Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1878-05-08
The Tables Turned.

al do think" said Mrs. Dobbs, shipping
energeticallv at the seams of II pair of un
mentionables she was ust finishing fol
her lord and master, Josiah Henry Dobbs
"that your father is the queerst man
ever saw in my life. | don't believe he'C
know one of his own children from any
body else's if he were to meet 'em in the
street-or anywhere else. for that matter,
except at the dinner table, she added,
s1tto Uoce. A fact which was quite true
and not surprising since the Dobbs' heirs
were nine in number, including double
twins and a tleshy, round-eyed baby. who
was not unlike dozen other infantile
specimens on the same block.
AS Mrs. Dobbs gave utterance to the
above clearly expressed opinion, the nine
olive branches of the Dobbs family, with
the exception of the last edition, who lay in
unconscious slumber in the clothes basket
at her feet, crowded about her knees with
the approving glances on their eight re-
spective faces which told how fully they
appreciated her remark.
Wouldn't even know the baby?" ques-
toned one of the twins, looking up with
unwinking gravity in her face.
"Of cours not,' she answered, II sniff
of contempt audibly perceptible in her
voice; land that puts me in mind of Il
joke once heard, of the way man was
fooled with his own baby" and then she
stopped
"How was it done?' chorused the eight
little voices in breath.
Mrs. Dobbs rubbed her nose and con-
sidered, before she again spoke.
"Well. said she nj last, - it was this
way.-the mother of the child put it in the
basket and had it left at the door, and
when it was brought in, there was n fine
row. | can tell YOU the father was for
sending the brat as he called it, to the
poor house, and the mother went off into
make-beieve Mysteries, and the end of it
was that the laugh was turned on the fa-
ther, because you see he was like that old
fo-like your worthy progenitor, Josiah
Dobbs. who don't know his own baby from
his next door neighbours
The children laughed ofcourse, although
the exact point where the laugh came in
was not apparent to their tender minds ;
then they fell to thinking, the result being
II proposition which came from Sam, the
eldest of the Dobbs flock.
"Marm." he said, "to morrow is the
first day of April. Why can't you fool
father like t'other man with our babypn
Mrs. Dobbs turned to him with sudden
jerk that sent the contents of her work.
basket in all directions at once, and slap
ped her hands together with reasonant
clasp.
Sam Dobbs," she cried, you amt got
a bit OF the old-your father in you; you
are Il smart boy, and we'll do it," at
this compliment the remarkable youth
burst into an expressive whoop of appre-
citation, his seven younger brothers adding
the dimnuendO of their small voices
thereto.
A hush followed. and then Mrs. Dobbs
and her interesting progeny held u pro-
longed consultation. in which the enliven-
ing scene to be enacted on the following
evening WAS duly discussed. and Sam ap-
pointed major-domo of the occasion.
The eventful hour drew near, and as
Josiah Dobbs sat down to his evening
was not another family at once so large
and well behaved in all Christendom as his
own; at least, he said so, and compliment
ed his worthy spouse on her wonderful
maternal management.
Here the front door bell rang, and Sam,
obedient to his mothers commands, rose
to answer the summons.
In n few minutes he returned. bearing
good-sized market basket, from the depths
Of which came a smothered wall. telling
the nature Of the contents without an in
terrogation.
"Sam-u-el Dobbins, what in the name
Of creation have you been bringing IMP"
cried the matron. in well-feigned alarm, at
the same time rising from her scat.