Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1874-06-11

Il
the inside, but outwardly it yet needed
a coat or two of paint, as hitherto moth
ing but simple coat of printing had
been given it. This extra painting
Duddybauger resolved to do himself, as
business was somewhat dull, and he
felt the need of little outdoor exer-
else. He had surrounded the extension
with bank some three or four feet
wide on the top and of such height as
to fill in the distance between the top of
the foundation wall and the original lay
of the land, which was sldehill slop-
ing from the houses, thus rendering the
banking rather high in places, and es-
pecially at the end overlooked by the
bathroom window. Mr.. Duddybauger
borrowed a nice long ladder and he and
Mrs. Duddybauger exhausted them
selves and two mortal hours in raising
it against the end of the extension,
with the top directly over the bath
room window and the foot resting on
the top of the bank and then to pro-
cure an easy inclination they drew the
bottom out as near the edge of the bank
as they dared.
Then he proceeded to get into a new
pair of sewing circle-made overalls; so
very small in the legs as to make him
appear to anybody who didn't know
him very we'll rather constrained and
distant and formal, but so very, very
ample elsewhere as to accommodate his
very movement, and remotely suggest
infinitude or space or something or
boils.
Then he got his materials together
and poured and ladled and mixed and
dabbed till he thought he had about the
right thing in paint, and then taking
the pot and brush he mounted the ladder
| Just three minutes after the elderly
maiden sister, stepping into the bath
room, drew the curtain without taking
particular notice of the ladder, and be-
gan disrobing for bath.
Mr.. Duddybauger's eyes were so full
of paint that he couldn't see much, and
it was not strange that the closely drawn
curtain of the bathroom window escaped
his notice likewise the elderly maiden
sister was so very deaf that she knew
nothing of the rather close proximity
of her brother-in-law, to say nothing of
the fact that she had but just got up
and knew nothing of the days pro-
gramme, all of which tended to make
the situation one of beautiful and bliss
full ignorance.
Then Mr.. Duddybauger, after having
mounted as high as possible. hung the
paint point on the top rung of the lad
der and commenced to slop around with
the brush and waste paint and grow
weak in the arms and change hands and
whistle softly and wonder how much a
good painter would cost him by the
day, and how long painters lived any
way, and if the smell of paint wasn't
rather unhealthy after all, and if he
hadn't better 60 down and add little
more oil or get drink of water or some
thing and it was just as he had con-
cluded to descend that the ladder moved
little, and Grumph Grumph p
of swinish satisfaction attracted his at
tention.
Gazing down from the dizzy height
he beheld hog belonging to one of his
neighbors energetically scratching him
self against the foot of the ladder, which
by the powerful movements of the ami
NAL was being gradually worked ipto
the uncertain soil at the edge of the
bank. The situation was appalling and
Duddybauger tried to grasp it and the
ladder and the paint brush all at once,
but failed. He let the situation and
the brush go to thunder, and chung to
the top of that ladder with all the energy
of despair.
Then Duddybauger commenced to
say eli, you there, and "Stop-won't
you?" and "Say-you there, do you
know what you're doing? and then
he tried to reason with the animal and
to show him the Improperly of the
thing, but did no good.
He dared not stir for fear of helping
things too much, so he just held the
ladder and his breath and shut his eyes
and set his teeth and braced himself for
the shock; and when vigorous boost
sent the foot of that ladder flying out
into the air and brought the top end
rasping down over those clapboards
with noise like young thunder, Dud-
dybauger sent his finger nails into the
wood and his thoughts into the skies,
and went sailing through the sash of
that bathroom window along with the
end ladder and other things and pot
of paint with, rush that would have
done credit to comet.
The ladder stopped at the window
sill, but Duddybauger and the paint pot
kept right on. He looked around for
something to stop against, too, but as
he didn't see anything nearer tnan the
bathroom floor, he thought that he
might as well see the thing through
anyhow and get rid of such terrible
suspense, so he just sailed on and
brought up just where he had intended
to, on the floor, along with lot of tin
and paint, and glass, and wood splint-
ers, and stars, and things, and it occur
red to him that the party who moved
out just as he came in possessed great
deal more Judgment than clothes, and
was remarkably agile and decided for
one so old. This interested him sothat
he sat there and thought it over and
some other things until his wife came
for her sisters clothes, and then he got
up and went downstairs, and after ask
ing his wife to apologize to her sister
for him, he went out to the woodpile
and delivered an Grafton, in which he
said that painting wasn't his best hold,
but he thought if he had about the