The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-01-23
HER CHRISTMAS.GUEST.
From the Rochester Democrat. !

heard on Christmas Eve as she dropped
asleep with the ticking of the frost in
the pitcher, the violent breathing of her
husband, and the rattle of hail against
the window. She had been busily en-
gagged during the day stuffing a turkey
and devouring Christmas literature,
and had retired to find her tired hus-
band in the back part of the bed, as
usual, snoring with such indifference to
the charm of the hour that her soul sick
ened. 1t was not always so," she had
said. ''Four O'Clock in the morning
used to be early enough for him to go to
bed. And that was only five years ago!
Oh, John, John! why can't we keep
young and romanticp Why should we
grow old and sordid, and go through
even this sacred season as if it were an
ordinary occasiona do not like that
snore. 1t is not suited to the occasion" !"
And so she had dropped asleep, previ-
ously shedding few tears.
1t might have been three o'clock in
the morning when she awoke and, look
ing out into the room, saw the Christ
mas turkey sitting bolt upright in the
chair. Her fright was such that she
could not cry or speak out She had
remarked during the day that the tur-
key was old enough to have had sixty
lives, and she believed the butcher hadn't
killed so much as the first joint; but
she had little thought that her words
were true.
Gobble, gobble, gobble!" said the
turkey in low, plaintiye voice.
Amt you ashamed to stuff fellow
like this? haven't been so uncomfort-
able since the day was born; and to
make matters worse, you've tied me up
so can't half talk. l say, what have
you done with my head?''
AS she looked the turkey gradually
heightened and spread out, and to her
unbounded astonishment it finally look
ed precisely as had her recently deceas-
ed grandfather. She saw even the wen
on the old gentleman's head, and rec
ognized hole in the elbow of his coat
which had been there for months and
months. The old gentleman saw her
looking at the latter, and winking his
eye said good-naturedly
You recognize it., do you, Jane?
Your good mother wcald have mended
it had she been alive; but when met
her over there, there was no necessity
for it. We have things very nice where
come from in that particular, Jane.
And that reminds me. You haven't got
along very nicely in a domestic way,
have you, my dearp"
Mrs. jenkins could do nothing but
sob. She wanted to launch out vocal
ly; but her tongue Glove to her mouth,
making her, naturally, the most un-
happy woman awake at that lonely
hour.
Never mind, my DEAR" said her
grandfather, winking again. &c I've got
the advantage of you for once. III do
John, the snoring fellow beside you,
hasn't shirt that is complete on the
| button question:? Do you know that he
fastens his coat with stick, and keeps
on some of his other garments with the
aid of the unreliable and really danger
Gus pin? You are not aware OF it, OF
course, else you would have attended to
| it before now.n
The old gentleman winked so violent
| ly that one side of his face seemed
to be gone for moment, and he nearly
fell out of his chair. Mrs. jenkins was
| frightened nearly to death, and tried to
say ever so many things, but she could
neither speak nor stir; she couldn t even
bite her lips, sink her finger-nails into
her flesh, or snap her eyes.
"There is another thing" remarked
the old gentleman, chuckling at her
abortive efforts to do something, but i'm
mediately becoming serious. ''That
poor boy-I allude to John again
hasn't had a square meal these six
weeks Perhaps it isn't altogether your
fault, but something ought to be done.
I remember last week one day. | ac-
companied John home to dinner. |
wasn't hungry myself. Somehow |
never am hungry these days. So L
didn't care for myself. But John soas
hungry, and he had to wait an hour and
q half for the dinner, and then it was
slapped on the table in q by no means
amiable manner. You must see about
this, Jane. You didn't know any thing
of it, of course. You will thank me for
telling you, am sure"
Mrs. Jenkins's grandfather here
pressed his hands. to his sides, as if to
suppress laughter, and winked with
both eyes, and shook himself, and tried
to choke down what appeared to be gut
tural sounds of mirthful nature.
ST am in something of a hurry" he
went on presently, ''and will have to
talk fast. l notice, Jane, that you &C
round like a slattern. You are slip.
shod, if may SO speak. You don't dc
up your hair at regular intervals. This
is bad, but not as bad as your i,l-tem
! per. You talk too much, my dear
t You complain too often. Sometime:
there is nothing that pleases you. Some
times you think that Johns sole pur