The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-01-10

man, Hiram 1lDDOnS, INSIDE or anOther
half hour you'll see somebody else
around here with the information that
Janson has had another stroke of apo
plexy, and I'm prepared to hear at any
moment that Mr.. Menger has got a
broken leg or is locked up in the station
house. But l don't care now whether a
single soul comes or not. FL dish up
at two o'clock as / said l would, and I'll
never get up another Christmas dinner
as long as live"
The day moved on, with no further
tidings of bad luck coming TO hand, nor
did any of the invited guests put in an
appearance. Every ten or fifteen minutes
some member of the family was deputed |
to go to the door and look out to see |
whether any of them could be seen. AS |
the dinner hour drew wearily near, Mrs. |
Tibbons became more and more nervous
and fidgety, banged the dishes around |
recklessly, and remarked repeatedly that |
she hoped nobody would come anyway,
as the dinner wouldn't be fit for a dog
to eat. Everything had gone wrong
from beginning to end, and if she had
to die at that minute her last words
would be that she had forgotten to put
a bit of seasoning in the dressing, and
had used salt instead of sugar in the
cranberry sauce.
Tibbons himself looked as wretched as
he was capable of doing, stood around
in the way all the time, rubbing his
hands, and with a weak little sickly
smile that felt ashamed of itself, kept
trying to cheer his wife up by saying
Don't worry, little woman-it's no
use, Susan everything'll come come out
right, see if it don't"
| And, as if to confirm his words, Just
as the clock was on the stroke of two,
and the dinner was smoking on the table,
one of the children came running with
the cry Of
"Mr. Menger's comingw
Two sighs of relief filled the dining
room, and two woeful faces frightened
up, and by the time Mr.. Menger came
in they were looking real CHEEKY, and
gave him a reception that fairly sur
prised him by its unmistakable hearth
ness.
He apologized for being late, and ex-
pressed his surprise at not seeing the
other guests. Everything was explained,
and the discomforts and disappointments
of the morning turned into source of
mirth and jollity as they gathered around
the groaning board.
Tibbons picked up the carving tools
and dissected the bouncing bird with
skillful hand. 1t was done to turn
couldn't have been better, and all Mrs
Tibbons's doubts and misgivings as to
its being tender were allayed-it was
delicious.
"What part, Mr.. Menger?'
"Not any, whatever, MIR. Tibbons, for
me, thank you. I've been almost dead
with dyspepsia the past week, and the
doctor has put me on a bread and milk
diet, and strictly forbidden me to eat
anything else. It's terrible tempting,
.. . Mrs. Tibbons, but the torture of the
: penalty is too much for my courage, and
] can't give way to it. So, if you please,
; Just give me bowl of bread and milk,
and don't think for moment that
slight your delicious dinner willfully, or
! through lack of appreciation"
! All of which sounded so nice to Mrs.
! Tibbons that she was obliged to be mol
lifted, though she did feel chilling SEN
sation about the heart, and never wanted
: to cry so bad in all her life-but it
4 4 wouldn't do. However crushed and
= chagrined with modification and disap
u poinment she might be, she was toe
much the lady to allow the slightest be
J trayal of the same in the presence of hel
guest, and he was also very much of 6
, gentleman, and withal quite a connois
seur in cookery, as his dyspepsia at
z tested. Being an excellent talker, anc
u an adroit dispenser of compliments, ht
soon managed to make the little lady
!. feel that her labor had not been entilrey
lost, and she soon entertained a feeling
u very much akin to that of gratitude tt
y the young man for having kept his ap
n pointment when it was really undergo
y ing very severe penance to do SO.
The dinner passed much more pleas
y antly than it augured in the outset, ant
= just as they arose to leave the table,
y sharp ring came from the door-bell. ant
r one of the children bounded into tn
= room, shouting
70 "It's the JansonsW
u, u, And sure enough it was-all of then
children and all-and with them cam
al also stranger, handsome young man
J, with black curling locks, who brushe
% eagerly past the rest and clasped Mrs
al Tibbons in his arms, and kissed her RICH
H. square in the mouth, before anybod
y could say word, and Tibbons standin
there speechless with eyes and mout
Y wide open with amazement, and wonder
'r- ing if he was sound asleep and dreaming
lS or whether the brandy in the mince-mea
.s had fuddled his head up so that h
ia ia couldn't understand his own eyes. An
ht then Mrs. Tibbonsfe crying and sol
he bing with joy
ne "Oh, John, you dear boy, little did
~ think I'd ever see you again, for
le: thought you was dead, John. The p
at pers said so, and we heard nothing frol
40 you. Where-where have you been a
a. this whileP'
eo And then Tibbons knew that it w.
ey his wife's brother who had gone to sec
-, his fortune in the Black Hills, an
whom she had mourned as dead, and
~ III trying to get to John and get him t
'e the hand, he tripped over a chair an
Ia, In nearly snapped his knee-cap, but
ne scrambled up and never stopped to gi,
M lat it thought until he had hugged tt
iss young man, too, and then after a goc
ai ad deal of talk, in which everybody took
al hand at the same time, and nobod
90 could tell what anybody else was sayin
they all gathered around the table, an
then it all came out how the Jansol
'er had got into the wrong street-car, al
sC gone two miles out of their way, ar
ne had been detained another hour by Il
es blockade of the track by the fire, ar
oe- then to kill time Mr.. Janson had q
NJ into talk with the young man in Il
IL car, and found out that he had bet
NJ running all over the city trying to fiji
o9 his sister, and how surprised they bo
no were when it accidentally came to lig
PIE that it was Mrs. Tibbons he wanted
'ok see, and that the Jansons were on the
an, way to her house at that identical m
hg ment. And SO he had gone right alol
with them, and-well, the result W
ZEN that Mrs. Tibbons was the happiest W
RS. man in town that afternoon, and SO,
me forgot all about Mr.. Menger and
ol, dyspepsia, her vexations and disa
lor pointments of the morning, and thoug