The Red Cloud chief., 1880-04-08

Mr.. washingtss psbhs ess~d hs
eosnfinx hesssr dossrs ga Saturday nsghs
after an unss~uafiy hard day. wpk AaS
usrt bone wak . keen arg~tsfs zssd
Ngh; heart Lsffing himself IN VIII =
latch ksy, Mr.. Ishts wns hss
surprised Al The unasusl qusss Thai
rsisned throughout the hon-. An IN
certain click, eirk." coald be bead.
apparently p.poreding frsrn many d.
rprfioux. bu, oaixits - this The Plsrs
Was silent ~ the iosh. Seated ca ,
from; stair, the youngest Offspring II ,hs
lobbs family ~as beading ia;ruiiy over
= ANAL box u blocks. which be SEEMED
Ia be sfsdyinS ~itk al the es;bes;Dess
Il msturr years No; wishing o Dis
tu,b The ~yoaagsicr. Ar. I,obhs ssid
nothing, bB; stepped into the dining
raom where. n MAS BIS custom. be sx-
pec;ed To End Mr. i,obbs. The tahss
was Dot yet sst- All was siieai within
save the mysterious click" Locking
inientiy 10 the direction from which the
sound ~proceeded. be perceived IN the
gathering gloom The forms oi several
iayeniie DObb- spread IA over tbs
floor in al directions, each one
profoundly engaged with = box Of
blocks. To III. question 81 The elder
Dobh- as 10 wha, they were dong no
answer was voucksaiei. and. with an
impaiien; exclamation II disgust, be a.
cended The stair. u his wife's room. feel
ing in the oppressive silence thz; some
thing had happened Entering the
apartments Of Mrs. DObbs he found his
wife seated a; the window poring over
the inevitable blocks. She SEEMED to be-
perfectly absorbed in The movement Of
The little wooden dies. and vas com
pletely unconscious Of her husbands
pre- .cnce. Mrs. Dobiss. what IN the
world does all this mean" exclaimed
the astounded Dobbs. "Is every body
in this house ~crazy9" Mrs. Iiobbs paid
no attention Ia her irate lord. further
than 10 exclaim in 3 pc;ulant -
:. Dear, goodness: I've got il al but the
IS, Is and Il. but III finish it-yes, III
finish il il il takes all night" "Mrs.
Dobbs. do you hear me? Are we going
to have any supper tonight why,
YES, | suppose so,' replies Mrs. Dooos
in n very vague sort 81 a way, as b
settles back ON the blocks. We'll. i
want something To eat. What ia the
world are You sitting there f"r?" 30
Washington don't bother me. This
horrid fifteen will come first, but know
I can do it,"
Dobbs was a plain, sensible sort at a
man, and Was withal eyeD-tempercd n
generally quic, and unobtrusiye. Tie
never took it upon himself 10 NEEDLE
with other peoples affairs, bad no
prejudices in favor of either religion,
politics or science. When the census 81
the population was taken he counted
one, but on no other occasion did he at
tempt IL cut a figure in the world. But
beneath all this placidity of character
there lurked stormy passions, and these
held SWAY for several moments. Finally
he said TO one of the servants, Tell your
mistress | will dine down town to-day.
! Then he left the dining-room and pro-
ceeded 10 put on his o%yercoai IN the hail.
While thus engaged his eye fell upon a
little box of blocks lying on n table near
by. His first feeling Wa n Of indigna-
ton, and he started forward with the
intention of putting them under bis foot,
but some peculiar power arrested has
hand and caused him To hesitate. The
IA, he noticed, was u OF It's
place, and he slipped u OF the
blocks aside in a careless sort of way
for the purpose Of placing il in its right
position. Ii was done on the impulse
Of the moment, without consideration
on the part Of Dobbs. IL he had been
told three minutes before that he
Dobbs) would, before the hour was up,
be as earnestly engaged in the solution
of the puzzle as any one in his house
hold he would, in all probability. have
called that person some hard names.
But such is the incongruity Of human
passions. Dobbs was unsuccessful II ms
attempt to replace the fourteen, and
he removed his hat and placed it on the
table. The next attempt in which he
put them through several combinations
was also unsuccessful, and Dobbs re-
moved his coat and sat down. He
wasn't going I o be bluffed by no little
chip Of wood. He hadn't cared par
ticularly about il, n way or the other,
but now his blood was up, and he would
do it if il took 3 month. Then with a
general air Of preparation, rs il be an
ticipated the necessity of deep Thought
and attention, he drew up his chair,
and settled down To the work, and the
house of Dobbs once more relapsed into
silence.-Eastern ErchaHge.