Middletown transcript., 1873-05-31


she said very sweetly.
Thunder o, Of course. il you are
sick, | can &c, along finely and as
have nothing special to do at the Office
this afternoon will clean up tho house
aud let you rest" he said, trying to look
as IL he were pleased, when in fac. be
was quite the reverse.
He then went down stairs. leaving
Mrs. Ward with her face buried in the
pillows, whether laughing or crying he
did not exactly know.
First he commenced at the dishes.
Instead Of taking them to the sink, as
he had seen bis wife do dozens OF times.
he made preparation to wash them on
the table. BY the time he had gath.
cred them up he found there was no warm
water. Secretly blaming his stupidity,
be soon had ho, fire, thinking to him
self it took a good deal of wood for him
to hca, water as we'll as when his wife
was cooking He soon had hot water,
and in the course Of half an hour had the
dishes all washed ami with the exccp-
ton Of cracking four tumbler. by pouring
boiling water over them, and making the
carpet and himself soaking wet with wa
ter, he did pretty we'll Then chuckling
to himself that he knew houscwork was
easy, he went down cellar to get Il pan Of
milk. He brought it up stairs, laid it on
the table, aud went down the second
time for the meat, which hi. wife always
KEEP, in the cool cellar
Hearing u noise overhead, as Of some
thing falling, be hurried Up into the
kitchen, with the msa, in one hand and
pan Of Hour in the other
There was the pan Of milk, bottom side
up, on the floor, aud the milk streaming
in all directions, while the cat who had
done the mischief. Wa, sitting under the
stove licking her paws a. If she was very
well satisfied with what she had done
Not long, however, did pu.s rest, for
Mr., Ward. putting the msa, on low
shelf BY the stove, and the pm Of -four
on top of the stove, which vas nearly red
hot, took the broom aud threw it al her
that was followed BY the boot jack, aul at
last Mr.. Ward chased her out Of the from,
door Then thinking Of The meat and
-four, he rushed into the kitchen by one
door q. large. lean dag rushed out Of
the other with that cherished piece Of
mca, in lis mouth John Ward chased
that dog down 10 the gate without getting
near him. then. returning, he smclt some
thing burning
la an Instant he thought Of the pan OF
-four he had lef. on the top Of the steve
"Confouud il. Tho stove must | axe
been hot. be mutiered
Well. no need To describe that -four Il
only took him half an hour to see tha, he
could not get that pan in preseniable
state again lls thcn threw il over the
fence deyoutly hoping his wife would not
find il, aud give him lecture about vast
ing 50 much -four, ani spelling pan
His words 10 his wife that morning still
rang in his ears :. You ought to notice
everything | could do better at houss-
keeping myself.
Somehow i, did not seem so easy as he
had thought and now be began to feel
hungry, not having had bite to Gu, since
breakfast
Hc went to the cupboard aud looked
for the rolls aud bread They we're gone
aud the closet looked empty
A btigh, thought flashed into his head
lie would make some light biscuits aud
then bring his wife down to the table, anu
surprise her with good supper.
II will put some potatoes on arst. as
they are 50 easy 10 cook, 40 saying he
pared some OF the largest potatoe. he
could find, and put them in saucepan
on the stove. lie then hunted up an old
apron of his wifes. aud proceeded to make
light biscuits. i" like mother used to make
them" They say the proof Of the
pudding is IN the eating it, SO We will
only observe that the biscuits looked
very nice, when be put them in the oven
Ever since he had commenced them, he
though, he smelt something burning; but
just as he shu, the oven door, pop pep
went something on the stove aud the top
and bottom Of the saucepan parted COM
pauy and lot Of black, burned potatoes
rolled over the floor !" Confouud it
forgot to put any water 10 the saucepan
| can't think of everything at once, be
growled and just then he thought that il
he couldn't think of every thing at once,
how could his wife? =? aud she never had
burned the potatoes. either. He picked
the potatoes up. burning his fingers as he
did so. and threw them aud the saucepan
over that very convenient, fence. Hearing
the clock strike, he looked up and saw i,
was ive o'clock
Why. how long i, takes to do a little
thing Maggie always had everything
,idied up by three" :" he said, rucfully look.
ing around at the clu,tered-up room
"I'll run out and buy some mea, for
supper" he next thought. and off be
started. He soou came back with par
eel under his arm. What made every
body look at me so queerly? ?" he said,
going to the looking glass and surveying
himself. And no wonder that people
looked at him. for on his face was a streak
Of SCOT, and bis arm was whi,o with -four.
I'm blessed il | don', wish l had lie,
Mnuu;> n,rG u,.nl.l So, x-- L..