Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1884-08-14

We were 1p for an early breakfast.
after which I 1ew In fast haste to the
Office. laid hold Of Sam. who does
the draying for our house, thrust S4.S5
into his hand 70 pay the charges. and
directed him to proceed at once 10 the
freight department of the c. & NJ. Ii
was & verF busy morning with me;
there were 3 thousand and ons things
pressing for immediate attention; II
was out of the question 10 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 = slight wandering OF
thought. went down the column fer
test As the result WAS different, /
climbed tie ladder again. only 10 light
upon q third value; and thon 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 IL IS capital
remedy for nervousness when one
hasn't the time for 4 ride OF walk.
But the mental disturbance of this
morning was out of the reach of boot
blackiug So / tcok NY hat and
pressed hotly for homc. I wished 10
reach home before the goods arrived
In this I was successful. ! found my
wifo posted at = front window, and
there I also took my stand We waited
for half-hour. very cheerful. very hap
py. and IS serene IS eager expectancy
would permit.
At length-at length-there was the
rumbling and heavy grating Of slow
wheels on tho stone pavement We
crooked our heads out OF the window
and caught the first possible glimpse Of
the herses' noses and then their full
lengths as they turned the corner. And
there was Sam. unmistzkably Sam.
'-Oh. wei. wife" said. .Set Us no. be
childish" So we took in our heads.
but stood watching just within l say
we stood watching. for we could not
for some moments do otherwise than
stand and watch We could not look
II each Othe-. but stood mute and mo-
tiOnless, our eyes fixed intently on that
vehicle and It's contents. My throat
began 70 swell Then came hot surge
rising at my cheeks and temples and
creeping through the roots of my hair.
down the back Of my neck. down.
down. 10 nv heels-to my toes; Snd
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 of the leaves of a weed that grew
by the curbing; 1t the same time his
face beamed with malicious mirth-
Now and then he stole furtiTe glance
at the wares behind him and then went
on cutting the weed. his face wearing
n smile and sgnint Of in
terr0gafiOn- Of course. bolted out
upon ths porch As [ shut the door
heard one OF the upstairs shutters on
Clara's side close gently.
well" said Sam. with q painful
effort 70 compose his features. al guess
tksre must be something wrong about
this"
Take the stuff around by the back
slley," | shouted. hoa-sely- I slipped
through the house. and noticed on nv
way that nv wife, who had recovered
from her modification and dissppOint-
ment. had dropped down in q corner
and WAS laughing hysterically. was
provoked enough. but my chagrin gave
way t5 a smile rs Imet Sam at the back
gate A SMILE was all that was needed
20 touch him of DE fairly roared-
And. as a5ominsble luck would have il.
that alley was fell of people-my neigh
bors-going and coming. have never
seen suen cOncourse Of people in that
alley, before or since Bows climbed
over fences and ranged themselves
about. girls peered through ckinks and
whispered TO one another. and tOddling
infants cried 10 be lif.ed to some placs
Ct vantage
Yes. there was ''somefhing wrong"
Contrary 70 my wife's expectations
there was 4 kitchen-stove- And the
kitchen-stove had been used; in evi-
dence Of which there were elaborate
fresc0es Of grease ranging in more or
less detached fakes around the oven
doors and on the edges Of the hearth
and along the overlapping margin Of
the top. There was a bundle contain
ing two or three joints o. pipe whose
ends were raveled BY rust and wear.
And there were chairs. several of them;
none of your efcminate rockers. hut
concerns. built 10 stand firm
" on four legs; not plush. no; not cane-
seat; not walnut; but sound, straight
grained. poplar. sPlint-bottoms. 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 classieally
nude Bedroom furniture2 Yes. in
deed At least a bedstead. The artIst
had designed this lzrter article as =
piece for the chairs; and as
far rs harmony OF style went hi. design
was success We can lump of the
rest of the six hundred pounds in this
way S sewing machine without cover
and broken tresdle, kitchen-table
with game leg and = warped top. an
open crate Of pans, and pots, and
kettles, suggesting alike 10 optic and 70
nerves the frizzling of
sausage and salt pork and whatsoever
Is greasy and makefh 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 snd claimed
his own with loud curses This had
the elect Of drawing on. on the back
pOrches such Of the neighboring popu-
lation IS had not boon present at the
previous exercises There was a 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 % bitterness when il
occurred % me that most of them
wOnld suppose that l was trying to
steal the goods or. perchance. was
q" grinding the face Of the poor"
Clara had the kindness never TO men,
fiou the AFFAIR N us alfbo,,,~h -.