Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1866-12-15

| She had by this time divested herself
OF the impression that it was her usual
~ sober spouse, who must have come
home IN an unusually excited condition
thus to indulge in such an unwonted
expression of affection. "Get out eet
out! | say. Who are you, anyhow !
Murder thieves! Hetty, come here
Here's man kissing me like mad :"
But the intruder had by this time
discovered his mistake-it did not need
the indignant pummeling and scratch
ing of the old ladys fists to cause him
to relinquish his hold and fly as if pur-
sued by some indignant ghost. Hetty,
nearly choking with smothered laughter
In spite of trepidation. now came to the
rescue.
81 was never so frightened in all my
life F.! The mean scamp. WLo can it be,
Hetty?"
But that dutiful daughter was, to all
appearances, as innocent as a turtle
dove. She soothed the old lady by
representing that it might have been
one of the neighbors who, having drank
too much, had mistaken the house and
the housewife She searched the entry
for the missing spectacles, dropped in
the scufle, re-arrarged the rumpled cap
border, wound up the tangled yarn,
stirred the fre-all in the most amiable
manner possible-and at length had the
satisfaction of seeing her mother SUBJ
side into her chair, and her accustomed
tranquility.
! Mrs. Thomas was fully awake now.
She had new idea in her head, and
instead of settling for another nap, she
pursued the train of thought and her
knitting, both at the same time, with
wonderful rapidity At length stopping
and looking keenly at Hetty-"I sup
pose it's queer idea of mine, Hetty,
but have notion that man was 'Siah
Hawley."
My but if Hetty's face did not fire
up then You might have lit candle
by it. These incipient symptoms did
not escape the wary inquisitor. "'Pears
SO to me, because those big whiskers
were so much like his'n, and the awk-
ward way he gripped me with his great
paws"
Hetty was wonderfully busy She
bent over her work and drew the needle
through SO quickly that tie thread
snapped, and then she was so much en-
gagged in threading the needle again
that she didn't have time to answer.
81 don't believe that kiss was meant for
me after all. Wonder who it was in
tended for? and I wonder if you don't t
know something about it, Hetty Pr
"Me! mother?" eyes, you, Hetty
You was mighty anxious to get me and
pap off to Aunt Ruth's tits evening,
but l noticed that you were slicked up
extraordinary, for all you warn't going.
Now, Hetty, l am getting old 9; l know
it; but haven't quite lost my eyesight
yet. I've heard something about this
between you and 'Siah Hawley. Now
what are you playing possum for !? Out
with it, say !'
Our little schemer, thus adjured,
made a clean breast of it; much re-
lieved to find that "mother hadn't moth
in agin him." and would "give father
talk about it, and bring him round. E"
''But, Hetty, | want you to tell 'Siah
I'd rather he'd not make such a mis-
take again I don't like the feel of his
big whiskers about my face; I don't
approve of promiscuous kissing"
'Siah never heard the last of that
bluuder. Old Squire Thomas used to
delight to rehearse the story whenever
all the parties interested happened to be
present. He would shake his fat sides
at Josiah's discontinue and his wife
tart replies, and Hetty would join him,
and both would laugh until tears ran
down their cheeks.
"Never mind, 'Siah," Mrs. Thomas
would say consolingly; "let him laugh.
He'd have been only too glad to have
been in your place twenty years ago.
He had hard work to get a kiss from
me then. And hope it will be les
son to you and Hetty agin the impolicy
of concealment and underhand doings
of all sorts.''