell and Adam and Eve got, but he ain't going to tail d1own and worship no gravy image on top a pole, so he put a tomahawk in his bosom and ho tooken his bo0w and arrub and shiot the apple plumb th'oo the middle and unever swlngQ a hair 'of. ~s *)aAnd Eve nibble otf the a9~e 2 PqA~u the ,core, apd Eve and William Tell ain't in the Bible. They're our first parents." "Now, Billy, you tell a tale and then it will be my time," said Lina with .a saving-the-best-for-the-last air. "Once they was a ol' witch," said. Billy, "what got outer her skin ev'y night an' lef' it on the he'rth an' turut herself to a great, big, black cat an' go up the chim'ly an' go roun' an' ride folks fer horses, an' set on ev'y body's chils' an' suck they breath an' kill 'em an' then come back to bed An' can't nobody kptch her tell one night her husban' watch her an' he see her jump outer her skin an' drop it on the he'rth an' turn to a'normous black cat an' go up the chim'ly. An' he got outer the bed an' put some salt an' pepper an' vinegar on the skin an' she come back an' turnt to a 'oman an' try to git back in her skin an' she can't 'cause the salt an' pepper an' vinegar mos' burn her up, an' she keep on a-tryin' an'. she can't never snuggle inter her skin 'cause it keel) on a burnin' worser 'n ever, an' there she is a 'oman 'thout no skin on. So she try to turn back to a cat an' she can't 'cause it's pas' twelve erelock, an' she Jest srwivvle an' swivvle tell fine'ly she jest swivyle all up. An' that was the las' of the ole witch an' her husban' live happy ever after Ame"n." "Ojice upon a time," said Una, "there was a beautiful maiden and she was in love, but her wicked old pa rent wants her to marry a rich old man threescore and ten years old. which is 'most all the old you can get unless you are going to die; and the lovely princess, said, 'No. father, you may cut me in the twain but I will never marry any but my true love.' So the wicked parent shut up the lovely maiden in a high tower many miles from the ground, and made her live on turnips and she had nothing else to eat; so one day when she was crying a little fairy flew in at the window and asked, 'Why do you weep, fair one?' And she said, 'A wicked parent hath shut me up and I can't ever see my lover any more.' So the fairy touched her head with her wand and told her to hang her hair out of the window, and she did and it reached the ground, and her lover, holding a rope ladder in one hand and playing the guitar and sing ing with the other, climbed up by her hair and took her down on the ladder and his big black horse was standing near, all b.ooted and spurred, and they rode away and lived happy ever after." "How he goin' to clam' up, Lina," asked Billy, "with a rope ladder in one hand and his guitar in the other?" "I don't know," was the dignified answer. "That is the way it is told it niy fairy-tale book." CHAPTER IX. Changing the Ethiopian. Billy and Jimmy were sitting in the swing. "What makes your hair curl just like a girl's?" asked the latter. "It's 'bout the curliest hair they is." "Yes, it do," was Billy's mournful response. "It done worry me 'mos' to death. Ever sence me an' Wilkes Booth Lincoln's born we done try ev'thing fer to get the curl out. They falaseln {oejtuf fnafotl whrat he call 'No-To-Kink' what he say wouldi take the kink outer any nig ger's head, An' Aunt Cindy bought a bottle fer to take the kink outer hler hair an' me an' Wilkes Booth Lincoln put some on us heads an' it jes' make mine curlier'n what it was already. I's 'shame' to go roun' folks with my cap off, a-lookin' like a frizzly chicken. Miss Cecilia say she like it though, an' we's engaged. We's goin' to git married soon's I puts on long parits." "Hlow long you been here, Billy?" asked the other boy. "Well, I don't know per'xactly, but I been to Sunday-School four times I got engagedl to Miss Cecilia that very firs' Sunday, but he (lid n' know it tell I went over to her. house the nex' day ain' tol' her 'bout it. She say she think may hair is so pretty." "Pretty nothin'," sniered his r'ival "She juis' stufnn' you fuiler'n a tick with hot air. It Just makes you look like a girl. There's a young lady come to, epcnd ar week with my