The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1882-04-05

lQsD " scit[ :. Iss.r 80
'O1f ':';:t isas .e y
MRS; TOM sAwYER's, PARTY
/ 2asst,se tssks, - &.
Mrs. Tom Sawyer's cherry little
|face was unmistakably clouded. ,as
Ishe went about her work, one. bright
morning .l,.s .s 90 .,,%ss:
| In order to explain /, to- you the
cause OF this unusaal occurrence, I
Ishall have to say ffst Of all, that
! there never was. 4 mpre' thoroughly
aristocratic little town than. that of
Ashton was, and is now, dfor aught
l. know 70 the. contrary. They we're
aristocratic people, the Ashtonites,
had aristocratic, homes attended
aristocratic churches, and LAST. but
not least in poor little, Mrs. Tom's
1Eeyes athls selfssahe. moriing,r they
/ 'had 'yery 'aaristooratic tea parties:
"What lad that AZ Do with hsrr?"',
you ask, ~...v.. -. =
Well, somehow, partly ii Virtue Of
her good family,botsmos,Iy,.f must,
tcedfess, on account oot'her Sweet,
sudshilnx Waysssna good true sense,
Mrs. Tom, though Ler'hastandswas
4 mechanic, WAS admitted ,syel, into
the charmed s,circls of aris,pcratic
a, Ashton I''.f Mrs, Tom GerseIf von~
fdered- how she came there, as did
everybody else, bp,sr i there she was,
and no one, mot even ,bcs;most fas-.
ttid!founs, l,aa any desire e ,tosput. her
ont. -, ',,,.., !, ~ ;,,, ~ ., 8 s, .
But it proved something Of d; trial
to her after all, and this i. morning
the thorns were very sharp. You
must know she found herself, as, the
expression Is, indebted tolinear'y
every one Of her her, friends, not tlnan !,
cia)ly, but socially. 49,. 4
Nothing very terrible about that
you say; but that is because you.
). know q nothing about Ashton tea
parties. ]. S s @
No ono was invited, until lust s tea i
tine, When 40 s we're Z expected to ap-
pear robed in their very best: The
table was loa,led with dainties Of all
Esorts and descriptions. After ar
evening Of high bred smallstalks and
gossip # Ever sush be b,ghbred, The
company adjourned. each lady pre-.
sent vowing TO surpass the hostess
on some future occasion.-
asuch:were Acknowledgements. Do
you wonder that Mrs. Tom sfghedf'
She went, broom in hand, and
opened the parleoE door. vAtis, ecosy
cherry room e lopkedg .justiike her
self" her husband said. But the
carpet was only an ingram, and the
furniture very plain. She shut the
door and went on into the dining
room. That carpet was very much
worn and thin id spots. @
| "But renjoey eating in it enough
|gight. better then 4. in Mrs. George
Parker's elegant one, for hers fairly
chills me, and this warns me up, it
looks So :homely,,,'' said. the incorri-
gible TON, who. preferred his, own
coy, home to;any. ones splehdor. i
|7aMrs. Tom went backto her. sweep.
ing, with a look ofindeoision on her
face; and 1t rested there all the time
she was dusting and putting to-
rights. !, z rs
pit'a'llty,. and I'll t.. offer + them nine,
They know / can not do % they: do,
SO they won't expect It, and I wont
spoil 1T all sbytstrying to do some, ]
thing I1ean't.. TIA make as nice a
tea party as i know how my way,
tbut ipll ksepit my way
Do II came to pass that AFTERNOON
Mrs. TON went around among her
friends s !, inviting INIT them Is take tea
With het the next day. "And Il
would like to hayss,you come early
and spend. the afternoeasrs she said to
every one. a..,8sss az. .tssea m 4
+ Then she went home and com.
menced preparations. The house
was put in apple pie order. For tea,
she would have biscuits and butter,
land Mrs Tom could make biscuits
worth eating cold meat, preserves,
and two kinds! kinds 81 cake. She hesita-
ted over the cake a little. She did
hate to seem poor Or stinky; bnt she
kept firm. lie @ a.,...
I; 81 can't afford any more, and II
doa't believe in thinking your com
pany comes for the cake"
There was no little wonderment
and surprise over Mrs. Toms invi-
tations; some eveh felt 4 little sorry
for Ler lest she had not folly real
lied what she was undertaking.
But one and all made up their minds
to 60, and help along ifsneed be. al