The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1884-08-08

We were up for an early breakfast,
after which / few in fast haste to the
Office. / laid hold of Sam, who does
the draying for our house, thrust "a. IS
into his hand to pay the charges, and
directed him to proceed at once to the
freight department of the G. & M. 1t
was very busy morning with me;
there were thousand and one things
pressing for immediate attention; it
was out of the question to think Of go
ing home before dinner But what can
a man do with an inheritance of six
hundred pounds resting on his mind!
/ added column of figures and, being
conscious of a slight wandering of
thought. went down the column for a
test As the result was different, /
climbed the ladder again, only to light
upon a third value; and then down
down again. only to find fourth. Oh,
shocking resorted to the backing
brush and applied it to my boots vigor-
ously for ten minutes. 1t is capital
remedy for nervousness when one
hasn't the time for ride or walk.
But the mental disturbance of this
morning was out of the reach OF boot
backing. So l took my hat and
pressed holly for home. wished to
reach home before the goods arrived.
In this was successful. found my
wife posted at a front window, and
there / also took my stand. We waited
for half-hour, very cheerful, very hap
Ply, and as serene as eager expectancy
would permit.
At length at length-there was the
rumbling and heavy grating of slow
wheels on the stone pavement. We
crooked our heads out OF the window
and caught the first possible glimpse OF
the horses noses and then their full
lengths as they turned the corner. And
there was Sam, Enthusiastically Sam.
"Oh, well, wife, / said, ''let us not be
childish" So we took in our heads,
but stood watching just within. | say
we stood watching, for we could not
for some moments do otherwise than
stand and watch. We could not look
at each other, but stood mute and mo-
tionless, our eyes fixed intently on that
vehicle and its contents. My throat
began to swell. Then came a hot surge
rising at my cheeks and temples and
creeping through the roots of my hair,
down the back of my neck, down.
down, to my heels-to my toes; and
then another hot surge, and then an
other, while the perspiration flowed
freely. Oh, it was painful! And that
drayman that drayman = having
thrown down his lines, sat on the end
of the high seat with his feet hanging
over the wheel, while with his whip he
cut off the leaves of a weed that grew
by the curling; at tie same time his
face beamed with malicious mirth.
Now and then he stole furtive glance
at the wares behind him and then went
on cutting the weed, his face wearing
alternately smile and squirt of in-
terrogation. Of course, l bolted out
upon the porch. AS | shut the door l
heard one OF the upstairs shutters on
Clara's side close gently.
"Well," said Sam, with painful
effort to compose his features, 81 guess
there must be something wrong about
this"
"Take the stuff around by the back
alley" | shouted, hoarsely. I slipped
through the house, and noticed on my
way that my wife, who had recovered
from her modification and disappoint-
ment, had dropped down in corner
and was laughing Historically. I was
provoked enough, but my chagrin gave
way to smile as I met Sam at the back
gate. A smile was all that was needed
to touch him off. He fairly roared.
And, as abominable luck would have it,
that alley was full of people my neigh
bors-going and coming. have never
seen sucn concourse of people in that
alley, before or since. Boys climbed
over fences and ranged themselves
about, girls peered through chinks and
whispered TO one another, and toddling
infants cried to be lifted to some place
of vantage.
Yes, there was something wrong"
Contrary to my wife's expectations
there was a kitchen-stoVe. And the
kitchen-stove had been used; in evil
dence of which, there were elaborate
frescoes of grease ranging in more or
less detached flakes around the oven
doors and on the edges of the hearth
and along the overlapping margin of
the top. There was bundle contain
ing two or three joints of pipe whose
ends were raveled by rust and wear
And there were chairs, several of them;
none of your effeminate rockers, but
serviceable concerns, built to stand firm
~ on four legs; not plush, no; not cane
seat; not walnut; but sound, straight
grained, poplar, splint- In
the obscure hooks of each chair there
were the tell-tale "reminiscences of the
pride of other days-paint; but for the
most part the surface was clslssicallv
nude. Bedroom furniture? Yes, in
deed at least a bedstead. The artist
had designed this latter article as a
companion piece for the chairs; and as
far as harmony of style went his design
was a success. We can lump off the
rest of the six hundred pounds in this
way: sewing machine without cover
and broken treadle, kitchen-table
with game leg and warped top, an
open crate of pans, and pots, and
kettles, suggesting alike to optic and to
olfactory nerves the frizzling of
sausage and salt pork and whatsoever
is greasy and maketh lasting stencil.
Yes, there was some mistake-same
name. / looked at the postal again
and noted for the first time that there
was no number given in the address,
At this juncture the real owner of the
goods drove in the alley and claimed
his own with loud curses. This had
the effect of drawing out on the back
porches such of the neighboring popu-
lation as had not been present at the
previous exercises. There was grain
of comfort in the reflection that none of
them could believe that the stuff be-
longed to me. But even this consola-
ton was turned to bitterness when it
occurred to me that most of them
would suppose that I was trying to
steal the goods or, perchance, was
grinding the face of the poor.''
Clara had the kindness never to men,
ton the affair to us, although l have
always thought that she talked it over
with Bathurst. The next day the mail
brought us a fifteen-cent pamphlet
copy of the Revised Edition of the New
Testament 1t came from Buffalo. We
have not heard from Uncle John since.
- 1hjcn0n Ta.;haynao