Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1874-01-01

nished" over the door OF his shabby
little house, and became y sort of
chore-boy in his sons family; herolled
the baby carriage and hoed in the gar
den and was miscellaneous-utility
man about the house. All for the sake
of Mrs. Ardory's sensibilities.
But Mrs. Ardory's sensibilities were
more than ever shocked by his lack of
polish. She did not like to have her
tather-in-law in the house when there
was company; he was sure to do some
thing very shocking. So the old man,
who had too much sense to mention
his sensibihties, who had never used
the word sensibility in his life, and
who really thought it meant some
fearful disease when his daughterin-
law used 1.-THE old man, having sen
sibilities, nevertheless, staid out Of the
parlor when there was company, only
went to the table to keep from shock
ing Mrs. Ardory, by staying away,
and when at the table swallowed but
q little dinner awkwardly and in 81
lence, taking pains to shovel his pota.
toes up with the back of his knife for
fear OF not being polite, cooling his
coffee by blowing on it in his saucer,
as his master taught him, and yet feel
ing that, do what he would to be we'll
hammered, he was somehow shocking
the sensibilities of his daughter-in-law
all the time.
Without any society-too high up
for the servants, too low down for the
family-the old man had nothing left
for him to do but 90 on shocking sen
sibilities all the time. Perhaps there
is no way of passing ones lifetime
more unpleasant than to spend it in
being an object of dislike. People
who are stumbling.blocks always feel
it more keenly than those who stub
their toes against them. 1t is far
worse to be in the way and know it,
than it is to have somebody in your
way. And so the old man, conscious
of being in the way, fidgety in his
halfgenteel rig, longing again for the
congenial society of his sold woman,
aching for the petty cares of old oc-
cupation, envying every man whom
he saw rolling a .barrel-what should
he do but seek comfort where there
were no sensibillties that could be
shocked, in one corner of the nice
warm saloon which bore the name of
the "House of Lords" where he could
sit in the shady corner on the sawdust
foor--so much better than velvet car
pets, you could walk without timidity
here-he could sit in a shady corner
with an old crony who would generally
forgive his cheap, fine clothes, and
play seven-up and drink whiskey with
him until he felt his humiliation all
gone, and talked as though he were
indeed a member of the House of
Lords, owning his son and all his prop
erty, but always confdingto his friend
that his darter in law was a drefle
fine woman-and troubled with the
what you may call EN-, the sensibili-
ties didn't just know what that
might be-but it was a disease as made
you have to he keerful when she was
around or she'd take on you know.
And when the old gentleman had
come home several times a little too
full of the nectar of the gods, and act
ing as if he were Jupiter himself, Mrs.
Ardory confided to her intimates, those
who came right up stairs when they
called, that herhusband's father hadn' t
any sensibilities at all-not a single
sensibility. He never seemed to care
for anybody but himself ate like a
hog, poured his coffee into the saucer
and cooled it with his breath, and
and-well, she wouldn't say anything
against her husbands flesh and blood,
and besides, she'd promised her hus
band not to tell you know. But if
they could only have seen-O my-if
they could only have seen and heard
HIM when he came home last night at
eleven o'clock-well, she wouldn't say
anything, of course. But they could
imagine what a sacrifice she had made
in receiving him under her roof, and
how one of her delicate sensibilities
must suffer. They could guess, at
least All!
CHAPTER I.-MRs. ARDoRY's sENsIBILI-
TIES.
Yes, the second chapter will be about
them, too. Mrs. Ardory's sensibili-
ties were too acute to be disposed of
in one short chapter.