St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-12-30
"oh. what a hole in the bagn sigh


performance.
"Say, Lou, don't you want to go to
this tonight Z" It's a month o. Sun
days since we've had lark; let's co."
he said, tossing the playbill into his
wife's lap.
go, pa" screamed Idalia; "take me.
Oh, dol Now, won't you 7"
'sN'me, too" squeaked Davy, who
had hOarse cold.
"Oh, shut up p snapped Potter. 81
don't want two babies taggin' at my
heels Somebody's got to stay with
Lott"
"Why, there's Aunt Pratt" said Ida.
"Maybe she'd like to go; would you,
aunty 7" asked Potter blandly. He
had mind to keep the right side of
woman with "means."
"Mel" said the old lady, with
stern reproof in her voice and face:
"Me 90 to such place. No, indeed!"
"Well, we'll everybody to their
mind. / like bit of fun first rate,
now and then. We go quite consider
able, first and last; body must be
amused"
40 father!" put in Mrs. Potter, urg-
ed by the whispered teasing and cross
faces of Ida and Davy, edo take them
children along! 10y hasn't been no.
where since Lott was took sick; and
DAVIS only boy. Let him have a
good time while that he can his trou-
| bles will come fast enough before long.
Now, do let 'em gO!"
"Well, guess they can. Lott won't
want 'em if Aunt Pratt's here"
So at night he came home with four
tickets to the performance, bag of
peanuts and paper of candy, ana
they set out to enjoy themselves. Tom
had announced at noon that he was
"gOin' to take his girl"
Aunt Pratt groaned in spirit. can
other hole in the bag, and a big one ~
she said to herself.
When would the doctors bill, and
the debts at the drug store and the
grocer ever be paid 2
Aunt Pratt had always lived in the
country and been honest. She had no
experience of the class who crowd our
theatres, minstrel show halls and cir
cuses. who buy cheap finery and eX-
pensive, poor beer and bad butter, but
never pay their rent, or lay up one
penny in all their lives.
AS spring came on, Aunt Pratt no
ticed one day that Potter looked dis
gnsted with his dinnermaDd Lofty left
hers untasted. No wonder Aunt
Pratt could not eat it herself The
potatoes were poor, and boiled to a
watery, insipid mass the calves liver
fried to black, leathery substance ;
the bread old and dry, and the turnlps
rank and unsavOry.
81 say, pal" exclaimed Tom. "We're
all gettin' spring poor. | don't care
hang for my vittles. Let's have a
dozen of lager; that'll set us all up"
So the lager came, was used up, and
another dozen ordered, and then an
other; but the appetites did not i'm
prove-nOr the cooking. At last the
beer-seller refused to fetch more, un
less what he had brought them was
paid for.
"Oh, dear oh, dear!" sighed Amt
Pratt. "What hole in the bag "
Next day she said TO her niece :
"Lowisy, will you let me buy and cook
the dinner to morrow? I'll make you
a present of all the vittles | get, if you
will"
Louisa consented, much astOnished,
and Aunt Pratt came back from mar
ket with two pounds of solid beef-a
!
fresh. She bought a few onions, a
carrot, and one small stalk of celery,
the whole cost thirty six cents. Then
she prepared stew, and pairing the
potatoes put them in cold water till 1t
was time to add them; the celery, tw O
onions, half the carrot sliced then,
were put in with the beef, which she
had cut into pieces of perhaps two
inches square. Salt and pepper were
sprinkled in literally, and as she put
her stew on before breakfast and let it
simmer all the morning, adding the
sliced potatO at eleven O'Clock, it was
we'll done by noon.
George how good the dinner
smells!" calculated Tom.
"Got roast turkey, Lou 2" inquired
Potter, shifting and smelling.
Even listless Lofty wanted some
dinner that day and the rest recover
ed their ppetites-withOut any more
lager!
1I wish to the land, you'd learn
cookin' of Aunt Pratt !" said Potter.
~ wonder if Pve sewed up that
hole ?" thought Aunt Pratt.
But she had not. Louisa was too
old to learn new tricks, as we say
about dogs she continued to buy the
best meat and cook it in the worst way
and still the money leaked from that
hole in the bag.
"HullO, Tom !" said Potter one Sun
day morning, as Tom sauntered into
the room with a half-smOked cigar Ill
his mouth. "Ain't you tOneq Why,
that cigar smells like rose"
Aunt Pratt wondered what sort OF
rose had an OdOr of tobacco.
at had ought to-" sententiously re-
marked Tom. "Them fellers cost me
five cents apiece by the hundred"
"Well, kin put up with my pipe
so fur; but you young fellers have got
to have your fling, | reckon. By'm- by
you'll fall back on brierwOod an mig
gerhead."
"Another hole in the bag" muir
INJURED Aunt Potter, who had patiently
darned Toms threadbare socks and
patched his worn shirts for him every
week for months"
"Well, here | be" shouted Potter
as he came in one Monday about ten
o'clock.
"Why, what has fetched you home 2
inquired his wife.
"Oh, our fellers have struck we're
goin' to have less work and more pay;
them darned capitalists has over-rode
us long enough; we're bound to have
our share of the dollars we make, now
l tell you'll"
"For the mercy's sakes ~ calculated
Louisa.
"Where are you gOin' to work nowq'
dryly asked Aunt Potter
"Why, back again, as soon as the
| hOssps come tn terms"
saRnt sunnnsin' they shnuldn,t ~