Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1884-08-08

uUu stntitu. iuo UTlRnb tnOuEub sbiuOh
us both at the samo instant Ihave al
ways been particular about the exact
date OF that IDEAS rise In our m nds;
the bright thought struck us both al
ne same instant; namely Johnl
n substantial token of regardI furni.
turc! 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
Bun'aloP never heard OF such place.
"You understand. don't you'N
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 hun
dred pounds! What can IL beP There
does not seem TO have been any serious
doubt in my mind on the scors OF the
cha rges not having been prepaid; nor
yet from tho fact that | had received
no announcement of the approach of
this formidable gift. The former
might have been due to forgotfulness
uncle always was so forgetful in small
matters-or it might have been owing
to certain necessities of tho situation.
And, as for the announcement, why, of
course the whole thing was his odd
way of giving us n surprise. And had
he not announced itp Had he not said
that he meant to see what he could do
for usP Furniture! Sir hundred
poundSi Oh, that some artist might
ha photographed for us the ex-
pressions of Joy and complacency that
spread over our faces as we sat and
looked at each other, and chowed the
cud of satisfaction, and gave each
other knowing winks, and turned that
m serable little postal for the hun
dredth time,
"Come, my DEAR" cried /, "what do
you think it isp' And we laughed again
in our Joy.
81 am sure can not guess" che said.
"But we know it is not kitchen stove,
and 1t would hardly be anything for tho
dining-room. If had to guess | believe
| should say-in fact, | think something
seems to tell me that it is parlor furni.
ture."
"a correct observation, my dear; cer-
tainlv correct. | should have said SO
myself, but | wished to get the benefit
vi iUuE WOIlul llltu ulous anu WIS
afraid that any opinion of mine thrust
forward might throw ii off The track.
You know have great confidence in
your intuition. Have / not often said
SOP"
"Yes" she re oined, very soberly;
"and if my intuition tells me anything,
IL indicates parlor furniture. But then,
we must not feel too sure; it might be
n bedroom set. Yet Uncle John knew W
that we had one fine set. remember
distinctly of my telling him that every
thing in our room was ours.'
"You will allow, suppose" said l,
"that six hundred pounds of furniture
means several articles. Ii it had been
n bookcase, the postal would have said
bookcase; but no, it uses the name of a
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, 1 II warrant you.
That marble-top table can not possibly
go over seventy-fve, and each of these
easy chairs will weigh-say eighty. Let
me see, that makes three hundred ant
thirty-tve. Well fill in. with these
common chairs at fifty pounds apiece
But see here, my dear; what would yol
think of an elegant sideboard for tn,
dining room? 1t would not weigl
much. Let us put that down; yes, al
elegant sideboar,i; what do you thinkp
She thought well of an elegant side
board.
At this juncture Clara, having heart
our front door open at our return, cam'
tripping in with blush and smile ant
spread out on my wife's lap piece afte
piece of very dainty tidy set which he
own deft fingers had fashioned, an,
which my wife received with the usua
kiss and the inevitable tears. We ad
mired the delicate pattern and praise
again and again the cunning workman
ship. By this time both my wife and
were in such a very genial mood tina
we could do nothing but smile an
smile. 1t became really quite silly.
could see by the trembling of the fold
about my wife's mouth that her check
ached with smiling. There was at first
n very charming flush of pink confusio
tinge!ng Clara's brow and cheek, as sin
noted the very great satisfaction wit
which her gifts were received. But he
quick instinct OWNED other causes.
"What has happenedo" she cried
taking my wifcs hand; ''some pleasan
fortune, am sure. You seem so hap
py this evening"
My wife's eyes sparkled. She looke
to me.
"Yes, Mrs. A." said to Clara
Sin addition to your very thou ghtfu
kindness, we have received anothe
surprise of an extremely agreeable ma
ture. My Uncle John who was her
last month has sent us a gift of SOM
furniture. We are not sure yet wheth
er it is II parlor or bedroom set
Have not seen it; it's at the depot; will
be here in the morning" Then tn
ladies had another little celebration il
the way OF kisses ard tears, while sa
back in my chair and with such gravi
ty as l could command descanted oil
the virtues, the oft tested goodness, tn
genuine "milk of human kindness
that constituted tho prominent char
acteristics in the personality of Uncl
John. was on the point of pushin!
in little farther and detailing wha
we might expect was even about I,
| iiiht w ihc pthCbiCdiiy uuiihiitcu dOIll
ties of the aforesaid relative. when 4;
momentary suspicion of the insuilicien
cy of evidence rs basis of our expect
ations bade me draw it mildly. Blu
the six hundred pounds overc tme me
Such a heavy invoice of household
goods at one consignment so powerful
ly stimulated my sanguine nature tina
discretion seems to have been uttcrl,
prostrated. | did go on; yes, fatally
onward. There was "nothing lik,
what you might call mean about Uncle
john" and ''whcn he made up hi
mind to do thing he did it royalty
and lit was not every one on whom tn,
blessings of Heaven had descended il
such unstinted measure as to rende
such good works possible" Ycs, sucl
and more. OF course, this was, with
out doubt, very flat. can not gainsa,
it. But the circumstances. my friend
the circumstances And l do not bc
lieve that such folly has ever beel
habitual with me- When | wa
through my wife looked quite serious
| rla,n ,,,a,.I,, h;t hn. H.. hn'.,,ao,, l.