Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-11-03
How Tommy Went to Church.

1t was Sunday morning, but there
was an unheard of commotion in the
usually we'll ordered household of the
Dobbses, for dreadful thing had
happened. Cinthy Ann had lost her
hair that lovely hair for which, the
day before, she had given her whole
quarterly allowance of $50. And now
it was gone. She wrung her hands in
despair; of course she could not go to
church, nobody ever went to church
without hair!
There was counsel held in the hall
and it Was decided that burglars had
been In the house, and it would be wise
to consult the police They would
therefore serd Thomas (who was dress
ed for church in his new trousers) in
quest of an officer; but he was not
''around," which was strange, as it was
his practice to be around when any,
thing of an exciting nature was trans
piring; SO, naturally, they began to
fear that he had also been victim.
Jane had dressed him up beautifully
and seated him in the great new arm
chair, as straight and comfo1tabl as
brand new pin, in brand new pin
cushion; but he was certainly not there
now, and it remained an open question
whether he had walked off of his own
accord, or had been picked off for his
peculiar straightness and cleanness,
and newness. Just at this exciting cri-
sis there was heard In the region Of the
nursery a decided "squeak squeak I!
squeak !"
Then up rose the Dobbs family, in
GLIDING DR.. Johnson, the dog, Mrs.
Brown, the cat, and three small B. s..
and repaired to the nursery, where To-!
mounted upon his careering steed, sat
Sir Thomas, while floating out upon the
breeze was Cinthy AIMS magnificent
tresses, ingloriously tied to the wooden
stump which once had held tail!
There was a general uproar and con-
fusion, and in the midst of it all, the
aspiring youth was carried away cap
tive, and soon, to his deep mortifca-
| ton, he found himself shorn of his
manly habiliments, and robed in the
despised dresses of his infancy; for you
must know that when first the beloved
pants came, dresses were the rule, and
the lovely trousers the rare exception,
worn only on state occasions.
Then by and by he was hired to be a
good little girl for a whole day, that he
might be boy in the evening. Then
finally, the trousers grew to be rule,
and the dresses the exception, which
dresses were kept till such times as he
should be bad.
Poor Tommy! they were the dread
skeletons in his closet.
Well, he was left all alone in his dis
grace with Jane, while all the rest went
| off to church; but Jane was not enter
tanning, She read story book and
left him to his own devices, so he slip
ped out into the garden, but he didn't
care fig for the pinks and peoples that
day.
Presently, he discovered that by some
unaccountable mistake the door of the
tool room had been left open. He went
| IN. There hung his fathers garden
clothes, and q rough and ready hat, two
feet broad, He put the hat on his
| head, then stepped into the boots, put
himself into the vest, and buttoned it
all the way up, which effectually cover
ed the obnoxious dress, all but the
sleeves. He then sat down to mediate,
with the large boots lying straight out
before him. He thought of the church
and the great organ, and was suddenly
| filled with an unmistakable longing to
go and hear the big music,
Had you been in the streets of a GER
tain town on that Sunday morning, you
might have seen the phenomenon of a
hat and boots slowly vending their way
up to the chuuch door; and had you
looked closely, you might have seen
two small hands clinging to strap OF
either boot, and alternately lifting, to
aid the feet that might be supposed to
occupy the inside.
Churcn was nearly out and the
Dobbses were calmly sitting in their
pew, all unconscious, of what awaited
them. Presently there was strange
clump dump olump |" in the aisle.