THE ORIGIN OF A CUSTOM.

Manawatu Herald, 7 June 1898, Page 4

THE ORIGIN OF A CUSTOM.

Bow the First American CUrl Cam* to j Marry » Foreigner. I The mighty chief Powhatan sat on his tenbark throne and waited for the procesBion to appear. It was to be a long procession; for its leading feature was Captain John Smith of England, and Powbatan proposed in his noble, aboriginal mind to make the time of his passing a given point extremely indefinite, not to say permanent. In the words of a later historian, "Powhatan was layin fer John Withaolub." True, he was not in concealment, ready to spring upon the unsuspecting captain ana sandbag him, so to speak, for the captain more than suspected that he was persona non grata to the mighty chief and was aware that at the H»our appointed he was to be brought before Powhatan, and then and there, at a given signal, to lay his head upon a stump 19 order to facilitate the chief's purpose in getting rid of him with promptness and dispatch. ', Presently the enlivening notes of the James River Falls brass band were heard In the distance, and the old chief's face, before frowning at the uncalled for delay, croke into a seraphio smile, and he toyed with his olub merrily. i "What air plays the band?" inquired th» chief of his private seoretary. ! "I believe, sire, it is called 'Goodby, John.' " "How muoh better," sighed Powhatan, "than 'Johnnie Get Tour Gun,' or some other of those seditious and insurrectionary tones the band was accustomed to play before we scalped the leader 1" Powhatan smiled grimly, and the private seoretary bowed with grave deference. ' The musio of the band sounded nearer, and the shouts of the Algonquin Light infantry were wafted in on the soft Virginia air. A few more moments of impatient waiting, and the procession filed down before the tanbark throne. ! Powhatan stood up in all his fuss and feathers, and he looked like an October sunset with fringe on it. 1 Captain Smith had halted directly in front of the chief, and he gazed defiantly at the vermilion landscape before him. "Good morning, John," said Powhatan in the hospitable tones of the old Virginian. "How are you, Blaok-and-tan— excuse me — Powhatan," responded Captain Smith, with the bluff cordiality of the ' Englishman. The chief's face reddened, but it didn't show through. : "Thanks," he said. "I'm ready for business." ! "Reddy is good, " smiled Captain Smith, noting Powhatan's war paint, but Powhatan was not a subscriber to Punch, and this witty sally of the Englishman fell unlee^d. , <<i pj^-^sume," he continued as he balanced his ovT 1^ 003 Btlok to 8 hand witn graceful ease, " that Y on lamr what you are here for?" , I "I fancy," repllea the captain with tiharming naivete and DOi2 a ? mi «. ™a* I am to take the stump and joii? yoiar campaign olub." . j "You guessed it the first time, " sniJted the chief. ' ' But a truce to suoh airy fairy persiflage, ' ' he added. ' ' Take your place. ' ' I Captain Smith was conducted to the ! stump at the foot of the throne, and Powhatan jauntily stepped to his side, twirling ,hisolub as the policemen do on pleasant summer afternoons as they stroll along. * ! "This pillow," laughed the captain as he placed his head on the stump in several positions in order to find a comfortable one, "reminds me of the pillow I had in the ! Pullman ooming up here." i "It's soft enough for my purpose," growled Powhatan, for the first time showing his anxiety to get his work in. ; The chief braced himself, sighted along his olub to get the proper distance, the band played "Annie Laurie, " and he drew back his formidable weapon. A silence, broken only by the mournful musio of the band, fell upon the scene, but it was for an instant only, then a wild cry pierced the stillness, accompanied by a swish of petticoats, and a fair girl stood between the captain and the club, i "Oh, popper," cried Pocahontas, for it was she, the chief's beautiful daughter. "Oh, popper, what are you going to do?" "Baok, girl," he shouted; "back I say, or you'll get it in the neck, sure." ' ' Nay,nay, popper, ' ' she pleaded In sweet, cajoling tones, "I shall not baok. You ■ know not what you are about to do." j "Stand from under for a minute, and you will see if I don't," theohief answered 'sullenly as he let his olub fall by his side. j "But I tell you," she insisted, "that you don't." "Why don't I?" ! "Because you don't." "Because me no beoauses, girl," thundered Powhatan, reaching for his olub. "Have you no other reason than a woman's reason?" ; "Being a woman," she replied haughtily, "1 don't have to have." "Now, Pokie," said Powhatan oares* •lngly, "von get out of this and give your jpapaaohanoe." "tto, popper," she responded as she threw her plump and tawny arm around the neck of the captive captain, "I came here to give Captain Smith a chance and to give every American girl, for all time tooome, a chance," she added in almost traglo tones. 1 "Come off," he growled. I "No, popper," she persisted, "Mr. Smith £nust come oft— off of that stump. Will it ■be necessary for me to give you a map and la diagram before you will understand that [Captain Smith is a foreigner, that I am an {American girl of marriageable age and [that the entente oordiale between the two [touat and shall be preserved? Don't you {know that you owe something to posterity and the future social conditions of this (great and glorious republio? Popper, popper," she pleaded, "can't you see that your jpooahontas is endeavoring to establish a (precedent that will stand for all time?" ) Powhatan hesitated. Alight as of a ■tew day was breaking In upon his aboriginal perception. ! "Old man,!' exclaimed Captain Smith, {taking the stump with his feet instead of Ibis head, "Pocahontas has called you, and lyou've got to show down." Powhatan Jflropped Ws gory olub in supreme disgust. f\ "Tell that confounded band to play 'Tommy Atkins,' " he commanded his 'private seoretary. 1 ''I guess I'll take you," said Pooabontas {to the captain as he came down off the iftump. "Please guess again, " said John. Bui despite this ungallant and ungenerous rebuff history records the fact that [Pocahontas was the first American girl to marry a foreigner.— W. J. Lampton In : Life.

. I [ • No Help For It. Miss Summit (lunching with Castleton) , —I really don't feel as if I oould eat h [tiling, Mr. Castleton. ! Castleton (resignedly to waiter) — Bring ,ln the whole bill of to*— New York Herm.-- ..