St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-06-12
General Invitations.

General Invitations.
Pray do call in an easy way some
evening. you and Mrs. Balderstone we
are sure to he at home, and shall be
most happy to see Won" such Is the
kind of invitation one is apt to get from
considerably intimate acquaintanceS.
who. equally resolved against the for
mality and the expense of Il particular
entertainment on Your account. hope to
avoid both evils 10y making your visit
a mattel of accident. If you be IL man
of some experience, Nou will know that
all such attempts to make bread and
cheese do that. which is more properly
the business of Il pair of fowls. end III
disappointment. and you will. there
fore. take care to wait till the general
invitation bcc"me> particular one.
But there are inexperienced people i'll
this world who think everything as it
seems. and are apt to Ice greatly de
ccivrd regarding this accidental mode
of visiting. For the sake of these last.
| shall relate the following adventure:
| had been remarkably busy one sum
mcr. and. consequently, obliged To re-
fuse all kinds of invitations. general
and particular. The kind wishes of my
friends had accumulated upon me some
what after the manner of the tunes
frozen upin Baron Munchausen'> French
horn and il seemed a> if IA whole month
would have been necessary to thaw out
and discharge the whole of these obli-
CATIONS. y beginning. however. is al
WAYS something: and. accordingly. one
>pla>hl evening in November. can't
tell how ii WAS. but Il desire came sim
ultancouSly over myself and Mrs. Bal
d"rStonc it seemed To he by sympathy
of stepping ont To see Mr.. and Mrs.
turIic. IL married pair. who had been
considerably more pressing in their gen
rral invitations than amy other of our
friends. We both knew that there WAS
Il cold duck in nur house. he>idr> IL hit
of cheese just sent home bv Nicholson.
and understood to he more than excel
lent. But, as the old Scots song SAYS.
the td had come over us. and forth we
must go. No sooner said than done.
FIVE minutes more Saw us leaving our
comfortable home. my wife carving Il
cap pinned under her cloak. while to
my pocket WAS consigned her unIhrIgc-
"u> comb. As we paced along. we
>peculatcd only on the pleasure which
we should give Our kind friends 10y thus
ut last paving them Il visit. when per
hap> all hope of our ever doing So wa>
dead within them. Nor WAS il possible
altogether tn omit rejecting. like the
dog invited 10y his friends to sup. upon
the entertainment which lay before us
tor certainly on such an occasion the
tlftt.I ,..1It .nIIll hlr,ll,- f, La.
spared.
Full "t the satisfaction which we were
To give and receive. we were fully into
the house hctoIc we thought il neceSSa-
ry Ia inquire if any body WAS at home.
The servant girl. surprised by the for
ward confidence of our cntrre. evident
lN forgot her duty. and acknoWlcdged.
when she should have denied. the pres
"ncc ot her master and mistress in the
house. We were shown into Il dining
room us clean. cold. and stately. as an
alah;l>tcr cave. and which had the ap-
peaI;lnce of being but rarely lighted hv
the blaze of hospitality. My first i'm
pulse WAS Ia relieve my pocket. before
sitting down. of the comb. which |
thought was now about being put to
its proper Use but the chill of the room
stayed my hand. observed. at the
same time. that my wife, like the man
under the influence of .EoluS III the IA
bile. manifested no symptom of parting
with her cloak. Ere we could COM
municatc our mutual sensations of in
cipicnt disappointment. Mrs. Currie en-
tered with Il Hurried surprised air. and
made Il prodigious effort to give us
welcome. But. alas poor Mr. Curic
he had been seized in the afternoon
with Il strange vertigo and sickness. and
was now endeavoring. by the advice of
DIR. Boak, to get some repoSc. 1T will
he such disappointment to him when
he learns that you were here. for he
would have been so happy to see YOU.
We must just entertain the hope. how
ever, to sc you some other night"
Although the primary idea in our minds
at this moment was unquestionably the
desperdtO cibi-the utter hopclessneSs
OF supper III this quarter-we betrayed,
of course. no feeling but sympathy in
the illness of our unfortunate friend,
and Il regret for having called at so in
auSplciouS moment. Had any uncon-
cerned person witnessed our prOtesta-
tiOns. he could have formed no suspicion
that we ever contemplated supper, or
were now in the least disappointed.
We felt anxious about nothing but to
relieve Mrs. Currie, as soon as possible,
of the Inconvenience of our visit. more
especially as the chill of the room was
now piercing us to the bone. We there
fore retired, under Il shower of mutual
compliments and condolences, and
hopes, and ''sorries." and .'have the
pleasures: :" the door at last slamming
after us with Il noise which seemed to
say, "How very glad am to get quit
of you I"
When we got to the street. we GER
tainly did not feel quite so mortified as
the dog already alluded to, seeing that
we had not, like him, been tossed out
OF the window. But still the reverse of
prospect was so very bitter, that for
some time we could hardly believe
that the adventure was real BY this
time we had expected to be seated snug
at supper, side by side with two friends,