The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1857-06-11

on--nsver thinking Of the effect Twas produc
ing, only hoping should not he confused, AM
stop altogether until came to the joke whicl
Hal Brent had sppiauied the night before
Then paused, and stole glance around; bu
not a soul even smiled!
What turn it gave me /! Pshaw I was &C
tually sick
But was In for II! gulped down my feel
,ngs, and read on. One of my good things afte
another was come to, and passed, and not
clap ora smile did Telicit! | began to fee
like hiding under the tablet The most opal
pable hit'' would have been failure il hat
read it with that sinking heart and pMches
tongue.
! I saw on the deska glass Of water. seizet
it--drank, and was refreshed instantly.
gathered courage for one desperate effort
made it, and gave forth my very best joke
For an instant there wss dumb silence, and
then-oh, delight inexpressible III. was greet.
ed by loud, hearty "Ha-HA!' from one in.
dividual, and that setting Others going, there
was for an instant merry shaking Of the all
/
That knocked the 6re into my eyes, and ths
fun into nv voice went on with g,isto! Not
one hit failed afterwards, and was astonish.
ed half dozen times by sudden merrimen
where had not intended joke at all!
After the lecture, friends crowded around to
congratulate me; among others Ned Gwynne.
We locked arms, and walked home togeth-
er.
"You had narrow escape, Al, can tell
you'll he said. "Yonr lecture was funny,
but folks would never have known it If some
one had not given them the cue. They never
do. They would have listened to the whole
of it; as il you had been reading the lamenta-
tions OF jeremiah, il had not come out with
that rousing ha--ha Did you see how il set
folks off?"
Now, Ned" said, "you are making that
out of whole cloth That was not you. |
knew well enough BY the sound of it, that that
lucky ha--ha was spontaneous. And that is
why 1t was SO irresistible. Come, don't
shear me Of my hnnors, and make ont that the
audience did not laugh at me, but at youw
"Fact," said Ned-'sa humiliatng fact! II
is quite absolutely necessary that you should
come down off your high horse! IL you are
the lackv man, Iput the fish in your mouth,
when you were foundering in your Mile Of
trouble! saved You. All would have been
mp with yo'l, ii had not come IN with my ha
--ha and Sc. them off like mad But you arc
right, too. Il was no trick. II was geni-
inc spontaneous laugh, as you say--and pll tell
you what occasioned it Standing up there.
desperately reading off your jokes, without
exciting one smile-you did look SO like a
He WAS ont of arms reach. and the last |
heard of him that night, was the same irresis-
tibly funny Ha-HA! echsing at brief inter-
yals along tfe street he .ook!
But for all that, have held Ned Gwynne as
my friend in time Of need ever since.
LLrrING Down THE ARIsrocRAcv.-The
elegant Miss Mason, whose father had made
splendid rtune as an enterprising draper
and tailor, appeared at this magnificent enter
tainmen: in royal apparel. With that fastid-
ious exclusiveness FOR which the latest com.rs
into fashionable circles are the most remarka-
BILE, she refused various offers of introduction,
as she di: not wish to extend the number Of
her acqnaintances: ..her friends were few aud
very select.'
The beautiful Miss Taylor, radiant with
good natured smiles, and once well acquainted
wi Miss Msson, when they went to the pub
lie school in William street together, noticed
the haatear Of her ancient friend, who was de-
termined not to recognize one who would only,
remind her of her former low estate. But
Miss Taylor, the rogue, as clever as she was
pretty, determined to bring her up with short
turn, and not submit to being snubbed by one
whose ancestral associations were no better
than her own. Watching her chance when
the naughty young lady.wa. in the midst Of
her set, Miss Taylor walked up, and with
smiles Of winning sweetness remarked,
81 have been thinking, my dear Miss Ma
son that we ought to exchange Names"
why, indeed 20
"Because my name is Taylor, and my father
was q Masoa, and ycur name is Mason, but
your father was tailor"
There was scene then, but there was no
help for it. The little Miss Taylor had the
pleasure Of saying very cute thing, which
was soon repeated in the ears of dozen cir
cles. aad the wits wished to see her, but the
proud Miss Mason bit her lip in silence.
------------------
The LADIES CAsED IN BRAss.-Most OF the
brass mills IN Connecticut are busy preparing
the brass hoops which ladies wear In ii cir
skirts. The Winstsd Herald says tina. the new
brass mill Al Plymouth, is engaged upon an
order for 1000 pounds OF these strips Of brass;
and that an average Of TOO pounds daily 10 sent
to New York by railroad. The Waterbury
riIls are also manufacturing brass hoops.
The ladies' say, however, that the steel hoops
are the best, as they do not bend or break 50
easily as the brass ones.
W-
Coin CoMFoRr.--A passenger on board q
ship bound for California, who had been sea-
sick all the way out to the line, one day went
to the Doctor in sad, supplica atins tone, ana
accostej him with:
t.Doctor, can you tell ma what shall be
good for when ] get 10 San Francisco, il keep
on in this way?"