The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-09-16


at the doors; and the ancient clock. tick
ing away in its corner; and the old
chest of drawers, between the two WIN
doWs.
PA" cried Miss Etheldreda Eldred,
putting up her eyeglasses, ''what a
lovely piece of workmanship
quite medievalr' sighed Miss Err
mengarde. eve must have this old
Revolutionary relic in our drawing room,
par
The Professor stared around him.
There's nobody to ask the price of,
my dear, said he. ...
That's just like pa" said Miss Ethel
dreda. Don't you hear somebody ham
mering somewhere? There's q carpen-
ter shop just down the lane. Go and
inquire-don
Abel Jones was working diligently
away at step-ladder, when the Pro
fessor's bald head was thrust into his
shop.
"Eh?" said Abel, looking very hand
some, in his shirtsleeves and a scarlet
necktic.
Il wish you very good morning, sir"
said the Professor, politely.
"Same to you, sir!' said Abel.
Il wish, said the Professor, "to in
quire the price of that beautiful old
brass-mounted chest of drawers in the
kitchen of the house yonder. My
daughters -"
mo price at all, sir" said Abel. cit
amt for sale"
'If a liberal remuneration, sir, would
be any inducement to you"
"Not for SALE" good-humoredly re-
peated Abel. Nothing would induce
my mother-in-law to part with it"
" An old family relic, eh?" remarked
the Professor.
" Exactly" said Abel.
And he went on hammering, and
whstling the tune of :" Robin Adair,"
while the Professor made his way back
through the prickly hedge of goose
berry-bushes and black currants.
Half an hour afterward, Mary, the
pretty first cause of all Abel Jones' TO-
mantle adventures, ran into the shop.
They had been married for over three
months now, but Abel's smile of &el-
come was no less bright than it had been
in the DAYS of the honeymoon.
" Bless me, PolIy!' said he. ''What
is the matter? You look half scared to
death!'
''And no WONDER" said Mary. ''There
have been burglars at the house. Moth
er's chest of drawers is gomez
"Whatr shouted Abel.
"And these were left under one of the
volumes of Barnes Notes on the Cos
pei on the kitchen-tablen' breathlessly
added Mary, displaying five ten-dollar
bills in the palm of her hand.
" wordn' said Abel It's
the old fellow with the bald head, Polly,
and the spectacles, you may depend upon
it. | thought he looked like an old
furniture dealer"
Alas, poor Abel! not to be able to dis
eliminate between a secondhand store
keeper and the Professor of Esthetics
and Bellies Lettres in Higley University
But such is life!
" But it's stealingr' cried Mary,
| breathlessly.
well, not exactly" said Abel, laugh
ing. L" The old thing in itself wasn't
worth ten dollars. If they choose to
value it at fifty, why it amt bad for us
in the light of pecuniary transaction,
Ell, Polly?"
" But what will mother say?" pleaded
Mary.
1--we got another one nearly finished, "
said Abel. " was meaning to sell ii
to Mrs. Harrington. But I'll Just set it
up in the old place, and mother will
never care whether it's number one OF
number two that is there"
So that when Mrs. Bubble came home
from the sewing society, Abel was just
setting up new chest of drawers, and
Mary eagerly related to her the tale of
the burglary, for so she still persisted in
calling it.
Well, [ never!" said Mrs. Bubble.
Fifty and twenty-five makes seventy
five. I'm glad | didn't take the Death
of Jonathan
" This means business" said Abel to
himself.
And he set diligently to work to man.
ufacture still other duplicates of the
''chist O. draws" staining them a
dark, rich brown, and beating out odd,
shell-shaped decorations to complete the
illusion. And when the curiosity-hunter
CdIle up uHe SOHJdlJ IOdl, cluDOWGIeu
in elms, where it required considerable
engineering for one load of hay to pass
another, Abel sat whistling on his door
step, ready to drive a bargain.
"Any old furniture or antiques to
sell?" the hunter would blandly inquire
"Not a stickn' said Abel; and then,
after minutes blank silence on the
part of the pioneers of the aesthetic, he
would add; UNLESS you'd like to look
at this ere chist O draws as I've lust
tinkered up. l can't say, up and down,
you know, as it's old; but then it is.
You can look for yourselves. There
amt no date it. Idon't care whether
| sell itor not Nor yet don't put no
price on it. | ain'tnone of your bargain
drivers. If you like it, pay what you
think is right; if you don't, why there
amt no harm donen'
So that no less than seven editions of
the chest of drawers We're sold before
the season was over. They became the
fashion. Every person who bought one
had vague hope of having something a
little different from his neighbors. And
some of them have never yet ceased
looking for hidden treasures, old papers
or outlawed wills among the pigeon
holes and compartments.
And ,vboo tho cnoco, ooJoJ onl . q