Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-12-13
Mr.. Jones Has an Evening at Home.

Mr.. Jones Has an Evening at Home.
S1Hria,' said Mr.. Jones as he sat
~dndentoyed an evening at home-be
cause he had NO place else to go-..it
seems to me that on a suspicious occa-
SON like this'-and he looked fondly al
her-"as if Heaven and home were an.
nonymous terms"
''Sin-onomous," corrected Mrs. Jones.
taking several pins and a ball of Irvine
out of her mouth and placing a patch
on that part of Willie's pants where it
fwculd fdo the most good. .'Jeptha,
WY don't You read aloud evenings, in
stead of keeping all the good things to
yourself?''
..:Is,reading allowed" asked Jones,
tnnocAntly. 81 thought you preferred
90 talk?"
well. !! do snapped Mrs. j.,
''when 1 have somebody to talk to.
which isn't very often.''
'rll read" exclaimed Jones, hurri.
edly reversing the book he held in his
hand-'And it came to pass
..'Save that for. Sunday, interrupted
Mrs. Jones. ''Read some sweet thing
about home, or the friends; some poe
try. l love to hear poetry, Jephtha, ~
with sly wink at nobody.
e Tins encouraged, Jones, who is an
:. &nateur elocutionist and has fired the
& neighborhood with his dramatic read
lngs in times past, till the neighbors
threatened to fire him, seized a. volume
of poetry and, in the voice that made
g'Freedom shrek when Kosciusco fell, -
read aloud that touching poem begin
ming; -,
Which shall it be, which shah it be,
Hooked at John-John looked at me-
. There was silence which could have
been felt with rolling-pin when Jones
ceased to read, and wiped the foam
fecks from his pallid lips, and Maria
mas in tears. y-sr~ a. .--~
G = eB know you've Weakened the boys"
she said, in a voice that sounded small
and still after his, land they IL want a
drink
: , HThe childrenr' murmured Jones,
with fixed eyes, 1.-THE dear, sweet chill
dren! M-M-Marla, do we 'preciate
these dear ones as we ought to?''
I'll do" said Mrs. Jones, shortly. "l
hear them talking now-where's my
slipper, ;,
soul was melted within him by his eff
forts in the line of elocution, al will 90
and see if the innocent darlings need
anything" And he went up stairs soft
ly, repeating with aSalvini-Rossi Booth
efect:
Which shall it be, which shall it be?
looked at John-John looked at me-"
The innocent darlings" heard him
coming, and, desisting from a pillow
fight in which they were engaged, they
buried their heads in the sheets and
were instantly sound asleep. looking
like dimpled cherubs, with an occa-
SSsional snore to assert their relation to
the human. Jones wiped the salt tears
of love and elocution from his eyes, and
bent fondly over them; then he crept
out and waited moment in the hall to
listen to their gentle breathing; sudden
it ceased.
Then dreadful suspicion haunted
Jones-they had been playing 'possum,
the little wretches; he waited.
sis the old man gomez were the
words of Cherub No. 1, as soon as he
got the sheet out of his mouth.
80 Yep" answered Cherub No. 2.
'' He was a-crying, Willie. Amt he
,duffer, though?"
""I'll strike him for five cents to-
morrow; see if don't!"
oh. he'll be himself again to-mof-
row, Willie; he'll stamp around and
say: Get out of my way, little imps,'
Just as he allus does. 1 don't take no
stock in him, don't"
"Let's play we was pa" suggested
Willie. ''W here's them boys9 PU teach
them to touch my paper! Pu tan their
hides for 'em! III show 'em who's
master in this housed"
When Jones got back to the sitting
room his face was red-very red-and
his eyes wore vengeful glare. Mrs.
,Jones looked up at him as he stalked in,
and asked, innocently:
'.'Switch shall it be, switch shall it
bsSa
--.Bothn, shouted the enraged parent.
'"0f all the unruly brats l ever saw, I
do think, Maria, ours are the worst. I'll
lather them both tomorrow" -Detroi!
Free Press.