The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1876-04-13

, Knocked 10 ihc bead More thsn this,
hsa established for myself the repuiAuo
q az ogre AZ supper my wife waite
upon me with n sort oftcsrrJ attention
aud pressed upon me fluo sally Lunn
which wrathialy telt had been pre-
] pared 60 sppease nae, while The girls ~
pearcd With red eyes aud hair tuekoi
. behind their ears, aud said yos, sir, an,
20, sir, and ate about half an inch o
! supper, and drooped yisIbly before M
IS II I bad been a Nero or Caiigula. An,
of an feminine artiGces vow this Il th,
vilest which treats peace-loving mau
and an humble servant Of the whole sel
like myself, as a ferocious despot til b,
Is bali convinced Of his own brutishness
And al because bad dared 70 insist tha
the moon i not made Of green cheese.
j came home intending to make peace
but finding myself regarded in the lighi
Of a monster resolved to be at least q
consistent monster, and retired behind
my newspaper with a face worthy Of
BIunderborc himself My wife slipped
away to visit neighbor The girls had
vanished long before. | read my news.
paper as brutally as possible, and then
as rain was pattering against the window
began to think Of bed, when the door
bell rang,
Tom Wilkins, said | to myself, and
Tom wilkins il was; come, Of course, on
the night of all others on which could
not introduce him to the girls; End, as
knew that they would not be visible, and
the sitting-room was down at the heel,
In looks ] mean, and the drawing-room
given over, as it always is, to the dumps
and blsckness of darkness, took him
straigh. to my den.
My den, or pen, as il is varionsly
termed by my womankind, is really a
cory little room, where keep writing
table, lounge, my books, and fire ;
and on either corner Of this lounge was
curled up Jenny and Clara, hair down
about their shoulders, and in slippers,
sacques, and skirts. They were sure OF
no company, because of the rain, and
sure of me, because | never entered the
den after | had once commenced my
paper. Also, they felt much more
wretched in disheveed hair and sacques
than they could possibly have done in
oraids and tight-fltting waists; and so,
curled up, as have rehearsed before,
were holding an indignation meeting,
when they were startled by the tramp OF
boots and my voice saying:
This way, Tom. Here is the den!
Both sprang to their feet in utter hor-
ror. There was but one door to the den;
that on which had my hand even now.
There was no deep window; no curtains.
| abhor curtains as in conspiracy with
the doctors. No possible place for hid
ing, in short, except shallow closet,
and there was no time for hesitation.
AZ they huddled into the llttle closet the
Philistines, Tom and myself were upon
them,
Nice den, this, said Tom, looking
about him. Have you any writing
things here? The fact is / dropped in
to write letter that | had forgotten,
and that ! must post at Station j to-
night.
Station Dl ! echoed, involuntarily.
Yes, scribbling bis note as he talked,
| have fair correspondent there; at
least | suppose she is fair. How does
this read:
DEAR Miss Nj have heard nothing
from you, though | have called twice at
the office. This suspense is too painful.
am sure you will not willingly proIong
it.
Yours,
W.
Should you think that was sufficiently
distracted to bring an answer
Here, then, was Jenny's correspondent
Tom wilkins, 6ne friend tor such
piece of simplicity
What do you think? insisted Tom.
Hunt said !, very much afraid least
J should say what did think. | really
cannot say, Tom; but in my day we
were more careful Of correspondence
with a lady friend.
Friend echoed Tom, with an indes-
cribable intonation, Why, this Miss n.
is no friend of mine, hardly know
more about her than you do. In the
stage the other day saw couple Of
pretty girls. You can see such girls any
where. II is the ribbons and the black
hair and the little hats that does It, you
know; makes them pretty, mean
There is no particular expression in such
faces. However, the shorter Of the girls
caught me looking at her, and then she
looked sgain, and then ] looked again.
You know how that is; and the other
fellows chsfied me. Jim Morris offered
TO bet that she would not write 10 me
and so Of course put in personal. Got
shadelfor this gasf
Yes, In the closet, and turning in my
chair l pulled the door, but it stuck
fast
Never mind, said Tom, carelessly; but
/ was curious TO know why the door
should stick that never stuck before, and
/ got up aud pulled lhe handle. The
door gave but did not open. A third
pull, aud heard q faint squeak; the
door opened partially, and saw Jennie
and Clara holding on BY their nails, poor
souls aud quite white with terror. !
shut tbe door, muttering something about