Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-02-12
CiUGHT

II they were to come here next
"Ah, to be sure" I said. "They might
steal the baby"
"How can you be 50 cruel r.
Il wonder how much a baby is worth to
people Of that class
"T declare, Fred, if you keep on talking
such stuff, won't stop In the studio"
"Do you know what they do with them -
mo. With whaty'
''Stoleu babies"
"No. OF course not How can you talk
such nonsense p
Let them ont for hire a woman has a
couple in arms two more a size or
two larger cling to her skirts, and
two more support her beloved husband,
who scrapes a psalm tune-"Ararar
an old fiddle, and gives out two lines Of
the psalm at a time, to the tinkling Of fall
ing eoppers on the pave"
ADO you wish to make me cry, Fred ~
This very reproachfully, as I am darken-
ing :he shadows beside pretty girls nose
in my popular picture Of . party at the
boat race-"Blue Bells
my dear, tears improve you but all
the same, you are already so near perfec-
ton that 1 do not wish to see you improv-
ed. Sdll if baby were stolen, what quiet
nights we should have. Pass me that tube
Of vermlllion, s'il vous pidit.'
Silence in the studio for a while, broken
only by the click, click, OF a busy needle,
and the creaking OF my easel as shin its
position. Then my wifey goes on:
"I think, dear, we really ought TO move"
"why, my dear?''
why? Because its quite dreadful to
live in place with such horrible robberies
always going on"
And leave King Henry's Roads Why,
what place could be better one for wives7
"Nonsensei The place smells Of nothing
but paint, Fred and you know it. II you
20 out. you are sure to meet some horrible
snuffy dealer coming away chuckling with
canvas he has bought cheap; or else ar
lists"
"weiI, and if you do, what then Bayes
is, I'm sure. a good fellcw-it almost
makes me fancy that I snif the briny
when meet him, aud think Of his pic
lures; then there's tall, good looking
Wndes. who always paints Love in idle
ness: or saxon haired Forest. Whatever
can you have to erumble about! Am not
here7"
"T see irs Of no use to talk to you to-day,
Fred" said lille wideyi you have got
one Of your teasing ITS on, 50 I may just
as well hod my tongue"
NO, my dear, pray proceed-'tis like
| the silver murmur Of the brook upon mine
| ear and sweetens the task I have 10 hand"
"Slufr
| That is little wifey's exclamation, in 4
very snatchy, pettish tone; but she likes
| 1t all the same, and every now and then
the lille head will turn in my direction.
| At the end OF 4 minute the burglars break
| 10 once more, and she continues:
There have been no less than ten rob
berries since Christmas, Fred
"Indeed, my dear, Then shall start u
burglary insurance company. Why not'
I How does her nose look now -
Capital bat isn't It little too reL'o,ls-
ser'
~ love refrouSse noses," l responded.
"Cupid's nose was 4 pug, aud pug noses
we're made to love. could never have en-
-AANh NDtAA-Ik ~ NCdtaAiN NAAA a AAANhNA "
cheese knife fAst Toned organ in a sweet sa-
!uie."
More stuff. But al the same, The bit
or baniering haitery does not displease,
aud I paint away.
Did you hear how they cleared out the
Lomaines-those French people''
NO, my dear, did not
"Oh, but it was dreadful. They took ev-
erything-even to the table linen.
well, my dear, if they come here
bless em-what will they get! Nothing
worth having; for our poverty is a sweei
blessing in disguise, which frees Us from
the sad anxieties OF those who suffer from
plethora Of plate, weight of watches, or
a generosity of gems. We have our tablei
aud our chairs-I my paints aud brushes
you your needle-work, and-and, well
your good looks, which tune only car
steal. The only mutual property, ii Seem
to me, that We could lose by the burglar
lous burgling of burglars is the baby, anC
him you geographically preserve"
"What do you meant
''.Similid siHlili6as cltrdnfur, my love-
Ike, cures like. That the scouAdrels wh'
make harvest off our neighborhood MAJ
not spoil your child and crib him (crib, m,
dear, is a more refined word than prig,
you spoil him yourself, and keep him in
crib. Let the burglars come. I should al
most rejoice, because Of the disappOint
ment they would be called upon to meet
There, shall do no more to-day-the blu
bells may rest in their inanity for 4 fe'
hours, while we seek flowers upon fai
Primrose hill"
did chat the matter over sagely euoug
while we had our walk, and the little viii
agreed that it would not be wise to ru
away from danger that might never com
in fact, we might be running into its yer
teeth. But all the same, it was a lerribl
nuisance, this constant recurrence of petit
robberies-keeping, as il did, the hearts {
all the hens and chickens Of the nelghboI
hood in a constant state Of hItter lest th
ne xt visit Of the fox should be TO their pal
ticular roost. I, for one, had spoken TO th
inspector Of the police after the upset
our friends, the Wilkinses, and he ha
very sensibly remarked that they (the pc
lice could not be everywhere at once.
You see, SIR" said he, ''it's,just thi
They plan robbery, and work according
ly. By little watching they get to kno
our times for being in every street-for "
can't work at random, we must have ou
regular beats, so as to check the men. Wei
a sir, they sees a man out of such and sue
a street, and they knows how long it wi
n be before he comes back, and goes TO wor
in the meantime"
- \ fortnight slipped by, during lich