The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-08-24
TAKING THE TWINS PICTURE.


take some of the neighbors' pictures
His greatest trial, however. was witt
the Mallory twins. Mrs. Mallory wa.
very fond and proud of the twins-st
extravagantly fond of them that SHE
often said they were good enough t.
eat. They were as like each other q,
two peas; indeed. Ben thought they
were good deal more alike than any
two peas he had ever seen. They Were
| just one year and two months old
! Why Mrs. Mallory was so proud of the
twins, except for the fact that there
were two of them, nobody was ever
able to find out; but she was, and that
was enough for Mrs. Mallory, and, in.
deed, for Mr.. Mallory, too.-they were
both very proud of the twins, and the
taking of their pictures was great
event.
The appointed day arrived Ben was
| told to come with his instruments al
eleven o'clock precisely, for that was
the time the twins awoke from their
morning maps. He went accordingly.
He was shown into the parlor,. where
the whole family was gathered awaiting
him. Ben by this time felt quite eX-
perienced: he had taken almost every
thing else but a baby, and. although, il
was bold thing to begin with twins,
Ben felt pretty sure of himself. Pres
emily the twins were brought in, and
straightway there was a chorus of adj
miringrelatives: ..Darlings," 'angels.'
"cherubs," pets" '.lambs," :.litt,e
dears," etc Ben didn't join in the
chorus; he didn't exactly know what to
do, and so only stood and twirled his
thumbs, and looked foolish. He knew
very little about babies, and still less
about twins; "but,'' as he told Sissy
privately, "he couldn't see anything to
make fuss, over; he should great deal
rather have couple of nice rabbits. "
They were chubby babies; and they
were dressed in long white dresses, tied
up at the shoulders with pink ribbons.
They were girls. and their names, which
their mother had made it a point to get
as nearly alike as possible, were Eme-
line Anna and Evefine Hannah.
And now there was great dispute as
to how they should be taken. Some
thought in the cradle, some thought in
the baby-wag0n, some thought on their
mothers lap, sonnf thought on their
fathers lap, while their Aunt Jane said
they looked ..too. cunning for anything
in the clothes-basket. But soon Mrs.
Mallory settled the question by emphat-
irally taking them one on each knee.
Now Ben went to work; he pointed his
instrument. adjusted his lens, looked
under the black cloth, and was Just
upon the point of saying the word,
when suddenly Emeline Anna set up a
cry. Three au1ts at once rushed to the
rescue, which made her cry louder than
before. Mrs. Mallory then sent the
aunts away, and by some stratagem of
her own secured silence. In few min
utes they were all ready to start again,
when, unhappily, Eveline Hannah
esTied the ribbon on little blue-and-
white sock, sticking out from under heT
dress, and directly was seized with Il
wild desire to clutch it. This endeayoI
brought the three aunts and the father
promptly to the scene. All at once, il
occurred to their Aunt Jane that il
would be $50 sweet TO have them
Cooking up" Thereupon she went
and got the dust-pan, and, standing on
chair behind Ben and the camera, she
pounded it with clothes-pin. Thi:
struck Papa Mallory as such 4 very
clever thing to do, that he went and Got
the poker and tongs, and stood on an
other chair and banged them together.
This produced the desired effect. The
four eyes were strained upward in 6
gaze of dumb astonishment.
Now, quick, quick" cried every
body
Ben, in flutter, pulled off the cap
The whole family stood rigid with sus
pense for several seconds. Ben, a
length, replaced the cap. crying tri.
umphantly, ..Doner' Alas! in anothe,
moment he found that in the confusion
and excitement of getting the twin.
fixed, he had forgotten to put in tn,
plate, and of course there was no picture
Up went Papa Mallory and up Wen
Aunt Jane on the chairs again, bans
went the poker and tongs, and clan!
went the clothes-pin and the dust pan
This time, however, the plan did no
work. Eveline Hannah suddenly tool
, it into her ''precious little head'' to b,
scared at the noise, and at once set III
a cry which, when Emeline Anna pres
emily joined in, became loud and pro
longed duet. 1t was plain that some
thing else must be tried. 1t was, there
fore. decided TO let Papa Mallory hol
: the twins, while Mamma Mallor
: amused them. This promised at Fir;
to succeed. Mamma Mallory knelt dow,
before the Garlings, and, clapping he
hands, cried softly:
/ "Goo-goo! Googly-goon'
Now, children, wish could explai
those words to you. but l can not.
have not the least idea what they mean
But-will you believe it?-the twin
did; they knew what it meant at once
and burst into the sweetest smile @
which they were capable. Everybod
, again cried:
"Quick, quick; take EN- now"
But Ben, squirting under his blac
cloth. found he could see nothing at a,
, but Mrs. Mallory's back hair '.Oh
dear,'' she cried, when Ben told her c
, this. IF 1 60 away, they'll be sure t
cryr'
But it seemed now as if the twins ha
exhausted their ingenuity for the time
and had stopped to think up somethin
else to do. They puckered their mouths
and looked pensively at the floor
Snow" thought Ben, .I'll catch 'er
on the sly!" And Sc he did. The
were quiet; they sat still; and neithe
Ben nor anybody else in the roor
noticed that Papa Mallory had been tro
ting each knee gently all the time. Afte
this utter failure, Ben gave up the twin
in despair. -Edwin Lassetter Byaner. I
81. Nicholas.