The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1868-12-26

4
| believe we had some underlined ide;
that the mighty fowl mi chit have bccl
despatched at the eleventh hour by pat
tern post, and be delivered with his
blue drumstcks hanging cut at one enc
of the parcel, and his red watt!es dc
pending from the other Ours is &
semi-detachcd maisoncttc, and the
gravel walks that lead up to our dool
and to our nci ghbor's are merely sep
Grated bv low wire railing; consc
quentlv, when foot treads on either
it is heard with equal distinctness IN
one house and the other, and for Il mo-
ment it remains matter of speculation
for which the new conner is bound
Twice was the cup of hope raised to
our lips by such football, and twice
was it dashed down again, as we woke
to the painful truth that the GRAND was
not to us. Once sustained converse
ton carried on in the ncighboring gar
den boiled up my wife's excitement to
fever point, and at last, declaring that
it was evident that there was some mis-
take which wanted clearing up, she
insisted on my going out to examine
the night and be in the way to rectify
any misunderstanding.
The voices of the night came from
the scvant next door and railway
porter Notwithstanding the extreme
lowness of the temperature, he seemed
to have been Tightening with some pass
ing gallantries a conversation which
must have been of business character,
in so far as it regarded hamper which
lay at their feet. On my emerging, the
Young lady made snatch at the ham,
per, and cut short the dialogue with an
iratc slam of the door. The young
man glanced indignantly at me from
under the gas-lamp, and seemed to be
breathing something the very reverse
of the goodwill supposed to be con-
genial to the especial season of love
aud charity. \ sudden thought struck
me. Providence had sent me, not the
turkey, unluckily, but perhaps the
means of relieving our minds about it.
l suppenacd the sulky official with a
sixpcncc, whcreupon he amoothed his
frowns, and consented to step into the
witness-box and be examined. His
answers were at first vague and eX-
tremely unsatisfactory.
"They 'ad lad many turkeys
through their lands that day, ay, and
mayhap for ten days or a fortnight
back. Thcy'ad all been aleavin' tur-
KEYS hcvcrvwherc hall over the place"
Questioned further, he had heard no
complaint of any being delivered any
where at wrong addresses. Thought
it was the parties that they went as
tray from that was more likely to make
complaints of that sort than the parties
that they came to by mistake. Had
left one himself at Victoria Villas-thc
Joint name of the twin residences i'll
habitcd by the Bobsbys and myself
that one was addressed to Mr.. Bobsby :;
"but Pm sure | see another at the sta
ton ticketcd for Victoria Eillay, per-
haps two l don't rightly remember
the names on them; but as that one
was for Mr.. Bobsbv, why them ones in
course would be for you. Anyhow,
they've all been delivered somewhere !;
for there were none laying at the station
when / came away"
So far the porter, and | rc-entcr-
cd the house, with my mind, as l be-
lievcd, somewhat enlightened, but GER
tainly very far from paciiied.
NV wife and | talked the matter
over, and arrived, not very reluctantly
perhaps, at the same conclusion which
the communicative porter seemed to
have come to. If two turkeys had
really been left at Bobsby's, why, one
of them must of course be ours. Who
ever heard of a couple of turkeys COM
ing lawfully to the lardcr of a little
semi-detached villa? We never had
thought much of the Bobsbys. Bobsby
himself was certainly quiet, unas-
suming-looking little man, with a not
unpleasant face. But then he habit
uallv came home late in the evening,
and at the most irregular hours
Either his business was disrcputable
one, and his deeds of the darkness, or
his habits were intolerably dissipated
Whether criminal or only vicious, he
was in any case a hypocrite, and the
most undesirable of neighbors. My
wife decidedly inclined to pronounce
him criminal. The truth is, that Mrs.
Bobsby glorifcd in an endless variety
of the most dazzling toilets, and a
wealth of dress and lavish profusion of
colors that set expense and good taste
alike at defiance. 1t was therefore
much more probable that Bobsby earn
ed enough by his iilgotten gains to
crafty the folies of both, than that he
neglected his business, and launched
out in simple dissipation, Even when
NV wife had condecended to question
our servants casually on the subject
she could get little information. Our
maids and those next door happened to
be at feud but our servant had heard
rom those on the other side that all
that Bobsby's servants could say about
the matter was that they had good
wages, paid punctually, and that Bobs-
by was in business in the city. So OF
course we kept tho BoDsDys al arm
length, and my wife repolled some Off
hand advances, that Mrs. Bohsby
threatened us with, with q chilling dig
nitv that is all her own.
1t was clear, then, that Bobsby was
lust the man to cmbezzle his neighbor 5
turkey. What steps to take towards
its recovery was quite another thing
1t was a delicate matter to tax a well
TODD householder with a theft, ana
that too upon bear supicion: But, ON
the other hand, time pressed, TO say
nothing of the importance to US OF haV-
ing the matter decided early 4pxt day,
if we hoped to meet our bird at dinner,
if crime had really been committed
the piece de conviction might by that
time have vanished altogether.
"Wait till morning, at all events,
recommended my wife, after we had dis
cHssel the matter and the chance OF
our discussing ii.e turkey in all its bear
lngs,-" wait till tomorrow. Mr GHll=
ter and Frank Palette come down early
to have long afternoon at the Palace.