Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-12-20

ence to their host, who came up painting in
the rear
"Praps yed better hold on second out
yer. whilst go in and see tibet things is all
right said the Old Man, with an indiffer-
ence he was far from feeling. The sugges-
ton was graciously accepted the door opened
and closed on the host, and the crowd, lean
ing their backs against the wall and COVER
ing under the caves, waited and listened
For few moments there was no sound but
the dripping of water from the caves, and the
stir and rustic of wrestling boughs above
them. Then the men became uneasy, and
whispered suggestion and suspicion passed
from the one to the other .'R cckon she's
caved in his head the first lickn "Decoyed
him inter the tunnel and barred him up,
likely ''Got him down and sittin' on him.
'.Prob'ly bilin suthin to heave on us; stand
clear the door, boysH For just then the
latch clicked, the door slowly opened, and a
voice said, Come i'll out o. the wetn
The voice was neither that of the Old Man
nor of his wife 1t was the voice of a small
boy, its weak treble broken by that prefer
natural hoarseness which only vagabondage
and the habit of premature self assertion can
give. 1t was the face of small boy that
looked up at theirs-a face that might have
been pretty and even refined but that it was
darkened by evil knowledge from within and
dirt and hard experience from without. He
had blanket around his shoulders and had
evidently just risen from his bed, Come
in, he repeated, "and don't make no noise
The Old Mans in there talking to mar he
continued, pointing to an adjacent room
which seemed to be kitchen, from which the
Old Mans voice came in deprecating accents.
LET me be" he added, querulously, to Dick
Bullen, who had caught him up, blanket and
all, and was affecting to toss him into the
fire, 'let go o me, you id old fool, dye We
hear."
Thus adjured, Dick Bullen lowered Johnny
to the ground with a smothered laugh, while
the men, entering quietly, ranged themselves
around long table of rough boards
which occupied the center of the
room. Johnny then gravely pro
eeetled to a cupboard and brought out several
articles which he deposited on the table
"Thar's whisky. And crackers. And red
herons. And cheese" lie took bite of the
latter on his way to the table aAnd sugar. y
He scooped up mouthful en- route with a
small and very dirty hand "And terbacker
Thars dried appils, too, on the shelf, but /
don't admire 'em. Appils is swellin' Thar
he concluded, now wade in, and don't be
afeard. Idon't mind the old woman She
don't blong to me. S'long"
He had stepped to the threshold of small
room, scarcely larger than a closet, and hold
ing i'll its dim recess q small bed. He stood
there moment looking at the company, his
bare feet peeping from the blanket. and
nodded
"Hello, Johnny! You amt goin to turn in
agin, are yer said Dick.
"Yes, | are" responded Johnny, decidedly
"Why, wots up, old fellow"
sim sick
"How sick.'
give got a FEWER. And chlblains And
roomatiz," returned Johnny, and vanished
within. After q moments pause he added in
the dark apparently from under the bed
clothes, "And biles.7
There was an embarrassing silence The
men looked at each other, and at the fire.
Even with the appetizing banquet before
them it seemed as if they might again fall
into the dependency of Thompson's grocery,
when the voice of the Old Man, incautiously
lifted came deprecatingly from the kitchen:
Certainly Thets so. In course they il.
A gang o lazy, drunken loafers, and that ar
Dick Bullens the ornariest of all Didn't
hev no more sabe than to come round var
with sickness in the house and no provision.
Thet's what said. 'Bullen,' seq /, its crazy
drunk you are, or fool, SEE l. to think O
such thing. Staples | seq, be you a man,
Staples, and spect to raise hi under my
roof, and invalids lynn rounds But they
would come-they would Thet's wot YOU
must 'spect o such trash as lays round the
Bar"
A burst of laughter from the men followed
this unfortunate exposure. Whether it was
overheard in the kitchen, or whether the Old
Mans irate companion had just then ex-
hausted all other modes of expressing her
contenptuous Indignation | cannot say, but
back door was suddenly slammed with
great violence. A moment later and the Old
Man reappeared, happily unconscious of the
cause of the late hilarious outbnrst, and
smiled blandly
1.-THE old woman thought she'd jest run
over to Mrs. McFad,len's for a sociable call y
he explained, with jaunty indifference, as he
took a seat at the board.
Oddly enough, it needed this untoward in
cident to relieve the embarrassment that was
beginning to he felt by the party and their
natural audacity returned with their host.
do not propose to record the conviyialities OF
that evening. The inqusitive reader will ac-
cept the statement that the conversation was
characterized by the same intellectual exalta-
ton, the same cautious reverence, the same
| fastdious delicacy, the same rhetorical pre-
cision and the same logical and coherent dis
course somewhat later in the evening which
distinguish similar gatherings Of the mascu-
line sex in more civilized localities and under
more favorable auspices. No glasses were
broken, in the absence Of any; 10 liquor
was uselcssly split Oh floor or table, in the
scarcity OF that article
1t was nearly midnight when the festivities
were interrupted. "Hush," said Dick Bulen
holding up his hand 1t was the queruIou;
voice of Johnny from his adjacent closet
| 20, dad"
! Tho Old Man arose huf1iedly and disap
| pearcd irithc closet Presently he ieappeared
| "iIis rheumatic il coming on agiu bad" ht
explained, "and he wants rubbin He lifted
the deniiohn Of whisky from the table and
shook it. Tt was empty. Dick bullen put
down his tin cup with an embarrassed laugh.
So did the Others The Old Man examined
their contents and said, hopefully: Il reckon
| that's enough; he don't need much. You
hold on all o. you for a spell, and I'll be
back and vanished in the closet with an old
| flannel shirt and the whisky. The door closed
but impcrfectly, and the following dialogue
was distinctly audible:
Now, sonny, whar does she ache worst"
| Sometimes over yer and sometimes under
yer; but it's most powerful from yer to yer.
Rub Yer, dad"
! A silence seemed to indicate brisk rub
bing. Then Johnny:
/ "Hevin' good time out yer, dadF
| "Yes, sonny
"To-morrers Chrismiss amt itfr
"Ycs, sonny How docs she feel now!'
Better. Rub little furtler down. Wots
Chrismiss, anyway! Wo,'s it all about.7
20, its day
This exhaustive definition was apparently
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