The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-09-29
THOSE BOOTS.


"Weh, Mr.. Siskin, shall we say 10
o'clock-10 punctuallyG You can pay
the deposit, and the house will virtually
be yours"
mo" he answered, with fierceness
that as nearly knocked me off my pins as
if skittle-ball had struck me. "No,
not punctually. Punctuality and pedi-
gees have had enough of. Insist on
It's being 10 punctually, and 1 am off my
bargain"
In those early suctioneering days, 1
did not easily let customer go. l should
as soon have thought of knocking Mr..
Siskin down as of opposing him ; SO,
smiling in spite of myself, L said
"Abopt 10, then, shall we say"
SAY, now you speak. About 10 it
shall be. But mark me, sir"
could have marked him more liter
ally than would have suited Mr.. Siskin !;
for 1 was most terribly hungry, and the
man was so lake the ancient mariner
when he held the wedding guest-his
eye glittering like a diamond with fierce
excitement, kindled by my innocent re-
mark about punctuahty.
He was a man with a grievance-no
doubt of that; and !, poor hungry
wretch, with a dear wife-my Julia,
punctual little puss-who would have
dinner ready to a tick (the spirit of
punctuality, driven out of Siskin, may
have sought and found congenial refuge
In Julia), must devour his long, dry
story instead of savory and more sub
stantial meal.
"You have heard" he began-and as
he spoke, his long, claw-like finger in
simulated itself in my buttonhole-" you
have heard" he said, sit is i'll waiting
for dead mems shoesG Mark me again
when say, that is true. Other men
might say it, but know it.
Susan-that's my wife: happy to
introduce you, but deaf as a post-Susan
and / waited for old Lionel's cash for
years-there is no denying that-and
reckoned his income to penny.
The hope of having that money was
our star, our anchor. Tough old party,
too-fearfully tough. He should have
been a missionary might have defied
the cannibals never have got their teeth
in him
But the punctuality of the man
Talk of the Charles-the what is it ?-of
d Germany, and the watches, Lionel would
have beaten him into fits. His house was
all clocks, except where it broke out into
: watches.
d" Fearful house to visit-awful place
to stay at. Up by the clock breakfast
10y the clock dinner by the clock. Time
divided between looking out for punctu-
al servants, and Diminishing unpunctual
ones. What a signalman old Lionel
would have made, or pcstman But
as a private gentleman he was bore.
Did tell you what relation Lionel Sands
was to me- Not likely. / have been
the Siskincum-Sands genealogical tree,
to be in much danger of attempting it
again.
"If, to shun the Scylla of punctuali-
ty, you fell into the Charybdis of
pedigree, you dearest foe might pity
you.
eff we had not been as poor as Job,
we would have soon cut Mr.. Sands but
he was rich and old, We poor and young,
so we thought it wise to keep in with |
our 'dear relation especially as he
had only nephew, and he abroad some
where.
"What had happened we could not
even guess, but for some reason our last
letter remained unanswered for months,
and we dared not write out of turn
when a telegram came, asking me to
meet the old man in Brighton the day
after next, at half-past 3 precisely, on
particular business. a~ Il..l
"But you are in hurry, see," said
the old bypocrite, holding me as tightly
as ever.
was ravenous, but dared do nothing
but resign myself.
ST will cut a long story short" he
said.
But he was not so truthful as some
men are. A friend of mine would have
described him az an able-bodied liar"
but he is fond of odd expressions.
''Susan LET the telegram drop from her
hands, as she said ~ EfGt
"'What can it be about2
81 She was not deaf then.
&C. His will, my dear, chuckled 'he
wants to make his will in our favor, and
would like my advice He has quarreled
with every other relation, except the
Wandering Jew of nephew and us, on
the score either OF punctuality or ped
igree.'
.. Silas,' said my wife, il will never
do to go IN such boots as those OF yours.
At would be madness to go on such an
errand down at heels, with one stocking