The Red Cloud chief., 1884-08-15

y a. ioSSG Vi IIleOu W0fIH
We look tea. Circumstances made II
necessary for Us To return to a own
.3ode at an early hour. I do not think
that IT could have been as late as eight
O'Clock In the afternoons nail we
found q shabby little postal-card stat
ing that at the freight depo, Of the &.
q NJ. Road there were some six hun
dred pounds Of furniture, from New
Buffalo. consigned to my address: aad
that the same had been on hand for
several days, and that il would be well
for me to pay the charges and remove
the aforesaid furniture at once. Nv
wife leaned over my shoulder and read
the postal with me. W. read il again.
Furniture? furniture, New Buffalo?
We looked at each other; looked again.
and smiled. The bright thought struck
us both at the same instant. Ihave al
ways been particular about the exact
date Of that ideas rise in our m nds;
the bright thought struck us both At
he SAM instant n~amely-Uncle John,
a substantial token Of regard. furni-
tire. We read tn. shabby little postal
once more, and once more we smiled.
Bless his dear old heart, Just Ike
him, always SO thoughtful. My
mothers brother. indeed! But New
Buffalo? never heard Of such q place.
"You understand. don't you'" /
said: /" he has bought the furniture in
Buffalo. and this New Buffalo is some
suburban village where the firm has its
factory. The goods would naturally be
shipped from that point. And six hum
dred pounds! What can it be? There
does not seem Il have been any serious
doubt in my mind on the score Of the
charges not having been prepaid; nor
yet from the fact that | had received
no announcement of the approach Of
this formidable gift. The former
might have been due to forgeifulness-
uncle always was SO forgetful in small
matters-or it might have been owing
to certain necessities of the situation.
And. as for the announcement, why, Of
course the whole thing was his odd
way OF giving us a surprise. And had
he not announced,i Had he not said
that he mean to see what he could do
for us? Furniture! Si1 hunfred
have photographed for us the ex-
pressions of JOY and c~omplacency that
spread over our faces as we sat and
looked at each other. and chewed the
cud of satisfaction. and gave each
other knowing winks. and turned that
miserable little postal for the hum
dredth time.
Come, my dear" cried /, ..what do
you think it is?" And we laughed again
in our joy.
81 am sure | a not guess" she said.
''But We know il is not a kitchen stove.
and it would hardly be anything for the
dining-roOm. II l had to guess | believe
| should say-in fact, | think something
seems to tell me hat it is parlor furni.
ture."
"A correct observation. my dear; GER
tainlv correct. | should have said SO
myself. but | wished to get the benefit
of your wOman's intu ton. and was
afraid that any opinion of mine thrust
forward might throw it off The track.
You know | have great confidence in
your intuition. Have l moi often said
SOP"
Yes" she re;oined. very soberly;
land if my intuition tells me anything.
il indicates parlOr furniture. But then,
we must not feel too sure; it might be
a bedroom set. Yet Uncle John knew
that We had one fine set. l remember
distinctly of my telling him that every
thing in room was ours"
You will allow, l suppose" said /.
''that six hundred pounds of furniture
means several articles. Ii it had been
q bookcase. the postal would have said
bookcase; but no. it uses the nam of Il
class. not of a single object. This tells
me that whatever it may be, it consists
of several pieces. Now. how much does
that sofa weigh? A hundred pounds?
Less. if anything. I'll warrant you.
That marble-top table a not possibly
60 over seventy-iive. and each of these
easy chairs will weigh-say eighty. Let
me see, that makes three hundred and
Wen fill in with these
common chairs at fifty pounds apiece. {.
But see here, my dear; what would you
think OF an elegant sideboard for the !.
dining-room? 1t would not weigh
much. Let us put that down; yes. an
elegant sideboard; what do you Think"
She thought well of an elegant side
board.
AT this juncture Clara. having heard
our front door open at our return. came
in with a blush and a smile ard
out on my wife's lap piece after
piece of a very dainty tidy set which her
own deft fingers had fashioned, and
which my wife received with the usual
kiss and the inevitable tears. We adj
.ired the delicate pattern and praised
again and again the cunning workman.
ship. BY this time both my wife and I
were in, such a very genial mood that
we could do nothing but smile and
smile. 1t became really quite silly. I
could see by the trembling of the folds
about my wife's mouth that her cheeks
ached with smiling. There was at first,
a very charming flush of pink confusion
Clara's brow and cheek, as she
noted the very great satisfaction with
her gifts were received. But her.
quick instinct OWNED other causes. j
''What has h~appened'" she cried. .
my wife's hand; ''some pleasant .
l am sure. You seem so hap ;
py this evening" |
My wife's eyes sparkled. She looked
% me.
''Yes. Mrs. A." l said to Clara.
Tin addition TO your very thoughtful
SindnesS, We have received another
surprise of an extremely agreeable ma
My Uncle John who was here
month has sent us a gift of SONS
furniture. We are not sure vet wheth-
sr it is a parlor or a bedroom set.
Have not seen it; it's at the depot; wilt
here in the morning" Then thu
had another little celebration il,
he way of kisses ard tears. while l sag
back in my chair and with such gravi-
" as l could command descanted Oh
me virtues, the oft tested goodness, tn.