The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-12-18

very good ones. Had it been otherwise
/ might have borne his remarks mort
complacently, but to be continually told
what you ought TO do, and TO know tina
I you ought to do it, is extremely annoy
ing.
| He was very anxious that | should
| take off the rudder, which was certainly
useless to boat situated as ours was, and
make an ironing table of it. presisted
that the laws of symmetrical propriety
required that the rudder should remain
where it was-that the very name OF
our home would be interfered with by
its removal, he insisted that "Ironing-
table Grange" would be just as good q
name, and symmetrical propriety in
such a case did not amount to a row OF
4 pins.
The result was, that we did have the
ironing table, and that Euphemia was
very much pleased with it. A great
many other Improvements were projec-
ted and carried out by him, and | was
very much worried. He made flower
garden for Euphemia on the extreme for
rd-deek, and having borrowed a
wheelbarrow. he wheeled dozens OF
loads of arabic dirt up our gang-plank
and dumped them out on the deck
| When he had covered the garden with
suitable depth of earth, he smothed ii
| off and then planted fower-seed. il
was rather late in the season, but most
of them came up. | was pleased with
the garden, but sorry I had not made il
myself.
One afternoon l got away from the Of
fee considerably earlier than usual, and
hurried home to enjoy the short period
of daylight that l should have before
supper. 1t had been raining the day be-
fore, and as the bottom of our garden
leaked so that earthly water trickled
down at one end of our bedroom, in
tended to devote short time to stuffing
up the cracks in the ceiling or bottom OF
the deck-whichever seems the most ap-
propriate,
Bat when l reached bend in the riv-
er road, whence l always had the earliest
view of my establishment, | didn't have
that view; 1 hurried on. The nearer
| approached the place where l lived
the more horror stricken L became
There was no mistaking the fact.
The boat was not there!
In an instant the truth flashed upon
me.
The water was very high-the rain
had swollen the river-my house had
foated away!
1t was Wednesday. On "Wednesday
afternoons our boarder came home early
clapped my hat tightly on my head
and ground my teeth,
"Confound that boarderp' / thought
"He has been fooliDg with the anchor
He always said it was of no use, and ia
king advantage of my absence, he has
hauled it up, and has foated away, and
has gone-gone with my wife and my
home!"
Euphemia and "Rudder Grange
had gone off together-where l knew
not,-and with them that horrible sug-
gester!
I ran wildly along the bank. called
aloud, / shouted and hailed each pass
ing craft-of which there were only two
but their crews must have been very
inattentive to the woes of landsmen, OIL
else they did not hear me, for they paiC
no attention to my cries.
1, met a fellow with an axe on hi
shoulder. 1 shouted to him before
reached him:
"Hello! did you see boat "a hous'
I mean,-Aoaiing up the river?"
"a boat-house?" asked the man.
"No, house-boat" l gasped.
"Didn't see nuthin' like it, said tn,
man, and he passed on, to his wife ant
home, no doubt. But me! Oh, wher,
was my wife and my home?
1 met severel people. but none of then
had seen fugitive canal boat.
How many thoughts came into m,
brain as ran along the river road! l
that wretched boarder had not takel
the rudder for an iron1ng-table he Nigh
have steered in shore! Again and aga1l
| confounded-as far as mental ejacula
tions could do this suggestions.
was rapidly becoming frantic wheI
met person who hailed me.
"HeIlop he said, care you after
canal boat adrift?"
"Yes,"I painted.
"I thought you was" he said. "Yo
looked that way. Well, I can tell yo
|, where she is. She's stuck fast in tn
reeds at the lower end o'Peter's Pipt.
"Where's that?" said 1.
, 40, it's about a mile furder up.
seed her a-driftin' up with the tide
, big food tide to.day-and thought T.
, see somebody after her, afore Ions
Anything aboard?"
Anythingl
8 i could,not'answer the man. Anythin
: indeed! I hurried on up the river with
! out a word. Was the boat wreck?
, scarcely dared to think of it. l scarce
j ly dared to think at all.
e The man called after me and stol
= ped. I could but stop, no matter whit
might hear.
: "Hello, mister" he said, "got any t.
bacco?"
y walked up to. him. l took hold
e him by the lapel of his coat. 1t was
e dirty lapel, as 1 remember even no.
: but I didn't mind that.
t "Look here" said 1. "Tell me Il
s truth, can bear it. Was that vess
g wrecked?"
The man looked at ms little quee
+ ly, could not exactly interpret his e,
e preston.
= "You're sure you kin bear it?" said
a "Yes," said I, my hand trembling as
held his coat.
, avail I'm cold he Ctit,s MORN