, 1876-09-01
a Slight Misunderstanding.
BY MAX ADELER.

Henry. One Henry was a store-keeper
and the other Henry was butcher, and
neither was related in any way to the
other. About the middle of June the
butcher died rather suddenly, but some
how the impression got out around
town that it was the other Henry. Late
one evening a wagon drove up in front
of the living Cadwallader's house, and
a man rung the bell. Cadwallader was
in bed. He arose, opened the window
and shouted:
who's there?"
"Me; Toombsl"
"Toombs Who's Toombs? What
d'you want?"
why, I've Just run around with
load of ice for the old man. Let me in,
SOS can fix him"
Dunno what you mean. Nobody
around here that wants tixings with ice.
We're temperance people"
''No, mol I'm the undertaken. 1
brought it around to pack the old man
in, SOS he'll keep for couple of days.
Hurry up, sonny, l want to get DONE"
"What old MANI"
"Why, Cadwallader. Don't you know,
if he isn't laid in ice, he'll spoil before
morning, and afflict his family like thun-
der"
II guess you've struck the wrong
house"
"Isnt this Henry Cadwallader's
placer"
Yes"
"Wel, then, he's my man. I've got
coffin in here that'u tit him like
glove, after we've froze him up awhile.
dunno if anybody can get him up bet
ter for the sepulchre than 1 can; but 1
don't think so. Le'me in s quick as
you can, and I'll show you the silver
plated handles and the mahogany trim
mings. Queen Victoria don't want any
thing more gorgeous than them"
While Toombs was so speaking an
other man came up and rang the bell,
and Cadwallader asked him what he
wanted?"
want to see Mrs. Cadwallader about
the tombstone"
"Tombstonel This is getting solemnl
What tombstone?"
"Old Cadwallader's. Mr.. Mix sent
me round to ask whether he should cut
the name Henry Cadwallader' in a
straight line or a curve, and whether
she wants to put on the stone broken
rosebud or a torch upside down? You
tell the widder to take my advice and go
in on the rosebud and the straight line.
It's cheaper and 'twont make any differ
ence to the corpse"
"Ill mention it to her. When is the
tombstone to be done?"
"Wednesday, right after the funeral.
Weighs about ton. Mix says Mrs. Cad
wallader probably wanted it heavy, SOS
to be sure it would hold Henry down.
He will have his fun"
During the conversation and while
Mr.. Toombs was removing his funeral
appliances from the wagon, q third man
arrived. He asked for Mrs. Cadwalla-
| der.
"What do you want?" asked Mr.. G.
"How's the widow takin' it2 Hard?"
he asked.
"Not SO very
"Well, you tell her, for me, not to go
on about it. Plenty Of fish in the sea
8 good as any ever caught. Tell her
the company's all right. It'll pay her
in full, and then she can get on her feet
again, and may be consolidate with some
better man."
"What company do you mean?"
"Why, the Hopelessly Mutual. I'm
Benjamin P. Gum, the insurance agent.
Took his risk in January. Thought
may be the widow might be suffering
from grief and I'd call to cheer her up.
I'm coming to the funeral, and I'll see
that Henry's slowed away as snug as a
bug in q rug"
Cadwallader came down and explain
ed the matter, and got things straight
ened out little. On the day of the
dead Henry's funeral he thought he
would go to it in order to ascertain how
it felt to attend the obsequies of Henry
Cadwallader. 1t turned out that some
of the live Henry's friends, who didn't
know where he lived, were at the house
of the dead man, thinking that it was
the store-keeper's funeral. When the
latter came in, Mr.. Jones met him and
said to him:
Heaven and earth, Cadwalladerl
how'd you get out of that cofin?"
81 never was in it.
"Whatl I've been crying like baby
about you, in the parlor there. Not
deadl Now, see here, Cadwallader, this
is not the square thingl Blame me if 1
haven't wasted an enormous amount of
sacred emotion over you, and now you
go back on me. Is that treating a man
right?"
IT dnnno. Seems to me So"
"Well, hang me if it seems so to me.
If you advertise that you are going to
be buried, why in the name of Nebu-
chadnezzar don't you stand by your con-
tract like q mani"
"Let me explain"
"No, sir; no apologies. This lets you
out. as far as am concerned. When l
d;a 7 dia don't invite nv friends To