The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1873-05-15

thanking him for the presents, and
then visited the nearest jevvelry store
and turned both the goblet and
spoon into cash, which I pocketed
had received no further letters
from my uncle until tho ono which
1 read in Mrs. Kingsley's parlor. The
postscript to this not only. astonish-
ed, but absolutely frightened me,
1t read as follows:
p. ST. have never visited Phila.
delphia, so / have decided to do so ai
once, and get look at you and yo,u
wife and child. You may expect me
about the 10th Of the month.
"Good gracious My uncle is com
ing to visit me- I exclaimed; "and
its past the 10th of the month nowl
l don't know at what moment he
may pop in. What am I to do for a
wife and childf"
AT that moment there came q ter
rible pull at the door bell as IL the
man who pulled it imagined that he
owned the house and could make as
much noise ashe pleased. A sickening
sensation took possession of me, for
/ had a misgiving that it was my
uncle. Now as good fortune would
have it, Mrs. Kingsley had gone out
to neighboring store for a few mo
ments, and had requested me to have
an eye on her child while she was
gone, 80 it wouldn't fall out of the
cradle aud hurt itself As / glanced
at the cradle. aud thought Of my uncle
at the door, bright idea entered my
mind. determined, in case the vis-
itor was my uncle, to claim the
youthly occupant as my own.
The visitor proved to be my I'M
Gle. 1 knew him by the pictures of
him 1 had seen, and he likewise knew
me by my photograph. Aftermutual
recognition and hand shaking, / ush.
cred my honored relative into the
parlor and introduced him to my
newly claimed offspring.
"There, uncle,' said I. sis the first
pledge Of our married lite. assure
You take pleasure in presenting to
you my child"
at is lat little youngs,sr," said
my uncle, gazing at it admirIngly
by the way, what is il. boy or girl 2"
That was kno,ty story for me to
answer, for be was just as much ac-
quainted with its gender as was.
But il would not do to show ignor.
ancc on the subject. so | answered
at haphazard that it was boy
III am sorry it is boy," said my
uncle "there are too many boys in
the family. Now, if you Lad only
produced u li,tlo bl eyel girl, II
would have been more seDsibl :"
assured him l was sorry the gen
der did not suit, but hope il ,he
future his wishes would lie graft" d.
So far had succeeded ia drcelvi,.
my uncle. but the worst | feared wa,
that when Mrs. Kingsley returned,
she might object to nv claiming own
erstip in her child B sides. to carry
out my deception, must iiud a. wife
as well us an infant, and Mrs. Kings.
ley was tbs only one | could couveu.
iently claim. The only difficulty was
to get her consent to the deception,
aud this might be done if | could on.
y secure a private conversation with
her before | introduced her to my
uncle, then it would be all right.
I watched my opportunity, aud gained
an interview with her before she en-
tered the room. / told her. in a few
brief and hurried words the extent of
my difficulty, and how l had taken
the liberty OF acting as papa to her
little one. | then told her must
find o wife somew here, and begged
her to allow me to introduce her in
that capacity. She laughed very
heartily at the suggestion, said she
could comprehend my difficulty, and
consented to my proposal, and very
roguishly warned me not to presume
upon the occurrence.
We then entered the parlor and l
introduced her as my better half.
My uncle was very much pleased with
her, and complimented mo upon my
good choice 10 the selection of a wife
Mrs. Kingsley, of course, colored
most charmingly at this compliment
and / could plainly SEQ that she
could scarcely refrain from laughing.
"Yon have a fine boy here,' said
my uncle to Mrs. Kingsley, pointing
to the cradle.
Excuse me, sir" said she, coloring
up again. "it's a girl.
I was dumb founded. Twas exposed
10 my iniquity. Would my uncle
believe me after this? He looked
from me to my pretty landlady with
O puzzled countenance.
"Your husband told me II was boy,
be said. aud rather suspiciously too, i
thought,
"Well, ! always took it for boy"
was my reply, putting on bold face,
"but I suppose my wife knows best
Here Mrs. Kingsley fairly scream
cd with laughter, and my uocle's
stern face assumed au ironical smile.
"You are nice father, aiu't yol 7"
he said touching me with the point Of
his umbrella, mot 10 know the sex
of your own child. Why I knew il
was girl the moment / looked at