The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-03-07

centre of the room. johnny then grave
ly proceeded to II cupboard and brought
out several articles which he deposited
on the table. "Thar's whisl1ey and
crackers and red herons and cheese"
He took bite of the latter on his way
to the table. "And sugar" He scooped
up a mouthful en- route with small and
very dirty hand. "And terbacker.
Thar's dried appils too on the shelf, but
don't admire 'em. Appils is swellin'.
Thar" he concluded, "now wade in, and
don't be afeard. l don't mind the old
woman. She don't b'long to me.
S'long."
He had stepped to the threshold of a
small room, scarcely larger than a closet,
partitioned offfrom the main apart
ment, and holding in its dim recess a
small bed. He stood there moment
looking at the company, his bare feet
peeping from the blanket, and nodded.
Hello, Johnny You amt goin' to
turn in agin, are ye?" said Dick.
Eyes, l are" responded Johnny, de-
cidedly."
"Why, wot's up, old fellow"
"Tm sick"
"How sick Z"
Give got FEWER. And chilblains.
And roomatiz," returned Johnny, and
vanished within. After a moments
pause, he added in the dark, apparently
from under the bed-clothes-" and
biles ~
There was an embarrassing silence.
The men looked at each other, and at
the fire. Even with the appetizing ban
quet before them, it seemed as if they
might again fall into the dependency
of Thompson's grocery, when the voice
of the Old Man, incautiously lifted,
came deprecatingly from the kitchen:
Certainly! Thet's so. In course
they is. A gang O lazy drunken loafers,
and that ar Dick Bullen the ornarest OF
all. Didn't hev no more sabe than to
come round var with sickness in the
house and no provision. Thet's what /
said: 'Bullen,' sez 1, it's crazy drunk
you are, or fool sez I, to think O
such thing. Staples 1 sez, BE you a
man, Staples, and 'spect to raise h-ll
under my roof and invalids lyin' round y
But they would come-thcy would.
Thet's wot you must 'spect O such trash
as lays round the Bar"
A burst of laughter from the men fol-
lowed this unfortunate exposure. Wheth-
er it was overheard in the kitchen, or
whether the Old Mans iIatc companion
had just then exhausted all other modes
of expressing her contemptuous indigna-
ton, cannot say but back door was
suddenly slammed with great violence.
A moment later and the Old Man reap
peared, haply unconscious of the cause
of the late. hilarious outburst, and smiled
blandly.
1.-The old woman thought she'd Jest
run over to Mrs. McFaddon's for So
ciable call" he explained with a jaunty
indifference, us he took seat at the
| board.
Oddly enough it needed this unto
ward incident to relieve the embarrass-
ment that was beginning to be felt by
the party, and their natural audacity
returned with their host. 1 do not
purpose to record the convivialities of
that evening. The inquisitive reader
will accept the statement that the con-
versation was characterized by the same
intellectual exaltation, the same eau
tious reverence, the same fastidious del
icacy, the same rhetorical precision, and
the same logical and coherent dis
course somewhat later in the evening,
which distinguish similar gatherings of
the masculine sex in more civilized To-
calities and under more favorable aus
pices. No glasses were broken in the
absence of any; no liquor was uselessly
split on floor or table in the scarcity of
! that article.
1t was nearly midnight when the fes-
tivities were interrupted. /" Hush" said
Dick Bullen, holding up his hand. 1t
was the querulous voice of Johnny from
his adjacent closet: 80 dad"
The Old Man arose hurriedly and dis
| appeared in the closet. Presently he re-
appeared e" His rheumatic is coming
on agin bad," he explained, "and he
wants rubbin." He lifted the demijohn
of whisl1ey from the table and shook it.
1t was empty. Dick Bullen put down
his tin cup with an embarrassed laugh.
So did the others. The Old Man exam
ined their contents and said hopefully,
q reckon that's enough he don't need
much. You hold on all o you for a
spell, and I'll be back )" and vanished in
the closet with an old flannel shirt and
the whiskey. The door closed but i'm
perfectly, and the following dialogue
was distinctly audible:
"Now, sonny, whar does she ache
worst!"
Sometimes over var and sometimes
under yer; but its most powerful from
yer to yer. Rub yer, dad"
A silence seemed to indicate brisk
rubbing. Then Johnny:
"Hevin' good time out yer, dad 2"
"Yes, sonny"
"To-morrer's Chrismiss-ain't it Z"
"Yes, sonny. How does she feel
7"
Better. Rub little furder down.
Wot's Chrismiss, anyway? What's it all
about?"
80, it's day"
This exhaustive definition was appar-
emily satisfactory, for there was silent
interval of rubbing. Presently Johnny
again;
"Mar sez that everywhere else but
yer everybody gives things to everybody
Chrismiss, and then sine jist waded inter
you. She sez thar's a man they call
Sandy Claws, not a white man, you
know, but a kind O. Chinemin, comes
down the chimbly night afore Chrismiss
and gives things to chillern-boys like
me. Puts 'em in their butes Thet's
what she tried to play on me. Easy
now, pop, whar are you rubbin' to
thet's mile from the place. She jest
made that up didn't she, jest to aggre-
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