Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-01-04
From Beadle's Monthly
Mrs. Roundabout's Trip.

6guaEEeE 10 Glgnb NOW D1lEaUQa
must be off IN five minutes; for, you
know, l take five minutes to walk to
walk to the deck, and five minutes to
see that every thing is ready, and the
boat starts at eight precisely. If you
have any little errands or messages,
you must talk fast"
Mrs. Roundabout smiled For, up-
wards of hundred times, in the course
of the seven years of their married life
had she heard her liege lord, at exact
ly that hour in the morning, utter the
same speech-almost word for word
and the identical hurried tone he had
assumed.
My dear and the smile vanished
as the little woman put on a very mat
er Of-fact expressiOn-'I have no er-
rends Of my own to day but [ have a
favor to ask ofyou nevertheless. The
widow LaWton is going to the city this
morning, and as she has three small
children, and, consequently, a great
! deal to look after before she starts,
she may be a minute OF two late. |
wish you would wait the boat Just two
minutes If she shouldn't happen to be
/ here precisely ateight. You know
/ it is Lucille LawtOu !" Mrs Round
about uttered this last sentence in a
peculiar tone accompanying 1t with a
knowing smile for Mrs. LaWton,
in her maidenhOod, had once been
sweetheart of the captains, and his
wife now delighted to break down his
growing sedateness by an occasional
/ reference to this interesting period of
his youth.
on surprise me, Miranda 1t is
folly to make such a request, and the
austeTe man stepped to the glass, pull
ed up his collar and donned his hat
"Y ou once offered to wait seven years
I for Lucille, you know, added Mrs.
t Roundabout tauntingly.
Cannon III not wait my boat
two minutes for her now, nor any 9th
/ er WoHaan-not even my wife. and the
4 captain darted deWn the walk.
/ s'4Ne'il see, some day the little Wo-
man said to herself as she watched him
uoWn the street. We'll see
( Captain Roundabout was called the
Dunctual man He prided himself
on his punctuaIity. With most men,
/ this quality is regarded as a strong
point, but with our hero it had become
almost weakness. He ran a small
+ steamer from the town of Granville to
a neighboring city, making round trip
each day, and his boat always started
on the minute. IF he saw persons hur-
1 riedly approaching when the time was
up, he did not wait but the plank was
ordered In on the second, and the
4 breathless passengers would often
reach the dock just as the boat had
passed beyond leaping distance BY
this rigid adherence to pUnctuallty,
he made many enemies and was fre
I NAr- ~ sr7h hIaat Of hTAknv o
but his fellow toWnsmen soon learned
his rules and governed themselves ac-
cordingly.
Captain Roundabout had reached
the sober age of thirty-fve before he
married; and then be united his lot
with a -ay young miss who had been
quite a belle and something of a CO.
quette Itwas a mystery to his friends
how he came to fancy Miranda YER
non; but notwithstanding the surmises
and prophecies Of neighbOrs, she had
always been a faithful and affectionate
wife. Butts delighted to tease her
husband. Those energies which she
had given to eOquetry during her
maidenhood. she now devoted to in
/ noeent pranks upon her more sedate
lord; and his propensity for punctual-
ity was often selected as the target for
her wiles.
In the course of few weeks, Mrs.
, Roundabout accompanied tho captain
to the city She had often taken the
trip with him before; but this was ia
p ted to be a more Interesting event than
any Of her previous excursions. Ar
i irving at the dock. she bade her hus-
band" "goodby, and, as was her custom
{ went up town to pass the four hours
: which must expire before the boat
would return, in shopping and calling
on city friends.
DUST as the steamers bell was zstrik.
ing its last stroke, the little woman ap-
peared in sight, walking very leisurely
towards the dock. She might have
Il been on board some fifteen minutes
before; but she had been waiting In q
y neighboring store so as to make hel
0 appearance precisely at the hour fol
. starting. She had resolved to ''see" Il
! her husband would wait for her. Cap
3 tain Roundabout was in the pilot house
at the time; and must have recognized
her. Orders were given to haul In the
plank and cast off the lines. Mrs
Y Roundabout, with an armful of bun
dies, waved her parasOl beseechingly
and quickened her pace. But her hus
Q banp totally dlsregarded her signals
9 3 and by the time she had put her indig
Q nant foot upon the plate of the dock
the boat was full twenty feet off, thr
wheels beginning to move brIskly.
Mrs. Roundabout's first thought wa
to burst into tears, for she could no
believe that her husband was so hard
hearted. Her next thought was t.
y halloo for him to come back and tax
her on board But she quietly cho
ked back her emotion, and after a mo
ment's reflection, deemed it useless &
cry to the captain besides, the ae
would only increase the unpleasantnes
of her position, should the passenger
: learn that she was the captains wife
With a toss of her head that Rounda
!, bout dhotfail t0-see (and which oaus
4 ed him To oinXo IN tarily quail for the mo
i- ment9 she t8ok ber eyes from the nov
fast reoeding steamer to let them fal
square on Chris. Freeman, q gay bach
! elor, who had once been the rival o