Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-04-27

silk and velvet almost crazed her,
but the velvet finally triumphed, 1t
being $50 much more Stylisher;" and
as she appeared, flushed and e1'
ultant. with very tight kids, a stu
pendous coifure, and with the
heavy velvet incasing her ample
PROPORTIONS, she looked very near
as stylish as a pillow tied in the
middle.
Last came the daughters. A spe-
cial reporter would have scratched
his head in despair had he been re-
ouired to describe the intrlcacies OF
their apparel. Solomon in all his glo-
nv was not arrayed like oneot these,
and the lilies Of the field would
have been nowhere in comparison.
The Observation-Disclosures creature !
had in her presumption, ventured
to suggest plain white, with suitable
trimmings, az combining elegance
and simplicity; but she was ex-
tingulshed in less time than it takes
to tell the tale, and given to under
stand that she was expected to
manufacture toilet which would
eclipse all others which had ever
been made in that vicinity, and
she succeeded.
The party arrived-at least the
Smith, Brown, and Jones portion
of it; but, oh, wrath those tor
whom the trouble had been made,
for whom Mrs. Dobbs had laid
awake nights in devising means to
entertain, and spent her days in
perspiring agony oyer the stove in
preparation for - the Pearsalls,
Montagues, and their circle-were
costly seated at home, mentally in
dignant that "those Dobbses"
should have dared to insult them by
an invitation to any of their vulgar
doings.
How are the mighty fallen The
Misses Dobbs gnashed their teeth
as they gave up all hopes OF being
| able to outshIne the gay Miss Mon
tague and naughty Sarah Pearsall,
with the magnitude of their rings,
bracelets, and chains, and the
length Of train and delicacy of waist
pertaining to their shining silks
or, better still, of fascinating the
brothers of those proud y Dung ladies
with the same, combined with the
pink cheeks, black eyes, and wealth
of "warrapted real water curls,"
which gave such a flsttering copy
in the mirror. Ma Dobbs would
have gone of by herself and had
a cry on the subject, had she not
been so thoroughly and msgnia-
Gently mad, and the youthful
Thomas was the only one In the
family who was unaffected by the
social catastrophe. He was too
deeply engrossed in thoughts of the
coming glories OF supper to mind
anything which did not interfere
with that; and, as the absence OF
guests only made the certainty
clearer that the victnals would hold
out. what mattered it 20 him wheth-
er it was the Pearsalls or the Per
kinses who stayed at home, so long
as the result was the samei
The evening passed of with as
little variety Of sorro@s as such
evenings usually afford. Ma Dobbsl
IN a ft of selt.communion, gently
inclined her ice cream saucer SC
that the melted portion softly es
capped and started on an exploring
tour down the front of her dress
surprising from her the inadvertenl
exclamation, "Drat the luck /" and
the waiter, in passing a plate OF hot
oysters over Miss Sally's head, miss
ed his aim by half an inch, and sue
ceeded in landing a liberal portion
of the soup and oysters in her hail
and down her back, thereby caus
ing another wrsthful slaughter ol
the English language. Aside from
these tribes, everything was lovely
and at half.past two the last guest
had departed; the good and bad
r we're blended in one happy obliv'
lon, as the Dobbses slept the
sleep of the just.
The next day there was a pro
longed family debate, in which
tears were the principal arguments
used, and the upshot was that pa
Dobbs promised to make arrange
, ments as soon as possible to move
TO some more congenial sphere
, where wealth should be considered
an equivalent for education anC
, common sense, and where "stucE
up" people should be unknown.
In view of this Arcade, the hous'
r was sold at an early day, and the
money therefor deposited IN thu
: bank with the rest Of the DObba
, fund, pa Dobbs never having EN-
q barked any of his capital in trade
+ az he found plenty to do in supply
I ing the numerous wants of his tam
I lily after acquiring his fortune. Th'
I furniture was packed, and Mrs
r Dobbs, seated on one of the pack
/. ing boxes, was taking a lunch
. when in rushed Mr.. Dobbs LOOKING
very pale, and dancing about a
frantically as chestnut on a no
= shovel.
q "We're ruined, ruined ~ he groan
@ ed, sinking down on another box
o "Its all lost, and Pm nobody bu