The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-08-19
happier evening never was spent by two
human beings.
Now there comes turn in this bust

]
! human beings.
Now there comes turn in this busi
ness.
The cloak was made up. II did lool
! finely, and no mistake. 1t was simply
magnificent. Too magnificent. But Mrs
FSmith was no grumbler. She knew i
| overshadowed every thing else she had
/ indeed she did, but instead of whining anC
complaining about it she stayed at home
/ Really, the first Sunday she wore it tC
church, she could actually have sunk out
of sign, through the tiHiest little bit of a
hole when she saw Georgiana Robins or
(the h teful, squirting thing y look out OF
the corner of her eyes at that cloak and
! then at the shabby old hat she wore, and
nudge her sister Millie and smile, as much
as to say: : O. dear put a beggar on
horseback m TO be sure, the bonnet was
only trimmed over once, and without any
thing so ibeautiful and aristOcratic as that
clOsk to dwarf it, would have been avery
passable bonnet-indeed, quite nice, But.
then And she burned all over for pure
shame when she had to 90 so slowly, an
inch at a time down that long aisle when
church was out, with the JOneses crowd
ing behind her. and though inexperienced
to be so sweet and nice, she knew very
WCu Nildl bttl NfIC Slluulu2 dJ. II Mdr
those old gloves-black -sloves--that she
had worn year. and that cashmere dress
with the hiigle trimming. o yes They
1eeIln tbe so very nice! She knew the q.
And she stayed at home next Sunday, and
the next, and the next, and d-then1 Smith
demanded an explanation. He got il, and
how her face burned and her eyes snapped
through her tears as she made it.
Never mind, ,,his dear. She should have
a silk dress and things 70 match that cloak.
Indeed she should. His wife was just as
good as.sither.J ones 'or-RobinsOn's if he
hauBft a. snauch money, and if some peo-
pies judgnlent was TO be trusted, a good
deal better. And he'd see about this mat
Ter of dress.
So Smith quit chewing tobacco and
stopped smoking. 1t almost killed him,
but he stopped; aud in another year his
wife bad Beautiful a silk dress as ever
you saw, md gloves! o, my!
But there was that hat trouble, that ever
lasting nat difficulty. That broke out
again on the occasion of the opera. Dear,
dear! What an awful. looking thing it
Was. indeed. And she couldn't take il of
in the theater, either, though she distinctly
heard two young gentlemen behind her
curse it in actual terms, with downright,
awful swearing words; and the young
lady tn II sat next TO her really seemed to
be Unnecessarily scOrnful and select just
because, forsOo h, she had on hat that
cost at least SIS, when the truth was it
was not the real style TO wear any bonnet
at all at the opera, but only Western
barbarism.
1t had to come. Smith needed new
boots He needed new suit of clothes.
He didn't get them, but Mrs. Smith got a
new hat-a perfect marvel of hat--a hat
that was worth at least about So, but cost
at least fifteen times that much. A regu-
lar capsized oyster-boat of a hat, with the
most enchanting of impossible flowers all
over it, and streamer behind it that
would have done honor TO the mast-top of
a vessel about 10 sail.
Did this end it? No. 1t made the dear,
good little lady feel absolutely sick TO
come into the house and see that shabby.
old, black horse hair furniture. Such
clothes made any thing but cherry puffs
look so poverty-stricken after coming
home from church or the theater And
those tickets began TO foot up at an enor-
mouse figure, Smith thought Bat that
was not the worst of il. The season
changed, and she couldn't wear the same
clothes all the year round. Poor SNith
Brown was almost ashamed to speak to
him now, he began to be so ragged and
slouchy. And he was ashamed TO speak
to Brown. The boys at the office declined
to be humbugged by his incidental re
marks that. as a man grew older he didn't
care for hi looks. His efforts TO keep his
boots under his chair were distressing TO
see, and it was enough TO make the stri Il
en- deer go weep $50 to speak, 10 see him
fig re to keep his back to the wall on ac-
count Of those holes in his-but why
dwell on these things? Smith, from
pleasant, ligh hearted man, grew moody
and silent. He made mistakes in his fig
ures: he was seen when alone TO fall into
reveries. TO mutter to himself, to clutch at
the bald spot on his crown, TO sigh and
grind his teeth. And it went on at home.
The expenses continually grew, while the
income did not. 1t was rough, it was
hard. Mrs. Smith grew ashamed of him.
He gradually became shabbier and shah
bier, until his employer spoke to him
about il. He never went out TO lunch
any more. Hestlrved himself. His boots
parted company with their sOles one day.
Then his coat fell off. Then his vest.
Then his - in fact, little by little, his
raimen, went away from him. His wife
TdI AWAY with dllObItI lldll OH AdN
when he became reduced to a state of ma
ture, and couldn't get ont of the house
ran away with a fellow who had money.
A blank succeeds.
A few weeks after he was skulking
along the inner side of a board fence, try
ing with all his might to look uncOncern-
ed and dressed up. when he knew very
l,n h.,.l,,A+ Ia h,nl-
on his front eth r, for the matter of that
and making dismal failure of it, as he
was perfectly aware, when he heard some
ne call him by his first name-s familiar
voice, the vol e of woman, calling him,
/" John!" He stopped and looked timid-
lv over his shoulder, poor man of Lady
GOdiva that he was, and-what did he
see? His wife positively. his wife, with
the old lace sacque on, the old hat, the old
gloves, every thing as of yore; and in one
hand she carried a tumber of nip" in
the other a cigar. a 1aper of chewing to-
bacco, match; on her back was strapped
a bundle.
Here, my darling boyl'' said she,
" come back, come backi take your nip;
take il every day lake your smoke make
filthy chimney of your dear nose as
much as you please; chew, chew and
chew as you feel like chewing, but come
back!" Tears choked her voice. /" In
this bundle is a suit OF clothes complete.
Pu- them on. Come back -
He awoke, and behold! it was not
dream. And they lived happy ever after.
Chicago Inter Ocean.
Guarding an Underground Treasure
E7,,,l- ur,,o.-.,..,S, -. -. ,..l. - III,