The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-09-24
A MODERN ARK.
How the Bum Family Moved Into
the Country.

The Bum family lived in a small house,
in a low and unhealthy quarter of New
Lowell. In a small house, and the family
was large, as poor families are apt to be.
MI. Bum, who was wonderfully good-na-
tured under all his trials, would facetious-
ly call the roll every night to make sure
that none of the children were missing,
and sometimes he would purposely forget
two-y ear-old Baby Bum, who would
shout Indignantly from his mothers lap:
Is here. rs here! why don't 90 call Ditty
Bunn:" And then Mr.. Bum would say in
a puzzled voice: "DickY Bunn-who is
he? o, yes, to be sure. Dicky Bum is
the name of the last one, amt it? Well,
then-DICKY BUNN." and the baby would
answer with a pleased giggle-"Here."
Although the bill of fare was plain, and
the clothes we'll patched, the Bum family
managed to extract good deal of hapDi-
ness from life. When Mr.. Bum found
good job and they had, in consequence, n
s'hot supper''-which meant plenty of
beefsteak and vegetables all around, and
some red-cheeked apples, or a can of
peaches for dessert-aud the fire burned
brightly, and the children were every one
WELL life seemed actually overlooking with
blessings; and Mr.. Bum would whittle
kndlings for the morning fire, and Mrs.
Bum would add another layer to the
patches, and neither thought Of envying
the rich people in the grand houses Of
Upper New Lowell.
But often the children were not well. In
fact there were so many of them that about
half the time the old lounge was the rest
ing place for some ailing one; and the
doctor-whenever they could afford to call
one-would always say more or less about
he To- hoi an ruh hoo NV afr
drainage was bad, and they didn't have
enough sunlight, and they all ought to
sleep upstairs, for ground floor as damp
as theirs was a standing invitation to sick
ness to come and stay the year round.
In the early days Mrs. Bum had lived
in the country, and as her family increased,
the little house, and the still smaller yard
formed q painful contrast to the roomy
farm house, the big, wide-doored barn,
and the broad fields that she used to know,
and she often expressed q desire to move
into the country. But Mr.. Bum, born and
brought up in the city, was like Lap
lander in believing that no place could be
better than that in. which he lived. For
forty years he had trotted up and down
this unlovely quarter, and the more shan
ties that were built and the tilthier the
streets and alleys became, the more he
seemed to enjoy his place of residence.
" The Flats is growin' fast" he would
pA0uOtS AS4hdt hs II > BeISAu W % INV II
right lively here" The poor man! With
the exception of a rare glimpse of the
grand Park, or some rich mans fine
grounds, he knew of nothing better than
his low rooms and the struggling, home
sick lilacs and tiger-lilies which Mrs.
Bum tried to grow in the sloppy back
yard.
To have long, "fat" job of hod-carry-
ing, and TO know that the children were
not rery sick, was all the happiness Mr..
Bum could comprehend, and he always
laughed at Mrs. Bunn's absurd wish to
move into the country, where there could
be no chance to shoulder brick and mortar
I'D fifty-foot ladder.
A desire for the country always smoul-
dered. however, in Mrs. Bunn's heart, and
she never gave up the hope that some time
they might live on a whole acre of ground,
and have three or four trees, and may be a
glimpse of brook, like the one she used to
wade in when she was girl. 1t was this
hope that sustained her through all these
years, and led her to toll bravely on, and
make the best of the cramped and dismal
home in 1.-THE Flats" They owned their
house-that was one comfort-and had
none of that wretched breaking-up and
packing about from one rented place to
another, which they observed in their less
fortunate neighbors. I suspect that the