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

Us DOJn aL the same instant. nave al
ways been particular about the exact
date of that ideas rise in our minds;
the bright thought struck US both at
the same instant namely-Uncle John!
substantial token of regard! furni-
ture! We read the shabby little postal
once more, and once more we smiled.
Bless his dear old heart! Just like
him! always so thoughtful My
mothers brother, indeed! But New
Buffalo? never heard of such a place
Z" You understand, don't your I
said; g 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 to have been any serious
doubt in my mind on the score Of the
cha ges 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 forgetfulness
uncle always was so forgettul 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 surprise. And had
/ he not announced it? Had he not said
that he meant to see what he could do
for us? Furniture! Sir hundred
pounds! Oh, that some artist might
haze photographed for US the ex-
pressions of Joy and complacency 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 hun
dredth time.
"Come, my DEAR" cried I, 'what do
you think it is?n And we laughed again
in our JOY.
II am sure 1 can not guess" she said.
'But we know it is not kitchen stove,
and it would hardly be anything for the
dining-room. If had to guess believe
I should say-in fact, think something
seems to tell me that it is parlor furni-
tureo"
"a correct observation, my dear; Ger
tainlv correct. [ should have said so
myself, but [ wished to get the benefit
of your woman's intuition, 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 / not often said
sop
eyes" she reioined, very soberly;
''and if my intuition tells me anything,
it indicates parlor furniture. But then,
we must not feel too sure; it might be
bedroom SET Yet Uncle John knew
that we had one fine set. 1 remember
distinctly of my telling him that every
thing in our room was ours"
''You will allow, 1 suppose" said ],
''that six hundred pounds of furniture
means several articles. Ii it had been
bookcase, the postal would have said
bookcase; but no, it uses the name of
class, not of single object. This tells
me that whatever it may be, it consists
of several pieces. Now how much does
that sofa weight A hundred pounds?
Less, if anything, I'll warrant you.
That marble-top table can not possibly
I go over seventy-five, and each of these
easy chairs will weigh-say eighty. Let
me see, that makes three hundred and
thirty-fve. Well 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-roomP 1t would not weigh
much. Let us put that down; yes, an
elegant sideboard; what do you thinkp"
She thought well of an elegant side
board.
AT this juncture Clara, having heard
our front door open at our return, came
tripping in with blush and smile and
spread out on my wife's lap piece after
piece of 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
mired the delicate pattern and praised
again and again the cunning workman
ship. By this time both my wife and I
were in such 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
tingeing Clara's brow and cheek, as she
noted the very great satisfaction with
which her gifts were received. But her
quick instinct OWNED other causes.
"What has happenedo" she cried.
taking my wife's hand; ''some pleasant
fortune, am sure. You seem so hap
Ply this evening"
My wife's eyes sparkled. She looked
to me.
| StVos NErs UT oo;5 - C1ouo
sin addition to your very thoughtful
kindness, we have received another
surprise of an extremely agreeable ma
ture. My Uncle John who was here
last month has sent us a gift of some
furniture. We are not sure yet wheth-
er it is parlor or a bedroom set.
Have not seen it; it's at the depot; will
be here in the morning." Then the
ladies had another little celebration in
the way of kisses ard tears, while sat
back in my chair and with such CRAWL
ty as l could command descanted on
the virtues, the oft tested goodness, the
genuine ''milk of human kindness
that constituted the prominent char
acteristics in the personality of Uncle
John. | was on the point of pushing
III - 1AObl0 ttuu uGGdlllIlO WudU
we might expect was even about to
hint at the practically unlimited abili-
ties of the aforesaid relative. when a
momentary suspicion of the insufficient
cy of evidence as basis of our expect
atoms babe me draw it mildly. But
the six hundred pounds overcame me.
Such heavy invoice of household
goods at one consignment SO powerful
ly stimulated my sanguine nature that
discretion seems to have been utterly
Frustrated. l did go on; yes, fatally
onward. There was s'notking like
what you might call mean about Uncle
john" and s'when he made up his
mind to do q thing he did it royally;''
and ''it was not every one on whom tne
blessings OF Heaven had descended in
such unstinted measure as to render
snch good works possible" Yes, such
and more. OF course, this was, with
out doubt, very fat can not gainsay
it. But the circumstances, my friend,
the circumstances! And I do not be-
lieve that such folly has ever been