The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1885-10-15
Claiming His Skeleton.

| EES2C9 IL Win admiration. ID
stood with his hands in his pocket
and his cap we'll back on his heaC
and he felt that glow of self-satis
faction which a man feels who ha
just finished a long and arduou
task.
"Well," said he as he turned hi
head, now this way and then that
81 call that a first-class job, b,
George!'
1t was certainly a most complet,
piece of mechanism, every join
perfectly fitted, yet perfection il
never altogether appreciated, anC
when Mrs. Jones, the landlady, de
ceived by the silence into suppos
ing that Wentworth had gone out
and thinking the present a gooC
time to fix up the room, came in
she gave a scream of terror, and OF
catching her breath, cried:
Laws, Mr.. Wentworth, what {
start that horrid thing did give me
You're not going to keep that in the
house, Mr. Wentworth?'
"Mrs. Jones, let me present you
to our distinguished fellow-lodger
j. w. Stodgers. venture to say
that a more complete or a handsom
er skeleton cannot be found in Ann
Arbor, Mrs. Jones, if l did wire
him myself. John w. will give you
little trouble, Mrs. Jones, and if
when we're out, you give him lit
tie touch up with the buster, he will
not only appreciate it, but you will
also oblige MIR. Smile and myself,
for we are partners in j. w. Stod-
gers"
mercy sakes, I'll never come
into this room if that skeleton is to
be here"
ooh, John W. is harmless. Be
sides he has been in that box here
for some weeks. I've only helped
him to collect himself, as it were. -
At this moment the lower jaw of
the skull dropped with a click to an
angle of forty-five and Mrs. Jones
gave another little shrek as she
looked with averted gaze at the sort
of dry, bony, silent, fixed laugh of
the skeleton.
THAT" said Wentworth, with
pardonable pride, sis little device
of my own. That jaw stays in
place about half an hour and then
drops. By the way, just notice
what a lovely set Of teeth John w.
has. That's the fault l find with
most of our American skeletons.
They have poor teeth. 1t seemed
TO Smile and me that this fellow
must have been an Englishman, he
had such good grinders, so We
christened him Stodgers, an aristo-
cratic name over there, 1 am told"
sit gives me the chills to look at
it." said Mrs. Jones. The fading
afternoon light threw deep shadows
in the eyeless sockets that gave
Mrs. Jones an uneasy feeling that
the skeleton was looking at her.
That's because you always had
Lifts to board here instead of Med
ics.' You'll get use to John w.
He's an unObstrusive cuss. Il
everybody minded his own business
with the exclusiveness j. W. does
there wouldn't be much trouble IL
this world"
Wentworth bitterly remembered
this remark later on.
At this moment young Smile
came in.
'By Jove," said Smile, in admi
ration, you've done that up tiptop
John. Thunder, 1 call that tri
umpb," and he walked around anC
took "a side view of it. "That''
what l call deuced good job for s
first attempt, Did you ever SCI
anything handsomer, Mrs. JonesT
"Mrs. Jones thinks she has," said
Wentworth.
Its awful" shuddered Mrs
Jones. "To think that was alive ano
walked around like the rest of usp
"And thou hast walked about
how strange a story" quoted Smile
That's so, it's rough on John w.
isn't it?'
Mrs. Jones went down stairs anG
the medical students closed the
door.
"His jaw drops a little, John,
said Smile.
That's all right; shows the &C
ton, you know" and Wentworth
with a ruler touched John w. under
the chin, and the two cleaning
rows of teeth came together and re
manned in that fixed grin character
istic of all skeletons.
Wentworth had placed marrow
table against the wall, and on i
John w. sat with his skull fastened
to the wall so as to keep him up
right, while his spindly white leg
daDgled down and swayed gently Il
and fro, when the door opened or
breeze came through the window.
The medical students sat dow
and Wentworth was telling Smili
how he had overcome certain diff
culties in articulation when Their
entered with unnecessary silence
stranger.
Excuse me, gentlemen" he said
BEG your pardon" said Went
worth, Il didn't hear you knock.
81 didn't knock"
"Ohr'
take chair" said Smile.
Il will stay but a few moments,
replied the stranger.
OF course neither of the youni
men knew all the hundreds of stu
dents at the University, but the
thought the stranger belonged t
one of the departments, although
seemed odd that he should ente
without rapping.
"Have a cigar" said Wentworth
pushing the box toward him.
81 come on business" said tn
stranger, "and do not smoke. This
is my skeleton"
"Oh, excnse me-" cried Went
worth, 81 articulated John W. my
self"
"Whom2"
"John w. We call him Stodger;
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