Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1879-04-28
BLINKERS' BIBLE.

VI oAC pdoUs OObu
sweet and sad-twilight. when Blinkers
and his wife were seated around the
open CRATE in their cosey sitting
room. Outside, the wind howled, the
snow was whirled up into great drifts,
suggesting the paying of at least quar-
ter to the boy who should come in the
morning to shovel the sidewalk clean,
and everything was cheerless and drear.
Inside, all was peace and comfort, and
these two hearts that had promised to
beat together, and to have only one
thought for the two of them, were seat
ed before the fire, recalling the days
when they swung over the same front
gate and exchanged, with that tender
ness that only belongs to lovers, we'll
chewed pieces of gum. 1t was beau
tiful picture-a regular tea-store chrome
of domestic happiness; but broken in
upon by the book-agent. He had called
to show superior quality of Bibles, one
that would not only stand the wear and
tear of a family that busted it twice a
week, but which could be given to the
baby when it was teething. 1t was just
such book as every family should have
on the centre table in the parlor, and
the book-agent seemed to think that the
purchase of one of his Bibles would just
about fll the mustache-cup of the Blink
ers' family happiness to the brim, and
let little run over into the saucer. The
price was only $40 for the word of God,
and payable in weekly instalments of
fifty cents 81 in advance, and the re-
naming payments to be made one week
from date. What family could afford
to be without Bible on such terms
more especially since there were leaves
in it for the record of births, marriages,
deaths, the milk score. and all that sort
of thing. Mrs. Bllnkers was charmed
with the idea, and insisted that this
book should come into the family. Mr..
Blinkers was in that mood when he
could refuse nothing to the wife of his
bosom, and, of course, consented. A
dollar was extracted from the Russia,
leathered paper pocket-book of the head
of the household, a receipt was signed,
and the book-agent departed to seek
more Bibleless families. The new ac-
QUESTION to the family treasures was
carefully scanned by Mrs. Blinkers, and
then a pen and ink was called into req
uisition to aid in filling up the blank
| leaves. She wrote the name, John Au-
gustus Blinkers, and the time of his
birth, and then Blinkers insisted that
his first wife s name should come before
that of the present Mrs. Blinkers. There
was some little discussion over this, not
much, but the neighbors across the street
afterwards said they heard it distinctly,
and then the lady wrote her own name,
with the date of her birth. Blinkers
who had risen in the warmth of the late
discussion, was looking over her shoul-
der, and noticed that she made the date
1856. "What !" he screamed, "why,
that only makes you twenty two years
old !" Exactly" responded Mrs. Blink
ers. "You are forty if you are day."
IL guess l know my own age; guess [
know how old l am,' retorted the lady,
laying hold of the word of God as if she
would crush her husband-by the argu-
ment. "Of course you do, and you know
you're telling blamed lie when you
say you were born in 1885," responded
Mr.. Blinkers, raising his voice just a
trife. That's the way I've wrote it
down, and that's the way it'll show up
to posterity, or I'm mistaken Mr..
Blinkers appeared to wish that he had
never bought holy writ by instalments,
and his short. gray hair very nearly
stood on end, as he replied, not mildly,
"Let it stand there, let it stand there,
and I'll chuck in Caroline Elizabeth s
name ahead of yours, an put it that she
was born in 1868. That's what I'll do. T"
..Do it if you dare; just let me catch
you putin your first wife's name ahead
of mine. Do it let me see you do it y
| There was considerable more conversa-
tion of the same purport, but the words
were spoken SO rapidly that it was i'm
possible to hear them distinctly. There
was rush, a crash, a general breaking
up of housekeeping, and then there hut-
tered out in the chill night air beau
tiful Bible and two or three short gray
hairs. Only these and nothing more.
Then the angel of night spread her
wings over all, and perhaps there was
peace in the Blinker's household.
TAPIocA CREAM.-Three tablespoon
fuls of tapioca, one quart of milk, three
eggs, one cupful of sugar. Flavor with
lemon or vanilla. Soak the tapioca in
little water over night. After rinsing
put it in milk and let it cook soft. Add
sugar and yolks of eggs. Whip the
whites stiff and pour on the tapioca. as
you remove it from the FIRE. 1t should
be cooked in a tin pail, set in kettle
of boiling water to prevent the milk
from scorching. Eat cold.