Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1884-12-24

us DOtn at the same instant. nave IL
ways been particular about the exact
date Of that ideas rise in our minds;
the bright thought struck us both al
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! My
mothers brother. indeed! But New
BuffaloP never heard of such u place.
"You understand. don't youP" 1
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 be? There
does not seem TO have been any serious
doubt in my mind on the score of the
charges not having been prepaidi 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 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 itP Had he not said
that he meant to see what he could do
| for us? Furniture! Sir hundred
pounds! Oh, that some artist might
have 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 |, ''what do
you think il isp" And we laughed again
in our Joy.
al am sure can not guess" she said.
"But we know it is not q kitchen stove,
and it would hardly be anything for the
dining-room. If had TO guess / believe
| should say-in fact, L think something
seems to tell me that it is parlor furni-
ture."
"A correct observation, my dear; GER
tainlv correct. | should have said so
myself, but l wished to get the benefit
of your woman's intuition, and was
afraid that any opinion of mine thrust
forward might throw il off The track.
You know have great confidence in
your intuition. Have l not often said
| 500"
Yes" she reioined, very soberly;
"and if my intuition tells me anything,
| ii 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. i remember
distinctly of my telling him that every
thing i'm our room was ours
"You will allow, L suppose" said l,
"that six hundred pounds of furniture
means several articles. Ii it had been
q bookcase, the postal would have said
bookcase but no, il 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 weigh? A hundred pounds?
Less, if anything, I'll warrant you.
| That marble-top table can not possibly
I 90 over seventy-iive, and each of these
easy chairs will weigh-say eighty. Let
me see, that makes three hundred and
thirty-iive. 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 sidcboard; what do you think p"
Sho 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 wfe's lap piece after
piece of very dainty tidy set which her
| Inf hn1 fachinnnI aud
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 L
were in such Il very genial mood that
we could do nothing but smile and
smile. 1t became really quite silly.
could see by the trembling of the folds
about my wife's mouth that her cheeks
ached with smiling. There was at first,
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 happened9" she cried.
taking my wfe's hand ''somc pleasant
fortune, am sure. You seem so hap
Ply this evening.
My wifc's eyes sparkled. She looked
to me.
"Ycs, Mrs. A." l said to Clara,
Sin addition TO your very thoughtful
J kindness, we have received another
surprise of an extremely agreeable ma
ture. NY Uncle John who was here
last month has sent us a gift of some
furniture. We are not sure yet wheth-
er it is u parlor or q 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 l sat
J back in my chair and with such gravi-
, ty as l could command descanted on
the virtues, the oft-tested goodness, the
genuine "milk of human kindness
that constituted the prominent char
actcristics in the personality of Uncle
, John. l was on the point of pushing
in a little farther and detailing what
, we might expect was even about to
hint at the practically unlimited abili-
ties of the aforesaid relative, when q
momentary suspicion of the insullicien.
l CIV of evidence rs basis of our expect.
! atoms babe me draw il mildly. But
r the six hundred pounds overcame me.
Such q heavy invoice of household
goods at one consignment so powerful-
ly stimulated my sanguine nature thai
discretion seems to have been utterly
. Frustrated l did go on; yes, fatally
/ onward. There was ''notEing like
what you might call mean about Uncle
: john" and "whcn he made up his
= mind to do thing he did it royally;
and lit was not every one on whom tho
0 blessings of Heaven had descended in
4 such unstinted measure as to render
: such good works possible" Yes, such
Q and more. OF course, this was, with
Q out doubt, very fiat. can not gainsay
5 it. But the circumstances. my friend
the circumstances And / do not DO
{ lieve that such folly has ever beer
n habitual with me. When wa