mama not iong ago, and she put somepin' on her head to make it right yeller, Bhe left the bottle to our houa and I kr-m. Where 't is. Maybe If you'd put -some *I that on your head 'twould take the Curl out." " 0 'Tain't nothin' a-goin' to do it no good," gloomily replied Billy. "''Twould Jest make it yeller'n what 'tis now, Won't I be a pretty sight wheti I puts on lorig pants with these here yaller curls stuck on topper. my head? I'd 'nuther sight ruther be bat'-headed." "Bonnie' Dick's got 'bout the kinki est head they is." Bennie Dick was the two-year-old baby of Mrs. Garner's cook, Sarah Jane. "It sho' is," replied Billy ''Would A't he look funny if he had yaller hair, 'cause his face is so black?" "I know where the bottle is," cried Jimmy, snatching eagerly at thesug gestion. "Let's go get it and put some on Bennie Dick's head and see if it'll turn it yeller." "Aunt Minerva don' want me to go over to yo' house," objected Billy. "You all time talking 'bout Miss Mlinerva won't let you go 'nowheres; she sure is imperdunt to you. You 'bout the 'fraidest boy they is. . . . Come on. Billy," pleaded Jimmy. The little boy hesitated. "I don't want to git Aunt Minerva:s' dander up any more'n I jest natchelly "I'm Going to Be an in boun' to," he said, following Jimmy reluctantly to the fence; "but I'll jes' take a look at that bottle an' see ef it looks anything 't all like 'No-To Kink'." Giggling mighttly, they jumped the dividing fence and slipped with stealthy tread around the house to Sarah Jane's cabin in the back-yard. Bennie Dici5 was sitting on the floor before the open door, the entrance of which was securely barricaded to keep him inside. Sarah Jane was in the kitchen cooking supper; they could hear her happy voice raised in relig lous melody; Mrs. Garner had not yet returned from a card party; the coast was clear, and the time propitious. Jimmy tiptoed to the house'and soon returned with a big bottle of a power ful "blondine" in one hand and a stick of candy in the other. "Bennie Dick," he said, "here's a nice stick of candy for you if you'll let us wash your head." The negro baby's thick, red lips curved in a grin of delight, his shiny ebony face beamed happily, his round black eyes sparkled as he held out his fat, rusty little hands. He sucked greedily at the candy as the two mis chievous little boys uncorked the bot tle and lpoured a generous supply of the liquid on his head. They rubbed it in wehI, grinning with delight. They made a second and a third application before the bottle was exhausted; then they stood off to view the result of their efforts. Trho effect was ludi crouis. The combination of coal black skin and red goldi hair presented by the little negro exceeded the wildest expectations of Jimmy and Billy. They shrieked with laughter and rolled over and over on the floor in their un bounded delight. "Hlush!" warned Jimmy suddenly, "I believe Sarah Jane's coming out here to see 'bout Benny Dlick. Let's got behind the ddor arid see what's she's going to do." "'Hit were goodl fer Paul an' Silas, Hit were good for Paul an' Silas, Hit were good for Paul an' Silas, An' bit's good ernough for me.'" floated Sarah Jane's song nearer and nearer. "'Hit's do old time erligion, Hit's de ole time' She caught sight of her baby with his glistening black face and golden hair. She threw up her hands, closed her eyes, and uttered a terrified shriek. Presently she slowly opened her eyes and took a second peer at her curious-looking offspring. Sarah Jane screamed aloud: "Hit's do handiwork or do great Je hoshaphati Hit's do Marster's sign. Who turnt yo' hair, Benny Dick?" she asked of the sticky little pickaninny sitting happily on the floor. "Is a angel been here?" Benny Dick nodded his head with a delighted grin of comprehension. "Hit's de doing er do Lord," cried his mother. "He gwine turn my chile white an' do done begunt on his headl!". There was an ecstatic giggle from behind the door. Sarah Jane rushed inside as fast as her mammoth proportions would ad mit and caught a culprit in each huge black paw. "WVhat yer up ter now, Jimmy Gar ner?'' she asked, "What yer been or doing?" Sudden suspicion entered her mind as she caught sight~ of the empty