Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-08-20
After "A Mouse.

| was quietly reading my newspaper
the other morning, when | heard q
scream like the whistle of a locomotive,
coming from the dining-rOom.
rushed i'll to see what was the mat
ter, and found my wife standing on a
chair, with her skirts drawn tight
around her ankles.
''It's a mouse!' she said wildly.
"Where:" demanded.
''There--here--no--y L don't know
Oh. for pity sake, kill it, Kill it'''
"Where is it:" | asked again
There's no mouse here"
"Yes, there is, you old fool. Dom;
goa see il? There,-somewhere-any-
where-everywhere-I don't know
where, Why don't you Kill it?"
Mrs. B. isn't fond of mice. She would
rather have a hundred dollars about
the house than a single mouse; and
the sight OF one makes the hairpins
drop out of her head.
Madam" said l,with an awful calm
ness, ..tell me where that diminutive
rodent mammal is, or forever hold your
peace"
at is in the cupboard" she gasped.
~ saw it run under the cupboard
door,"
walked over to the cupboard with
the tread of gladiator, aud opened it.
Before / could get my eyes in range
to look 70: the mouse, it jumped out
and ran right over my foot.
81 gave an awful kick a tremend-
Gus heart-rending kick. And my foot
went clear up to the top of the cup
board, and the back of my head struck
the floor so hard that saw all the PLAN
cts and comets that were ever invented.
/ picked myself up and looked wildly
around for the mouse.
.sThere it is." shrieked Mrs. L.
"There-Ihere. Quick."
"Where:" | roared.
"Behind the tabler'
sprung to the table, seized one end
of it, and gave it jerk that brought it
10 the middle of the floor.
The mouse scampered-
| saw him running around the room.
and plunged after.
| tried my best to to step on him, but
only succeeded on stepping on spool
of thread, which my wife had dropped
in her excitement.
The spool rolled, and before | had
time to shut my eyes L found myself
standing on my shoulders, gazing cur
iously up at my feet, which were try
ing TO scrape a picture of Benjamin
Franklin off the wall.
As soon as got on my legs again, l
made another bolt for the mouse.
saw it whizzing across the floor,
and bounded toward it, and gave one
furious kick.
And kicked the table.
Then | just grabbed myself up, and
carried myself round on one foot howl
ing like prairie wolf, and calling for
arnica and corn salve, till heard Mrs.
b. screaming;
"Don't let it get away, you fool! Get
something and kill itr'
was desperate.
snatched the first thing could lay
my hands on. which happened to be a
baseball bat belonging to Lot, and |
made one murderous sweep.
But instead of killing the mouse, |
upset the chair on which my wife was
standing, and the result was that she
turned very graceful sommerset over
against the pantry door.
She screamed for help, aud declared
the mouse was eating her up, and re-
fused to be comforted till 1 had placed
her on the chair again.
Then she didn't have breath enough
left to call me brute, though she tried
until she was black in the face.
By this time | was thoroughly excit-
ed, but knew must try another kind
of weapon.
saw something on the table, and l
made grab for it 1t proved to be a
warm huckleberry pie, but l didn't
know it at the time.
thought saw the mouse running
Up the wall, and hurled the pie at 1t.
But at that moment my daughter
openet the door. and walked into the