The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-09-16

time of his marriage, and on every
occasion inquired whether his future
father in laws opinion had under
gone any change; but the answer was
always in the negative; old Harris
remained obdurate. Tom always said
But never mind; wait till were
married; I'll be even with him then
Aliens period of total abstinence
from tobacco previous TO his marriage
continued for about seven months
and then, on taking up the newspaper
one day, L saw the announcement Ol
his union with Miss Harris. Poor
Tom" thought, II wonder if he s
had a pipe vet" Then l began to
wonder whether he would succeed In
his endeavor to overcome his father
in-law's scruples. / was inclined to
think that he would, for Allen was a
man of indomitable energy, and usu-
ally succeeded in any matter he took
in hand,
1 saw no more of Tom Allen during
the next three months, for business
| had detained me out of town, when
one dav. as [ was passing up Regent
Street. whom should | see but Master
Tom sauntering quietly down the
street. and, wonder Of wonders, be-
tween his lips he held huge Ha-
vana. He had prevailed with Mr..
Harris then, and was free to smoke
when he chose.
"Ah, Howard, old boy" he said,
"glad to see you; SO long since we've
met, when we consider we used to see
each other two or three times a week.
You see I've beaten the old man
smoke fifty cigars day if | like II
| congratulated him on the fact, and
inquired what means he had employ
ed for the purpose of bringing his
father-in-law to reason.
oh" he said, II can't tell you
out here, and to tell you the
truth, [ am rather in a hurry at
the present moment. [ have to
meet Amy at shop in
Piccadilly, and I'm afraid I'm rather
behind time as it is; but if you have
no better engagement for town, and
will favor us with your company at
dinner at six O'Clock, we shall be de-
lighted to see you, and I'll explain
how brought the father-in-law round
to my way of thinking" -
promised to come on the follow
ing day, and we parted.
Accordingly, at the appointed. time
[ presented myself at Aliens door.
| was much pleased with his wife,
most hospitable, pleasant little body,
and | felt myself at'home with her at
once. considered Tom had not
paid too dearly for the privilege of
calling her his wife, especially now
that he was at-hberty again to smoke
as hard as he liked. She gave US an
excellent dinner, towhich we did full
justice; and assoon as the cloth had
been removed, and she had left us to
ourselves, l reminded Tom of his
promise 10 inform me of the means he
had used for obtaining Mr.. Harris's
consent to smoke. co
He laughed and rang the bell.
A boy in buttons came in an
swer to it, to whom my host
gave some instructions In a tone
that was too low to reach my ears. In
few minutes Mr.. Buttons returned.
bearing in his hand metal article
that seemed to me to- be a cross be-
tween pair of bellows and a water
Ing-pOt.s by his masters instructions,
the boy placed this curious looking
machine on the table in front of US,
and then left the room.
L regarded it for a few moments |
steadily, but could not make out what |
it was Noticed handle on one side |
oft, SO that it was evidently a rotatory |
machine of some description.
What in the name of all that's |
mysterious is that?" asked.
That, my friend" replied Tom,
- is the instrument of torture by |
which 1 was enabled to cause my re-
spected father in-law to regard smok- |
ing in a more favorable light than he |
had hitherto DONE" He then pro.
ceeded to speak as follows:
As soon as our honeymoon was
over, Amy and i set our wits to work |
to hit upon a plan for bringing her ia |
Their to reason, and after long consul4 !
tation, decided upon a course which |
we thought would have the desired |
effect. Amy therefore wrote to Mr..
Harris to ask him to spend a few
weeks with US Che is a widower, by
the by, to which request he gracious
ly acceded. The day before his arri- |
val bought that machine which III
see you regarding with such wonder.
1t is a fumigator for the purpose of /
iumigating plants with tobacco, with |
a view to destroying little insects
which frequently congregate upon
them. L also purchased several
pounds of the strongest tobacco
could lay my hands upon. / then set
the boy to work at the machine in
every room of the house, so that the
smoke became so dense that it was
difficult for us to see one an
other. The consequence was, that on
the day of Mr.. Harris's arrival there
was a most sickening stencil of stale
pervading the house. |
[ had told the boy to give the bed |
room intended for Mr.. Harris double |
dose, which he. did. As soon as the |
old gentleman set foot in the hall he |
began to sniff vigorously; then he /
turned upon me a most whitening
look, as much as to imply that I had
broken my word to him. He did not !
say anything to me, however. and |
shortly afterwards [ left him alone
with Amy. Directly | had quilted |
the room, she told me that he had ac-
,used me of having broken my word |
IN regard to the smo king. She posi-
lively stated bat | had never bad a
pipe or cigar IN my mouth |
'lnce the uay OF my marriage, |
aud affected not to perceive the I'M
pleasant odor perYading the house.
/ had given the boy his instruc- /
ions, SO when L rang the bell after
Inner, he entered the room With the
umigator ready for action.
- What on earth is that thing?'
lsked my father in law ,4EAE3 =
" A fumigator," / replied. az must
apologize 10 you, my, dear sir. for
having to make use of this machine, /
,ut the fact is that, finding my diges-
ion much Heakened fran nnt annoL