The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1869-03-18
GcIerte0 nlislellanp.
4 FAMILY JAR. AND WHAT CAME
OF 1T.

IREMEMBER it as though it had happen
cd yesterday. 1t was the biggest row we
ever had in Our family.
1t was one cold, rainy evening in the
carly part of December. We all sat down
to the supper table as usual, but not, ap-
parently, in our usual good humOr.
By "all," mean our family, which con-
sisted of father, mother, my two sisters
Clara and LiZzie,-Bob and myself
Bob Carver was one of our family, as he
said, "by breyet" His mother and my
mother had been friends in girlhood, and
ha never OutgrOwn their intimacy. Ever
since Bob had lived in the city he had
boarded at our house, and ne seemed like
one of US.
He was Jolly good fellow, and appear
cd to think good deal of us all, espe-
cially Clara, who, by 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 had
caused me some painful consideration I
liked Bob very much, and would have been
glad to have him in the family more fully
than by "brevet" Beside this my regard
for him made me feel warm sympathy
for his unreciprocated affection for Clara.
was in love myself, and thought that If
Maggie Cranston showed as much in1if-
ference to me as Clara did sometimes to-
ward Bob, that should have been mex
pressibly miserable.
Beside this, Clara seemed to take good
deal of pleasure in the company of that
stupid Jim Bayne, whose chief delight
seemed to consist in talking about relig-
ion, politics and other subjects, which
bored me intolerably. / was nineteen,
and poetical.
1t always seemed to me that Lizzie
would have suited Bob better than Clara,
anyhow. They were both fond of music,
and often played and sang together; but
they never got along smoothly together.
They did not appear to agree about any
thing but music, and they quarreled about
that. Yet they would still practice to-
gether. Their voices harmonized well,
and / supposed they tolerated each other
for the sake of the music.
I could never understand LiZzie's con-
duct toward Bob. 1t was absurd. Some
of his ideas that she argued against with
all her might, when he stated them, she
IS warmly defended in conversation with
the rest of u.s. | believe she delighted in
being contrary.
Mother sometimes rebuked her for her
petulance to Bob, but father said it made
no difference,-it was customary for nusi-
cal 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 even
ing. As have said, the weather was bad.
For that reason, suppose, the boy had
failed to leave the evening paper.
When father came n, he asked for the
nd sa;I ho
When Bob came in, he asked for the
paper, and went up stairs to change his
boots, grumbling out something about
hanging the by to the nearest lamp
post.
The girls were in bad humor, because
they had been unable to get out shopping
that afternoon on holiday shopping ex
pcdition: while mother was worried be
cause the bread had not turned out well
and the buckwheat cakes showed a tenden
cy to become sour.
Mother said something about the bread
said she had been over the baking near
ly all day, and il seemed as though it nev
er would rise. She said, Z" think either
the flour or the yeast is bad"
Father, just to be disagreeable, 1 sup
pose, said, "a bad workman always com
plains of his tools.'
Mother flushed up instantly. She was
good bread-maker, and she knew it
She said, "That don't apply to me. We
generally have as good bread as any one
Don't you think so, Robert?"
Bob, who looked as though he was
working out some problem in mental
arithmetic, answered, II don't presume to
criticise the fare at my boarding house"
This was improving (O things rapidly
Bob calling our house his boarding house
After supper Bob went up to his room
and smoked cigar, and afterward came
down In more social humOr. In accor
dance with a previous arrangement, HI
and Lizzie sat down to practice an instru
mental duet.
sat in the parlor reading, and, 80 Ions
attention to it; but suddenly there was Z
discord, and then it ceased.
"You made mistake there" said Bob
pointing to the music.
"No, it was you," said Lizzie, "ant
there is there it was" pointing at one o
the hieroglyphics with which composer
disfgure paper.
beg pardon" said Bob; but coult
not have made such a mistake, as l an
quite familiar with the piece. | played !
with Miss Peterson the other evening, ant
she made the same mistake you did,-onl,
she saw it when / pointed ID out"
"Oh, yes she wsuld see that black wa
white, If you pointed 1t out What ha
Miss Peterson to do with me ?"
i surely thought that you and | hat
lived long enough in the same house to
gether, and were sufficiently intimate
not friendly-tO allow me to differ witt
you sometimes, and even to quote suthorj