New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-11-29

TO Tue Column VI puuAAos an uSe .AS4SSsS 49,
reading a few moments she handed 1t to
Uncle Ben, pointing with her finger to the
place. Uncle Ben read aloud: The whole
to conclude with the laughable equestrian
burletta of The Hunted Tailor, or . trip to
Brenttord. The part of Billy Button by Mr..
John Cook"
"Ajax," said the old man, as he folded up
his spectacles, II must GO and see that to-
night. l haven't had laugh at Billy But
ton for twenty years
"Certainly. Uncle Ben" ! replied. II
would like 10 go with you. and have .
good laugh also: and as you have in
timated that you will be detained at the
droveyard all day. VIC will meet ut tea
time"
| In the early dusk Of evening, as entered
the hall, heard sue at the piano. Ap:
preaching the door Of the back parlor l
found her singing, to an old fashioned cross
hand accompaniment. a song, the name OF
which l need not repeat when say the
words she uttered just then were
Thou hast called me thy angel in moments Of
bliss
Thy angel I'll be mid the horrors of thiA"
had not heard the old song for years; l
used to laugh at its queer sentimentalism.
But now there seemed to be pathOs in the
words, and depth of feeling in their ex-
preston quite unusual in Sues singing. not
withstanding my appreciation OF its quaint
drollery. Walking mp softly behind her,
| and laying my hand gently on her shoulder,
| said:
..Whose angel will you be. Sue ?"
'Why. yours of course, my dear unso.
phisticated," she replied. looking up; and
| her face flushed as if she had betrayed some
closely kept secret. Recovering herself
| quickly. she continued:
but your better angel is in the other
room. tending the baby"
b tha I'D fh0ro
! sat Uncle Cook at the window. with Lulie
on his knee. She had so completely daubed
! and smeared the windOw.panes with her
| little ..patties," that l did not observe the
happy pair as walked up the front door
steps.
found that my wife had passed the day
| at Germantown with her uncle, and had
prevailed on him to accompany her home.
| Uncle Cook was short, stout. square built,
old man, a little stOop- shouldered, in whose
! face mantled the same rich Dutch blood
that usually shone in Sues cheeks. had
scarcely time to shake hands with him be-
fore the street door bell rang. Sue few to
| the door and ushered in Uncle Ben. lutrO
ducing them, she said:--
'.Uncle Ben Slaughter, this is my Uncle
John Cook. He is as fond of going to the
| circus as you are. and intends to stay all
| night with us, and go with you and Ajax to
see Billy Button
The two old men shook hands. and our
uncle on my wifes side said:
..But am not John Cook the clown. l
don't look much like circus rider. do -
NO" said Uncle Ben. in his bluff way,
looking down at Uncle Cooks pOrtly figure.
II think you are built more for lodging
than jumping fences"
They both laughed at this witticism, and
we then sat down to tea. When it was
| over we went to see 1.-The grand entrees" the
! ''still vauting by the whole company" the
strar ge man who came staggering out of
the pit into the ring and wanted to ride
certain vicious horse, and was allowed to
| do so, and after throwing of innumernble
ragged garments as he rode, at last stood in
a long white shirt. which he also eventually
threw off, appearing in spangles, and then.
! The Hunted Tailor, or Trip to Brent
ford had d heavy heart on account of
my business troubles and it was q great
relief to Join with these two simple old men
in the laugh at the mishaps Of Billy Button.
The performance was over early, and as
we entered the hall on our return, Uncle
| Ben exclaimed. as he did the night before
.Whe-e-ew. / smell oysters" 1t struck
me as a strange coincidence; and then Sue,
| from the stairway. called out pretty much
! in the same words az she did the night
before, walk into the dining room, Uncle
Ben. you and Uncle Cook and Ajax; I'll be
down presently.
This evening. however. her voice was
| tre1nu!ous, and had not its usual sllvery
| tone.
1t appeared to me that Sue had an object
| in all this. There was the same set out we
| had the previous evening: oysters, ale,
! bread. butter. and pickles. and some cigars
! in the baby's silver cup which Uncle Cook
| had given il. sttin. on the mantel-piece.
After supper my wife took her sewing
and sat down to her workstand as on the
night before. She was pale now. and evi.
IDENTIFY nervous, but still tried to look com.
posed. | felt anxious about her, and sug.
gested that she should go to bed. If We
had been alone would have insisted on it.
As soon as Uncle Cook had finished his
cigar. she laid down her sewing and got up
and came ronnd the workstand and sat on
bis knee. with her arm around his neck, and
kissed him. Then she asked him to tell
Uncle Ben and myself the story he used to
tell her when she was little girl and sat
on his knee az she did then; to tell about
his being coppersmitb. and how he received
his meney for the whisky stills he sold out
to Kentucky Ben was from Ken.
lucky. The old man cleared his throat,
and as Sue resumed her seat at the work.
stand. he said:
"Well, it's not much Of story, but when
Sue was little cir! l frequently amused
her by telling about nv old boss, Samuel
ticeship with him, and set up tor myself, we
were neighbors IN Front street. and good
friends for many years. We did not inter.
fere with each other i'll trade. He sold his
coppers mostly to Western Pennsylvania,
and sold mine in the main 20 Kentucky. He
received his pay pretty much in silver, anu
got mine, whenever could. in gold, as it had
~ be brought farther. Sometimes it was
queer com. and il was hard TO get a. the
exact value of il. A remittance was ire.
Iuent,y composed If French. Spanish. Eng.
llsh and American coin. and occasionally
little Gu. silver; that is Spanish dollars or
half dollars. divided into two or four equal
parts, to make small change. There were
no bank gu. there then. and no such things
as bills vt exchange. and so we had 10 get
our money Of this sort, and in This way.
IL remember when the Farmers and
Mechanics Bank started. ! forget
whether Joe Taggert was president or
not. but know that Clay was cashier.
and Billy Patton was teller. That was
in the year 1907. and queer. jolly
fellow Patton was. Lewis and were
Then coming round her wOrkstand she
laid her hand on the shoulder OF the old
kcn,uck ian. and said. '.Lncie Ben. when l
asked YOU to change me Il dollar this mcrn.
ing, 70 pay the mlkman. you had singular
looking old pocket-piece amongst the loose
change you held in yonr hand; will You
allow ,De I" look at i,s"
Uucle Ben. apparently wrapped in deed
thought. pulled out the old pocket piece
and placed j. in her hand.
Now. uncles.- continued Sue. drawing
the bab,'s medal from her bosom. and
placing the two side by side on the work
stsnd. both Of you put on yonr spectacles
and look