St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-03-11

tnaC lady was IN the parlOr, VINO de-
clined to send up her name.
''An agent, no Doubt" | said. ~
wish you had asked her business, Jane.
But no matter; must go down soon,
to shut up Bijou, in any case"
So | sewed on TRANQUILITY until | had
finished the piece of work on which l
was engaged, and then ran down stairs,
humming a blithe little tune as went.
| never finished that tune, though; for
the first thing my eyes fell upon in the
hall was Aunt Clarice. Yes, Aunt Cla
rice, sitting demurely in the hall chair,
but with no very demure expression up
on her face. On the contrary, it was
a much agitated and dishevelled Aunt
Clarice upon whom | looked-an Aunt
Clarice who appeared equally divided
between tears and indignation, and
who met my astOnished gaze with one
full of wrathful meaning.
"Dear Aunt Claricei" | cried. "WhO
ever dreamed of seeing you to-day
Why in the world didn't you go into
the parlOr, even if Jane hadn't sense
enough to take you there? That girls
blunders are really beyond anything"
Don't scold the girl" said Aunt
Clarice, grimly ''it's not her fault.
She took me in there fast enough; but
if people will turn their parlors into
menageries, they can hardly expect
their friends to stay in them"
"Menageries Dear Aunt Clarice,"
l cried, 81 never thought goa would
mind poor BijOu too. You're as bad as
Uncle Philip"
Aunt Clarice turned slightly red. 'If
hnf Il Of no
81 have no more to say;" and she be-
gan to gather up her belongings as if
she meditated instant flight.
"But, dear Aunt Clarice," | cried,
"don't be so frightened l was just
going to shut him up, for he has been
out quite long enough (''I should think
So" said Aunt Clarice). "But l never
knew that you minded birds so much"
'Birds !" said Aunt Clarice, with an
indescribable iutonatiOn. But | do
mind birds very much-such birds as
this; birds that walk on four legs, and
wag their tails, and make grabs at your
ankles"
"Aunt Clarice," l cried, ''it's Hero
that you mean-Jack's great, horrid
dog. Do you mean to say that he is in
the parlOr? Oh dear! what shall do
Jack says that there is no harm in him,
but he always dances and grins at us
so. How shall we ever get him out,
for neither Jane nor dare touch him?"
Aunt CIarice had relaxed slightly
when she found that | had nothing to
do with HerO's presence in the parlOr,
and now she began to laugh.
Don't trouble yourself about getting
him out" she said. He is safe enough
there, for | shut the door upon him.
He kept quiet until Jane had gone, but
as soon as / was left quite alone and
unprotected, he fiOundered out from
under the very sofa that | was sitting
upon, and danced and grinned' at me,
until fairly took to my heels. Now
III go up stairs and take my things
off"
Jack only laughed when complained
to him of Hero's eScapade, said that as
my pet had the run of his study, it was
only fair that his should have the run
of the rest of the house. He positively
refused to chain him, or even to keep
him in the yard and cellar, as | i'm
plored him to do, if only on Aunt Cla-
rice's account.
"NO, no. he said, "my relations have
had their turn; it is time that yours
took their share now"
OF course when Hero had once found
his way up stairs, there was an end of
everything. Nothing would induce
him to stay down stairs after that. 1t
is my belief that he had found out some
way of wOrming himself through key
holes, for no amount of locking and
barring would keep him out. The
worst of it was that he took Il violent
fancy to Aunt Clarice. Or rather | am
inclined to think that he found her ir-
resistably tedSdble, and was deep and
artful enough TO pretend a firm conf
dence i'll her fondness and admiration
for him. At all events, wherever Aunt
Clarice was, Hero was sure to be some
where near. If she sat down upon
sofa, Hero wriggled out from under it
if she entered room, Hero bounced at
her from behind the door nay, he even
secreted himself under her bed at night,
for the express purpose of coming out
in the small hours, and waking her by
the contact of his cold wet nose and
his warm wet tongue. After she had
twice aroused the whole household by
her wild shrieks at these uncanny Wis
its, Aunt Clarice mildly but firmly an
nounced her determination.
"My dear Madge," she said, 81 am
very fond of You; | am fond of Jack
too; but really man who keeps such
wild beast about his house is fit only
for Bedlam. | can't expect you to turn
him out for me, so | have decided to
turn myself out for him. | am not quite
ready to go home yet, so | have taken
/ 70 I hon
quite comfortable"
Jack only laughed, and said, Tit for
tat,n when he heard of Aunt Clarice's
departure. He laughed still more when,
on comparing notes, we found that she
and Uncle Philip were now inhabitants
of the same boarding house in Ninth
street-a curious coincidence, certainly,
but not worth going into Mysteries over.
1t really seemed as if Jack would never
get over it. Every now and then, dur
ing the whole evening, he would sud
denly throw himself back, kick up his
heels in the most undignifed manner,
and roar. When | asked him his rea-
son for such behavior, he would say
only, "Uncle Philip and Aunt Clarice
-ho ho hOr And for days the men
tion of either name would bring a most
absurd aud diaboical grin to his face,
which was handsome enough one in
general.
III.
1t was rather curious, l thought, that
since Aunt Clarice had left US so alb
ruptly we had seen nothing either of her
or Uncle Philip, although more than a
week had passed. Aunt Clarice was
always Out-or so the servant said when
l called aud as for her, she had never