Basketball stories; College students -- Juvenile fiction; Women college students -- Juvenile fiction; Young women -- Juvenile fiction
The old woman looked up and almost smiled. Perhaps she could see a good
joke herself.
“It will—come—” she hesitated. The smoke was getting thin and its
clouds were evidently difficult to translate. Finally she actually
opened her mouth and swallowed what she could inhale of the vapor.
Judith laughed outright, but Jane kept her eyes on the Indian in abject
and wrapt attention. If she failed to “foretell” it would not be Jane’s
fault.
“Firehead shall have her wish,” she exclaimed triumphantly, and Mr.
Allen jumped to his feet to put the period on the “Kibosh.” He had had
enough of the Indian rubbish, and felt the girls had about all they
could enjoy.
It may seem bromidic to say the Indian rubbed her palms as Mr. Allen
thrust his in his pockets, she may even have suffered some irritation
from the smoke she had been gathering, at any rate when Mr. Allen
handed her over a good clean green dollar, she all but kissed it, the
girls would have testified.
“From New York?” asked Woo Nah as they prepared to leave.
“Yes,” replied Judith crisply.
“Woo Nah has friend New York. He make beauty,” she patted her cheek to
illustrate how her friend made beauty in New York.
“Oh, a beauty doctor,” interrupted Jane.
“Yes, he send to Woo Nah and Woo Nah give the beauty medicine.” She
hobbled over to a box and raising the cover displayed a lot of dried
herbs or possibly weeds.
“Young lady like?” she asked.
“Why, yes. If it will give us beauty,” replied Jane with a quizzical
smile at Judith, who was whispering to Mr. Allen.
“Make tea and wash hair with this,” and Woo Nah picked up a handful of
the dried leaves. “I put the sunset water in bottle,” she took a small
vial, into which she poured, from the big brown bottle, a very
carefully measured out quantity of the colorless fluid. “This is for
the face, and in the morning the beauty shines,” she declared. Jane
accepted the little bottle with a show of gratitude. Judith was still
the doubter, and made queer eyes during all the presentation speech.
“We have had a lovely time,” she did take the trouble to express. “Woo
Nah, when you come to New York to see your friend the beauty doctor,
you must look for us. Ask for Wellington College,” she finished, and,
as if both girls could imagine that old Indian paying them a social
call at the aristocratic Wellington, Jane and Judith bolted for the
cabin door, and breathed more freely when out again in the refreshing
air and struggling sunshine. It had cleared now and the sun was coming
out.
“Oh, Aunt Mary!” exclaimed Jane contritely gathering up the bag and
book. “Did we keep you too long?”
“I have my book,” answered Miss Allen, who had been out of doors during
all the seance. “Did you enjoy it?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account