THE ORIGIN OF A CUSTOM.

Manawatu Herald, 14 May 1904, Page 4

THE ORIGIN OF A CUSTOM.

Bow the First American Girl Cana* to Marry a Foreigner. f Tho mighty chief Powhatan sat on his tanbark throne and waited for tho procession to appear. It was to be a long procession, for its leading feature was Capjtain John Smith of England, and Powhatan proposed in his noble., aboriginal mind to make the time of his passing a given point extremely indefinite, n6t\'to pay permanent. In the words of a later historian, “Powhatan layin feor John with a club.” True,die was not in concealment, ready to spring upon tho unsuspecting captain and sandbag him, so to speak, for the captain more than suspected that ho was persona non grata to tho inighty chief and was aware that at tho hour appointed he was to be brought before Powhatan, and then and there, at a given signal, to lay his head upon a stump fn order to facilitate the chief’s purpose in getting rid of Him with promptness and dispatch. Presently tho enlivening notes of tho James River Palls brass band were heard in tho distance, and the old chief’s face, before frowning at the uncalled for delay, broke Into a seraphic sxnllo, and he toyed . With his club merrily. 1 ‘ What air plays the band? ’ ’ inquired the chief of his private secretary. “I believe, sire, it Is called ‘ Qoodby, John.’ ” : “How much better," sighed Powhatan, "than ‘Johnnie Get Your Gun,’ or some other of those seditious and insurrectionary tunes the band was accustomed to play before we scalped tho loader I" Powhatan smiled grliply, and the private secretary bowed with grave deference. The music of tho band sounded nearer, end 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. Captain Smith had halted directly in front of the chief, and ho gazed defiantly at the vermilion landscape before him. "Good morning, John,” said Powhatan In the hospitable tones of the old Virginian. “How are you, Black-and-tan—excuse me— Powhatan,” responded Captain Smith, with tho bluff cordiality of the Englishman. Tho 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 tho Englishman iV’.! unheeded. "I presume,” he continued as he balanced his cordwood stick In his hand with graceful ease, “that you know what you are here forf” “I fancy,” replied the captain with charming naivete and bonhomie, "that 1 urn to take the stump and join your campaign club.” “You guessed it the first time,” smiled the chief. “But a truce to such airy fairy persiflage,” hoadded. “Take your place." Captain Smith was conducted to the stump at the foot of the throne, and Powhatan jauntily stepped to his side, twirling his club 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 mo of tho pillow I had in the Pullman coming up here.” “It’s soft enough for my purpose,” growled Powhatan, for the first time showing his anxiety to get his work in. Tho chief braced himself, sighted along ids club to get the proper distance, the band played “Annie Laurie,’’and he drew back his formidable weapon. A silence, broken only by the mournful music of tho band, fell upon tho scene, but as for an instant only, then a wild cry it >. the stillness, accompanied by a we ttlcoats, and a fair girl stood swish 01 . captain and the club, between the v „ crle( j p oca h 0 ntag, for ft *’s beautiful daughter, was she, the ohlm to dof* “Oh, popper, «re .w. «"*,«£ *»' “Back, girl,” ho shouted; 1 ““»• or you’ll get it In the neck, sin ; . , “Nay,nay, popper,”shepleadea . cajoling tones, U I shall not back.* . know not what you are about to do. ‘ j “Stand from under for a minute, an , you will see if I don’t,” the chief answered sullenly as he let his club fall by his side. “But I tell you,” she insisted, "that yon don’t.” ' “Why don’t If” “Because you don’t.” “Because me no becauses, girl,” thun dared Powhatan, reaching for his club. “Have you no other reason than a woman’s reason?” “Being a woman,” she replied haughtily, “I don’t have to have.” "Now, Pokie,” said Powhatan caressingly, "you get out of this and give your papa a chance.” "No, 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 to came, a chance,” she added In almost teagio tones. “Como off,” he growled. “No, popper," she persisted, "Mr. Smith must come off—off of that‘Stump. Will ft be necessary for me to give you a map and a diagram before you will understand that Captain-Smith is a foreigner, that I am an American girl of marriageable age and that the entente cordlale between the two must and shall be preserved? Don’t you know that you owe something to posterity and the future social conditions of this great and glorious republic? Popper, popper,” she pleaded, "can't you see that your Pocahontas is endeavoring to establish a precedent that will stand for all time?" ] Powhatan hesitated. A light as of • new day was breaking in upon his aborIgthatßerpeptlon. -"Qld-tßjan,” exclaimed Captain Smith, tsklnAtie stump with his feet Instead of 'lhls^oM?vPocahontas has called you, and you've gob to show down.” Powhatan dropped his gory dub In supreme disgust. “Tell that confounded band to play ‘Tommy Atkins,’" he commanded hit private secretary. ‘' I guess I’ll take you, ’ ’ said Pocahontas to the captain as he came down off the stump. “Please guess again,” said John. | But 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. No Help For It. Miss Summit (lunching with Castleton) —I really don’t feel as if - 1 could eat a thing, Mr. Castleton. ' Castleton (resignedly to waiter)—-Bring tn the whole bill of fare;—New York Herald.