Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-06
TRAIN TALK.
A woman's story That Caused Laughter.
and Its sequel


laughter and slapplhg OF knees ami ~
carnations of surprise. In the middle .
the ear was young woman, the wife q
one OF the story -tellerS. She did not aP
pt.ar happy. Her face was very N".elmn
and black eyes Sparkled beneath her tTuu
blrd brow and cast angry glanceN IN the dl
rrCtiOn Of the merry trio. Finally She rOSt
from her seat with determined look on he
face. approached the group of story -teIltrS
and somewhat pettiShlv inquired
Henry, what are you doing here"
Telling stories, my dear-mnocent stn
Tit'~ you know"
"Why have you not invited me to join
you, instead of letting me sit back ther,
alone"
because | didn't know you liked stories
my dear. Women never do. Besides il is
the rule that every man in crowd must tel
4 story. Iou couldn't do that, You know.
'CouIdn't |, though ?''
Catching the drift Of the lady'S remarks
the other members of the trio AT once insist
eel that she take the vacant seat and initiate
herself aS one of them by telling story
The lonely woman sat down and prepared
Ia pay her way with an anecdote.
Il don't know what kind of stories men
are in the habit of telling when they get of
in q corner by themselves, she began: but.
from the fact that they neglect their wives
in order to be alone. judge they must be-
queer stories not dignited ones for middle
aged men Ia relate. and not oYerburdrneti
with the truth. If. in my ignorance. tell
commonplace story, and truthful one aS
well. you must forgive the fault and at
tribute il To my mrNperience.
As she gave her companions these rather
severe but not altogether unmerited Tap>
they Looked at each other out of the corners
of their eyes and would have spoken in
Nrlt-defenSe had she not Immediately began
her anecdOte.
Some years ago" she said. before
was married most laughahle incident 0c-
CURED at our house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
My little sister, then three wears of age.
was an exceedingly lively child. She ran
all over the place. and found II impossible
to >it still minute except when she was
a~lrep-one of those irresponsible, uncon-
trullable little jump-ah0UtS. Next door to
our house was church, and the parsonage
WAS also close by The minister used to
make good deal OF little Genevieve. and
She thought him one of her best friends. 1t
was an everyday trick for her to steal out
of the house and run over Ia the parsonage
bl tp lIlt NluAN III lllt ltdl vi lllt tlultn 10
see her imdulgent and fond favurIte, the
pastor.
''One Sunday and mind YOU, this is "A
true story am telling you-morning ser
vices were in progress at the church. and
little GeneVieVe was al home with me
Carrying out mothers instructions, | took
my little sister into the bathroom. and
prepared her for her bath. II WAS warm
Ia
widows of the church came the words of
the good man, eloquent and not too low
voiced i'll delivery of his sermon. hap
pened 10 step out of the bathroom a few
moments "a find some towels or something
and on my return. little Genevieve was
not there. hurriedly looked into the
other rooms, and then, fearing the worst,
rushed out the front door. along the side
walk. and up the steps leading 10 the church
vr>tIbue. arrived there Just in time to
See that little thing flying up the aisle of
the church toward the pulpit as fast a. her
short legs could carry her. and a. naked as
when She was born. | did not dare follow
her and almost tainted with excitement,
and probably would have done 80 had not
found relief for my excitement in a burst
of weeping
"AS | atterward learned. the cnngrega-
tion was 81 much astnnished that no one
tried 10 stop Gcneyieve, and she ran 10 the
altar rail. holding out her hands tu the miu-
lister. whom she loved 81 well. There the
g"od man met her, took her 10 his breast
and carried her down the aisle To the vestI-
bule, saying aS he went:
May the Lord bless this little angle and
keep her heart always as imnocent and pure
a. il is this moment. As jesus said ''Suf-
fer little children Ia come unto me. for of
such cherub> as this i the kingdom of
heaven" may the Lord bless and preserve
this fearless flower"
SO saying. over and over. with impress
SiveneSS and affection, the minister walked
away slowly to the veStIbule and delivered
little Genrvieve into my arms.
This. gentlemen, is my little story. You
think il very laughahle oh, 81 do |. We
made merry over il for many a day. And
little GeneVieve would say that She loved
the minister more than ever. becauSe he had
called her his little angel"
But, gentlemen." the lady continued
after a pause, please do not laugh any
more. | must add word to my story.
Three weeks from the occurrence of this
pretty incident, which made little Geuevieye
the best known and best loved child in our
town, there came another bright morning.
when the birds We're singing and plants and
trees waving with the Sighs Of a gentle, i'll
trrmittent wind. The old church Was filled
10 the doors. and outside were hundreds
who could not gain entrance, but who stood
aside with uncovered heads as little Gene
We've again approached the altar. 10 meet
her fayorite, the pastor. This time she
came 10 join the angels for sure, and never
Ia return Ia us again"
Here rhe Story-teller gazed intently cut
thu window. wimking fast over her black
eyes. One of her listeners became sudden
ly Interested in his newspaper, while all
other sought drink of water and then took
a seat in the other end of the car. There
We're no more stories told that day.