bottle lying on a chair. "You been or nutti"' muthin' on my chile's headi I knows yet .'I 0ig ter make yo' mamimy gi'YO 4 dwo'ses' whippin' yer eber got an' I's gwine ter take die here William rilht ober ter Miss Minerva. Ain't y'all -'bame'. or yer selves? ir tamperia' wid de ha'r what do good Lord put on er colored pusson's head an' er-tryin' for ter scarify my teelin's like yer done. An' yer hear me, I's gwine see dat some body got ter scarify yer hides." "If that ain't just like you, Billy," said Jimmy, "you all time got to per pose to make nigger heads yeller and you all time getting little boys in trou ble. You 'bout the smart Alexist jack rabbit they'is." "You perposed this here hair busi ness yo'self, Jimmy," retorted his fel low-conspirator. "You's always blam in' yo' meanness on somebody else ever sence you's born." "Hit don't matter who perposed lilt," said Sarah Jane firmly; "mean ness has been did, an' y' gotter be structified on de place pervided by natur' for ter- lot my chile erlone." CHAPTER X. Lol The Poor Indians. Billy had just decided to run down to the livery stable to pay Sam Lamb an Chief," He Boasted. a visit when the gate opened, and Lina and Frances, their beloved dolls in their arms, came skipping in. Jimmy, who had had a difference with Billy and was in the sulks on his own side of the fence, immediately climbed over and joined the others in the swing. He was lonesome and the prospect of companionship was too alluring for him to nurse his an ger longer. "Aunt Minerva's gone to the Aid Society," remarked the host. "Don't y' all wish it met ev'y day 'stid 'er jes' meetin' ev'y Monday?" "Yes I do," agreed Frances, "you can have so much fun when our ma mas go to the Aid. My mama's gone too, so she left me with Brother and he's w.iting a love letter to Ruth Shelton, so I slipped off." "Mother has gone to the Aid, too," said Lina. "My mama too," chimed in Jimmy, "she goes to the Aid every Monday and to card parties nearly all the time. She telled Sarah Jane to 'tend to me and Sarah Jane's asleep. I hear her snoring? Ain't we glad ther'e ain't no grown folks to meddle? Can't we have fun ?" "What'll we play?" asked Frances, who had deliberately stepped in a mud puddle on the way, and splashed mud all over herself, "let's make mud pies." "Naw, we ain't a-going to make no mud pies," objected Jimmy, "We can make mud pies all time when grown folks 'r' looking at you," "Let's play sumpin' what we ain't never play, sense we's born," put in Dilly. "I hope grandmother won't miss me," said Lina, "she's reading a very interesting book." "Let's plan Injun!" yelled Jimmy; "we ain't never play' Injun." This suggestion was r'eceived with howls of delight. "My mama's got a box of red stuff that she Puts on her face when she goes to card parties. She never puts none On when she just goes to tihe Aid. I can run home and get the box to make us red like Injuns," said IFrances. "My mother has a box of paint, too." "I ain't never see Aunt Minerva put no red stuff onj her face," remarked IBilly, disappointedly. "Miss Minerva, she don't never let the Major' come to see her, nor go to no car'd parties, is th0e reason," ex ilained the younger boy, "rho just goes to the Aid where they ain't no meon, and you don't hafter put no red on your face at the Aid. We'll let you have some of our paint, Billy. My mama's got 'bout a million diff'ent kinds(1." "We got to have pipes," was Fran Ces's next suggestion. "My papa's got 'bout a million pip~es," boastedl Jimmy, "but he got 'em to the office, I spec'." "Father has a meerschauim." "Aunt Minerva ain't got no pipe." "Miss Minerva's 'bout the curiousest woman they is," said Jimmy; "she ain't got nothing a tall; she ain't got no paint and she ain't got no pipe." "Ladies don't use pipes, and wve can do without thenm anyway," saidl Lina, "but we must have feathers; all Indians wear feathers." ."I'll get my mama's duster," said Jimmy. "Me, too," chimed in Frpmnces. IHere Billy With flying colors came to the fore ptnd redeemed Miss Mineor va's waning reputation. "Aunt Minerva's got a great, big buncher tu'key feathers' 1 Cau tit 'em right n9w," and te aitW g flew into the house and wa a a few seconds. "We must