West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1884-08-29

afternoon and had Joined her In the
evening at tho house OF "A friend where
we took tea. Circumstances made il
necessary for us 20 return TO our own
abode at an early hour. l do not think
that II could have been as late as eight
O'Clock. In the Afternoons mail we
iou2d shabby little poStal-card stat
irg that at the freight depot of the g
" Nj. Road there were some six hun
bred pounds of furniture, from New
Buffalo. consigned to my address: and
that the same had been on hand for
several days, and that it would be well
Tor me To pay the charges and remove
the aforesaid furniture at once. Nv
wife leaned over my shoulder and read
the postal with me. We read il again.
FurniturcP furniture? New Buffalop
We looked ut each other looked again,
and smiled. The bright thought struck
us both at the same instant have al
ways been particular about the exact
date of that ideas rise i'm our m nds;
the bright thought struck us both ~
ne 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. NV
mothers brother. indeed! But New
BuiialoP never heard of such a place.
You understand. don't you?" |
said; " he has bought the furniture i'm
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 hun
dred pounds! What can il be? There
does not seem to have been any serious
doubt i'll 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 forgetfulness
uncle always was so forgetful i'm small
matters IL might have been owing
to certain necessities of the situation
End 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? FUrniturci SIR huniyed
pounds! Oh, that some artist might
ha photographed for us the ex-
pressions of joy and complacency that
spread over our faces rs we sat and
looked ut each other, and chewed the
cud of satisfaction, and gave each
other knowing winks, and turned that
m SCRABBLE little postal for the hun
dredth time.
Come, my dear cried |, "what do
you think it is?' And we laughed again
in our iov.
81 am sure can not guess" she said.
But we know it is not kitchen stove,
and 1T would hardly be anything for the
dining-room. If l had TO guess | believe
| should say-in fact, think something
seems to tell me that it is parlor furn.
ture."
"A correct observation, my dear: GER
tainly 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 | not often said
SOP"
Yes" she re oned, very soberly;
land if my intuition tells me anythinp
IL indicates paylOr furniture. But then,
we must not feel too sure; it might be
bedroom set. Yet Uncle John knew
that we had one fine set. / remember
distinctly OF my telling him that every
thing I'm our room was ours
You will allow. | suppose" said |.
THAT six hun lred pounds of furniture
means several articles l. it had been
a bookcase, the postal would have said
bookcase; but nc, it uses the name OF "A
class, not OF IA single object This tells
me that whatever il NAV be, it cons, SITS
of several pieces. Now, how much does
that sofa weigh? A hundred pounds?
Less. if anything, I'll warrant YOU.
That marble-tOp table can not possibly
go over seventy-hve, and each of these
easy chairs will weigh-say eighty. Let
me see, that makes three hundred and
thirty-tive. 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
orr front door open ut our return. came
tripping IN with n blush and n smile and
spread out on my wife lap piece after
''ece OF very dainty tidy set which her
own def fingers had fashioned. and
. ''AANA ny WIG ItttlNtN Wltn Tue 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. II became really quite silly. +
could see by the trembling of the folds
about my wife's mouth that her checks
ached with smiling. There was at first.
q very charming flush Of pink confus on
tIngeng 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 hand "sOme pleasant
fortune. ! am sure. You seem so han
by this evening.
My wife eyes sparklcd She looked
20 me.
Eyes, Mrs A. said TO Clara
I'm 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 ha, sent us q Gift of some
furniture. We are not sure set wheth-
or 1t isa parlor or a be l-room SGT.
Have not seen it; it's a. th, dcpot. will
be here In the mprufuar ff sTbc, d. NJ,