Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-04-02

AOWAb. nItNuAul WhIllt Nll NNiNt
Mis8 IjhkeP" said she. tits an
anlazin Warm day for this time Of year,
and it eonsider'b BILE more'n hen-hop
frbm yoilr house up here. LaY yoair
ltnnnit of, do, and set down III the
rocker I'll tell Nanny to fetch some
shrub and water; our raspberry shrub
is good, II dosay it, and it's KEEP over
as good as new" aI
So Mrs. Blake removed her bonnet
and sank down on that inviting cushion
with all her weight, glad enough TO
rest, aud ignorant of sthe mom6ntOus
consequences. Her call was somewhat
prOtraeted. After the Whole village
news had been discussed, Mrs. Blake
rose to 90. tied on her bonnet, and said
good-by all round, quite as Ignorant as
b her hosts Of 1.-the Femsdiless ruin she
ifi''t.,i f't,,i WHY uffi.Tr rn L,u' Iou hI
II was tea-time now, and as they sat
about the table, Sarah said, "Iguess
III fix your bonnet after tea, aunty;
'twon't take but minute, and i'd
rather do it while ] recolleet lust where
that bow gOes.ng n3fuH a'HI i''
eWhy, Ithought you had Fixed itr'
returned Miss Beulah. ~ Nai3L
4 "WeH,i I came Aght back, to- but it
want hete I thoFHgbt you'd took it
""f haif't touched it since it lay right
here on the table"
%Ill drpQ pl,Iapd asf ma, maybe She
But Mrs, Smith had not been down
stairs since she left Aunt Beulah with
the bonnet in her hands; and now the
old lady turned on Jack: Have yod
ben and carried off my bunnity you lit
tie besomm 0I8l ri uoiihiu9lao lso.1
~ hqip't TOUCHED ypBr 9ld h9Rnet"
retorted yack, with grand ,scorn, eg 4
''F don't believe he has, said Sarah;
"f for when 1 come down stairs and
found it want there, Bwent out and set
on the bench to Che front door, and 1
heard him and Janey away on the
other side of Che yard playin', and you
knowithey want In here when the bon
net Gomez e1I N' ,N
f"Well, Of course Janey hasn't seen
1t, if Jack hasn't; and, If she had, the
blessed child wouldn't have touched old
aunty's bunnit for q dOllar-wOuld she,
precious lambp" and Aunt Beulah
stroked the bright curls of her darling,
who looked up into her face and
laughed, while Jack grinned broadly
between his bites of bread and butter,
master of the situation, and full of
sweet revenge. " And Nanny hain't
seen 1t, | know" went ON Aunt Beu-
lab, 'sfor she was along of me the
whole enduring time; but I'll ask her;
tain { lost breath to ask, my mother
used TO say, and mabbe it's a gain. = /.
The old lady strobe out into the
kitchen with knit brows, but came back
without any increased knowledge
"She hainlt been in here once sence
she set down the bandbox; and come
to think ont, know she hahn +, for /
cleared the table myself to-day and,
besides, the bltnnit want here at din
ner-time, Now, let's hunt for it.
Things don't gener'lly vanish away
without hands; but If we can t find no
hands, why, it's as good as the next
thing to look for the bunnit.n f
So they went to work and searched
the house, as they thought, most thor
Oughly; no nook or corner but was in
yestigated If twas large enough to hold
that bonnet, but nobody once thought
of looking under the chair cushion. The
bonnet was evidently lost, and Jack,
who had followed the domestic detee-
tives up stairs and down, retired behind
the wOod-pile and executed n Joyful
dance to relieve his suppressed feelings
For several days this deluded spinster
mused and mazed over her bonnet, 20
ing to church on Sunday in her shabby
old velvet hat, and before the week was
half done, she had settled into "a pro
found belief that some tramp had passed
while they were all out of the room,
and, charmed by that lavender satin
ribbon ana black lace stolen the bon
net and CARRIED 10 off TO sell; and MANY
time did Miss Beulah Sit rocking to
and fro on top of her precious Leghorn,
wondering and benioahing at its loss.
But murder will out -sometimes, and
would certainly have come out in the
weekly cleaning the next Saturday, il
ON the Friday morning Miss Beulah had
not set down o pitcher Of milk just
brought In by q neighbor, on the end of
the table nearest to that rocking-chair
:. set Il down only Tor q momept,to get
the neighbOr q recipe for sugar ainger-
bread peculiarl to tho Lai'kinufamily.
JapeY happened to be thirsty, and
reached after the pitcher, but was lust
tall enough tO'grasp the handlejso low
down that when she pulledatit, steady-
ing herself against the chair, il tipped
sideways, and poured a copious stream
of fresh milk ron the cushion, The
bhintz was old, and had lost its glaze,
and the feathers were light, so the rich
fluid soaked In at once, and before the
two women, recalled from tIa cupboard
by Janey's scream, could reach the
pitcher, there was only q very soppy
and wet cushion in the chair. ~
For mercy's sakes, said the neigh
bori but Miss BeVlah, with great pres
ence of mind, snatched up the dripping
mass and lung il out of. the open win,
! dow, lest her carpet should suffer. She
reverted TO the chair IN a second, and
stood transliXed, g0.4.'ss.-i.tt ......1
| I "What under the everlastin' cano.
pyP" broke from her dlslnayedi lips, fol
there, ilattened out almost beyond rec.
| ognitipn, and bpakep wherever it wa,
bent, IFS lavender ribbons soaked with
milk, the cheap, laee, limp and dldTaggled,
lay the remains of the Leghon bon,
/ net. gplu1eral oiEr,ll gi1Iuu.94 2
| rOf all thingsI' exclaimed the neigh.
bpr, but there was an echo of irrepres-
| slble amusement IN her tones. Aunt
Bedlah glared at her, and lifted The
damp bonnet as tenderly as ifit had
] been Janey's eurls, regarding II with an
! expression pen oflpanGil failsto depict
amixmre ofgrief pity indignationand
amazement, that, together with tbs
curious look Of the bonnet, WAS too
mueh for the neighbor, aud, 70 use
her own aftar a,g,tpadsslft a., lash,.i ti,, ,