have blankets, of.a said Lina, with the air of one whe word is law; "mother has a genuine Navajo." "I got a little bow'narruh what Santa Claus bringed me," put in Jim. my. "We can use hatchets for toma. hawks," continued the little girl. "Come on, Frances; let us go home and get our things and come back here to dress up. Run, Jimmy, get your things! You, too, Dillyl" she commanded. The children ran breathlessly to their homes nearby. and collected the different articles necessary to trans form them into presentable Indians. They soon returned, Jimmy duwrp/" ing his load over the fence and t Pm. bling after; and the happy quarette sat down on the grass in Miss pNiner va's yard. First the paint boxeb were opened and generously shardd with Billy, as with their handkercbiefs they spread thick layers of rouge,bver their charming, bright, mischieVous litt faces. The feather decoration, was next in order. "How we goin' to malW these feath era stick?" asked -Billy. They were In a dilemma till the re sourceful Jimmy came to the rescue. "Wait a minute," he cried, "I'll be back 'fore you can say 'Jack Robin soil'." He rolled ove' the fence and was back in a few minutes, gleefully hold ing up a bottle. "This muc-lage '11 make 'em stick," he panted, almost out of breath. Lina assumed charge of . the head dresses. She took Billy first, rubbed the mucilage well into his sunny curls, .and filled his head full of his aunt's turkey feathers, leaving them to stick out awkwardly in all directions and at all angles. Jimmy and Frances, after robbing their mothers' dusters, were similarly decorated, and last, Lina, herself, was tastefully arrayed by the combined efforts of the other three. At last all were in readiness. Billy, regardless of consequences had pinned his aunt's newest g blanket around him and was vie with satisfied admiration, its length trailing on the grass bc him; Lina had her mother's trea, Navajo blanket draped aroun graceful little figure; Frances pulling the covers off of sever and finding nothing to suit h( fiul taste, had snatched a silk afghan from the leath,' in the library. It was an a affair of intricate pattern. stitches, and beautiful c with a purple velvet border low satin lining. She hr one corner of it through t die and torn a big rep place. Jimmy was glorit red blanket, carrying . and arrow. "I'm going to be th. hie boaited. "I'm going to b a T, parroted Frances. "Chief, nothing! all time trying t You 'bout the . they Is. You c you got tobe 'r' name' squ chiefs. I'm li-self." "You ce:.. my," rep to say 'b'li\ "Yes, ait ting By l's a nd Vm g [.!....{ ".Wrell, I a said ' Lina pri me to be geomn genteel. ."I tell you Frances, "you 'Cowv' is genute 'em." "Naw, I ain't no cow, neither,' Indian, "you all ti somebody to be nax "lHe can't be nam now entered the dl he ain't 110 girl. WI name' 'Settin' Steer'? i, teel, Lina?" he anxious "Yes, lie can be namea Steer'," she granted. Jimmy agreax' to the compromise, peace wasem more restored. "Frances and Lina got to be thg squashes-" he began. "It isn't 'squashes,' it is '5quaWs?" corrected Lina. "Yes, 'tis squashes too," persistes, Jimmy, "'cause it's in the Bible and Miss Cecilia 'splained it to me and she's 'bout the high-steppingest 'splainer they is. Me and Billy is ths - chiefs," he shouted, capering around' "andl you and Frances is the squashes . and got to have papooses strop' to your back." "Bonnie Dick can be a papoose," suggested Billy. "I'm not going to be a Injun squash if I got to have a nigger papoose sti apped to my back;" cried an In dignant Frances. "You can strap hise to your own back, Billy,". "But I, ain't no squash," objecte# that little Indian. "We can have our dolls for papoos, es," said Lina, going, to the swing where the dolls had been left, Billy pulled a piece of string fr'om lisa pock. et and the babies were safely strappel to their mothers' backs. With statell treaid, headed by Sitting Steer, the children marched bar'k and forth nacross the lawn in indian file. So absorbed were they in playina 1ndian~ that they forgot the flight 01 time until their chief suddeniy stopped, ali his brave valor gone aS lie pointed with trembling finger ug - the street. (3ro 13m1 rOnTanntu