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Show I A SINGULAR BIRD Dy EDWARD DATY Copyrljht by Amrrlcati I'rrsa Association, Asso-ciation, 1911. "AIlss Uarkcr, I reckon wo uns have had enough o this uiutrlmoiil.il business. busi-ness. Anyway, I have, seeln' your busbnli' he's run nwny with my wife." "IV mean, Mr. Todler, thet your wlfo run away with my husban.' " "It's Just as bad ono way ns t'other. I'm goln' to shut my baby boy up and never let him seo n gal," said Mr. Tod-ler. Tod-ler. "I was thlnklu' o' dolu' tho snmo with my baby gal." "Wo mought do It up hyur lu theso moundngs and bring 'cm clean up without tho boy scclu' a gal or tho gal n boy." "It's poweiful lousomo. Nobody over comes up hyar unless It's rev-cnuo rev-cnuo men looklu' fo' stills." "Waal, inornin', Miss' Darke'.." "Mornlu', Jlr. Todler. Tho homes of theso two persons wcro far up In tho highlands of cast Tennessee. Ten-nessee. They wero successful In keeping keep-ing their children from seeing ono of tho opposlto sox till they wero sixteen years old. Then tho boy demanded n gun. Ills father gavo him ono on condition con-dition (hat ho never hunt off tho lu-closure. lu-closure. Hut ono day tho youngster followed n bird from treo to treo till bo got on to Mrs. Hnrkcr's premises. There, sitting under n treo knitting, he saw Miss Darker. They looked at each other lu astonishment "Oh, mother," called tho girl, "como hero! There's tho funniest thing you over saw!" Dut Mrs. Darker was not within hearing. "You mean," said j-oung Todler, "(hat you aro the funniest thing In tho world. Queer, Isn't Itl You can tnlk Just llku a man, only your voice Is different." "You must be some kind of a woman." wom-an." "You must bo hoiuo kind of a man. "I know; mother often told me that (hero was a thing like you that I must keep it way from. Sho says they poison poi-son women's lives. She's always been afraid I'd meet ono of them." "I'op'H (old mo tho snmo thing nbolit what he calls a sho man. Ho said ono of them wrecked Ills life." "Well," sal.I the girl, "I don't seo anything so terrlhlo about you." "Nor I about you." She upprouchcil him, put her baud on bis shoulder, drew It nway quickly, put it on bis ueek, took off his bat nnd combed his hair with ber fingers. Ho touched her cheek. "Aro yon going to blto mo?" sho asked. "Not I. llavo you got any poison about you'f" "I'oNon! No. Why do you nsk thai?" "Pop says theso sho men aro vipers That means snakes. Most snakes nro poisonous." "Your pop must bo horrid." Sho pntted his cheek "with tho palm of ber hand. IIo put bis arm around her walsl With (ho other bnnd ho pulled her chin n round nenr his face. Instinct told him to touch bis lips to hers. "Isn't flint nice'" ho said. "Kind ' nice.' "Do you wish mo to do It again?" "I don't care." IIo did It again and again. Then ho noticed her hnlr done tip In a knot at tho back of her head, Pulling nt It, ho nt last got the hairpins out, and tho coll fell on her shoulder. "Dy gum!" ho exclaimed. "What In thunder do you let your hnlr grow lllto dial for?" "Why do you cut yours off?" Following u unturnl Inclination, theso two young things clung to each other, tho boy winding his arms nbout the girl and tho girl nbout tho boy. "I'm thinking" snld tho girl. "About w'"t :" "My mom Iris warned me against )uur Mud. and jour pup has warned you against my kind. If wo tell them i anything nbout this they'll tie us both up the way they do the dogs." "Wo needn't toll." I "Supposo wo don't." They concluded that they wero loo near the she-man's mother for safety, so they strolled away to u safo distance dis-tance and remnlneil together several hours When they separated tho he woman kissed her, w-hlch -shows plain-lj plain-lj that lovers' kisses at meeting and parting nro u matter of Instinct. When tho girl went Into tho bouse and met ber mother sho said not a word about tho Queer crcaturo sho had met. And tills shows that a prime law of lint mo with tho sox is to get tho belter of each other, whichenables thorn to get tho better of their husbands. hus-bands. Her mother asked her where sho had been so long, nnd sho snld she had been out lu tho woods listening to a frog croaking in tho creek. A queer Round camo from It she had never heard before. When tho boy went homo his father asked him If ho had had any luck, no replied that he had seen u bird of paradise, but It was so beautiful ho hadn't tho heart to kill It Ills father suspected from an absendmludcdncss about his boy that ho had peen a girl, IIo asked what tho bird looked like. "Pretty jjcar as big as I a big topknot top-knot at tho bnck of Its head end no logs. At least I could not seo any." Tho father groaned, Tho noxt day Mr. Todler hold a conferonco with Mrs. Darker, with the result that Todlor took his son to her houso, a rnlmstor snld things over tho two youngsters, and thoy wcro told that each could keop tho other for a pot. r , .flBBJBjBP$ r ( W?'-'' l ,-y-"S--"l ' |