Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1868-12-31
A FA M IL Y JAR,
AND WHAT CAME OF IT.
~ OSCAR DALE.

TWAS one cold, rainy evening in the earl
part of December. We all sat down to th
supper table as usual, bat not apparently i
our usual good humor.
BY call, mean our family, which con
sisted of Father, Mother, my two sisters
Clara and Llzzie-Bob and myself.
Bob Carver was one of our family, as b
said, "by brevet." His mother and m,
mother had been friends In girlhood, ans
had never outgrown their intimacy. Eve
since Bob had lived in the city he hat
boarded al our house, aud he seemed lik,
one of us.
lie was jolly good fellow and appeared
10 think good deal of US all, especially
Clara, wholly the way,did not seem to care
particularly for him, though of course she
liked him "well enough, as we all did.
The relations between these two hat
caused me some painful consideration.
liked Bob very much, and would have beer
glad to have him in the family more fully
than "by brcvet,' Besides this. my regard
for him made me feel warm sympathy fol
his unreclprocatcd affection for Clara. was
in love myself, and thought that if Maggie
Cranston showed as much indifference to
me as Clara sometimes did towards Bob, that
should have been inexpressibly miserable.
Besides this, Clara seemed to take good
deal of pleasure in the company of that stu
pid Jim Bayne, whose chief delight seemed
to consist in talking about religion, politics
and other subjects, which bored me :ntoler-
ably. was nineteen, and poetlcal.
To give an idea Of what sort of fellow he
was, will relate a little incldent:-
asked him one day what he thought OF
Longfclow's Excelsior"
swell" he said, II guess its pretty good
piece, but never could see what 1t is all
about. should like to know what the in
sane young man with flag was rushing up
the mountain mid snow and ice for, and
what mountain it was."
That satisfied me that Bayne, was a stupid
fellow. He might have brains, as Clara said
he had, but they were not Of q very fine
quality, and he was lacking in taste.
1t always seemed to me that Lizzie would
have suited Bob better thar Clara, any how.
They were both fond Of music, and often
played and sung together. But they never
got along smoothly together. They did not
appear 10 agree about anything but music,
and they quarrclled about that. Yet they
would still practice together. Their voices
harmonized well, aud suppose they toler-
ated each other for the sake of the music.
never could understand Ijzzie's conduct
towards Bob. 1t was absurd. Some of his
ideas that she argued against with all her
might when he stated them, she as warmly
defended in conversation with the rest of us.
believe she delighted in being contrary.
Mother sometimes rebuked her for her
petulance to Bob, but Father said 1t made no
difference: il was customary for musical
people to quarrel. He was quick tempered
himself, and Lib was more like him than any
Of the rest Of us were.
But to return to that December.evening.
As have said, the weather was bad. For
that reason, suppose, the boy had failed to
leave the evening paper. II is grave mat
Ter TO be left without your evening paper
when the weather is too bad to go down
town for one. 1t was a grave matter to us.
especially, as It was Fathers custom to read
the interesting bits of gossip and short items
aloud after supper, before we left the table,
and we had come to look ON IL as sort of
dessert and il often started pleasant CONVEX
sation.
When Father came in. he asked for the
paper, and said, "confound the bow"
When Rob came in he asked for the paper.
and went up stairs to change his boots.
rrumblinp ont something about hanging the
boy 10 the nearest lamn-post.
The girls were IN A bad bumor. because
thew had been unable IN pet ont that after
MON n, n halliday shonn;nr ex,edi,,or
While Mo,her was worr;od hocarso ,ho
bread had M, ,urnod out well and ,he hrcL-
wheat cakes showed = tepdencv to becomo
sour
M,har ,,;d s,,,o,,,,. .h.u, ,,,o ,,n..,