Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1880-05-05
POPS IDEA OF EUN.
HY MRs, FRANK NC cARrnY'

Only this morning Pop punched mo
in tho ribs, aud winkcd, and whispered
behind his hand, "Any more spress on
hand, Bob9" ! was Disguised, and
didn't say anything. If he'd been a
boy OF my size just then, things would
have been different but Pop Is a
kind Of man it isn't pleasant to offend.
! smiled in q sickly way, but | never
was more disguised in my life, Any
more sprccsl | should think not, I'LL
leave it TO any one II thiO kind OF
sprccs pay. "Couut me in tor the next
racket Bob, he said at the breakfast
table, aud then he winked again. !
declare I was that sick | let my buck
wheat cake get cold.
Here's the way il was. We live in
u nobby kind Of a place, you see, AL
most everybody owns his own house
and grounds, and spends all his spare
time in fixing up, Most Of the gen.
tlemcn go over to New York to bus
mess every day, but before they 60,
and after they come back, they are al-
ways iussing around, making little
alterations, and what they call i'm
provcments. 1t makes 'em awful
mad if the place is out of order the
seventeen part of an inch. The Ia
dies raise flowers. fix baskets and ros.
es, and all that kind OF gimacracks,
and the men 50 puttering about,
making more fuss over their plots OF
ground than big farmer out West
does over his thousands of acres. Well
we boys get together sometimes and
arrange everything to suit ourselves.
In a.single night it'll be like trans
formation scene at pontomime
maybe not so pretty, but every bit
as funncy. Pan! We've laughed
ready to split our sides to see hepoor
old barber come limping up from his
pole in front of the DOCTORS, and the
doctor go clustering down there from
his hitching post "a lot of paving
stones against the door Of the real
estate Office, and the cows and chick
ems running loose about town.
But this particular lark was what
we called speciality. Only gates
were to be touched, and these were to
undergo regular tribulation. The
weather was about right-muggy-
and the mud in some places knee-deep.
We arranged all the preliminaries = at
recess, and Tom Jones was to go a.
round about nine o'clock and let US
know if the coast was clear but he
wasn't to give our regular call-all the
place knows that. 1t goes something
in this way. "Ki-yuah-yuah, yoo-o"
with a prolodged howl at the end.
We always drop it when anything
secrets on hand. 1t was agreed upon
that Tom Jones should 60 to each
house, if all was right, and have a
coughing and sneezing spell that
wouldn't arouse suspicion; then we
were to creep out when the folks were
gon 20 bed and go to work. And it
happened to be work that time, you'd
better believe!
We were all sitting around the
table when the clock struck nine.
Pop had his spectacles on, and was
reading an editorial to ma, the girls
were busy with their lessons, and l
had finished my last example, when
all at once we heard Il terrible cough.
ING and sneezing out in the street.
That was the worst of Tom Jones
he always overdid his part. 1t he'd
had pneumonia whooping cough
asthma, and bronchitis, and been
hired to go round with cough med
icine to cure EN-, he couldn't have
turned himselfiurther inside out. OF
course Pop began 10 notice it, aud ma
looked up in alarm. "Why,' said ma,
"that boys got a terrible cold!"
"Fearfal y said Pop, with queer
twist Of his under lip; and when Tom
Jones, like a big donkey. went across
the street to Jim Clancy's house, and
began the whole thing over again, POP
wanted TO know why that boys cold
was like the paper he held in his hand
We all gave it up, and Pop said be