Wichita eagle., 1888-08-29

that felt our reputation was not sufficiently
established to stand this sort of thing. put
on bold front though, and tried in a mean,
masculine way to shift the responsibility. /
made jocose remarks, loud enough to be heard
two doors away on either side, to my wife
about her vine and felt sneaklngly better
when saw that such cowardly humorous
efforts provoked fleeing and rapidly sup
pressed smile from either adjacent doorstep.
/ went further. l blush to say that made
that vine, and Mrs Johns hand In it, the sub
ject of beer saloon story, and l can only
offer in exteuuation that it was sort of
family beer saloon on the next corner, very
choice and exclusive, frequented chiefly by
the adult male residents OF the block We
were all husbands and householders together,
SO to speak, behind the hip doors Of that cool
retreat and as the fellows, after had set up
the drinks, laughed hilariously at my account
was led on rather further than my first in
tentions. Afterward ! regretted my YER
bosity.
Six weeks went by. The middle Of May
gave place to the first Of July, when, one
evening, my wife met me with a smile Of
triumph upon her face, and, turning NE
around on the doorstep, pointed down to the
much maligned and heretofore immovabls
vine.
ibid you seer she asked, expectantly.
did see. Since had looked at the thing,
and was sure had glanced that way that
very morning, the stunted and Incompetent
sible trailing plant had added at least five
inches to its stature.
whats come over it, do you suppoSeP
asked in some trepidation, for the idea of that
vi,
II think" said my wife wisely, putting her
head to one side, 'that the effect Of Bankers
is cumulative, like opium. The vine suddenly
feels the combined force OF all that have put
on, and don't mind telling you now that
there is something to show for it; that have
used pounds" And think she had, if it was
Barkers that prompted the growth Of that
vine, for anything like its progress I never
saw.
Within week it had cleared the basement
window and was on level with the parlor
sill, and at the end of little over fortnight
it was nodding tendril Of pale green at the
second floor. 1t grew close with the wire,
twisting around it as if to twist itself fur
tier up. The passers by noticed and COM
mented upon it. My wife fairly basked and
beamed in its wonderful growth My own
feelings also underwent change. began
to refer to it as the vine, then as our vine,
and at the store did not hesitate to say
boldly, 81 have a vine over at my house."
ETC. The vine itself attended strictly to bust
ness. When it reached the roof, as it did be-
fore a month was out, it grew wild for day
or so, sending out a long, swaying shoot;
then it caught on to the shutter Of the third
floor window and began meSndering course
back to earth. All the way down it swung
out its tentacles, finding a hold on anything
"a shutter hook, window ledge, or even a
Slight roughness in the stone. By the mid
| die of August the house was beautifully fes-
TONED, and still the original stalk was grow
| ing toward all points of the compass.
! Every man on the block envied me thet
vine. l felt that as family and as house
front we were an ornament to the neighbor-
hood.
! always take q fortnight of the latter part
Of September. did as usual that year. My
wife and children followed me out en- the
doorstep and arranged themselves in a pic
turesque group as I walked off, gripsack in
i hand. l turned back two doors away and
saw them thus framed in the rich green of
the luxurious vine. I felt proud of the en-
tire landscape and vegetable. "Good-
! by" I said; "take care OF yourselves" and
| then, glancing at the clambering foliage,
warmed to that
1--WE must have that trimmed down this
fall and packed in straw" called, nodding
toward the vine. There was a wagon pass
| ing at the moment, and put down to the
noise Of that the apparently garbled reply of
my wife.
| ~ think so, too-a perfect nuisance"
| My return was accomplished at night. The
| air was mild, though October, and after en-
hour or two of welcoming gossip Mrs. John
and l sought the doorstep while ! finished
| my last cigar.
ooh, John, did as you suggested-had
the vino cut down while youwere away, re-
marked my wife casually.
s'You mean trimmed down for winter, )"
suggested.
"Why, no. had the whole thing removed
root, branch and wire. You spoke just as
you were leaving that it ought to be cut
down; it wasn't worth straw"
| groaned aloud.
eyes, and I replied that thought so too.
! 1t had become perfect nuisance; it was a
| breeding place for mosquitoes and spiders
| that got in tho rooms, and those dirty and
| detestable sparrows simply pre-empted it,
/ making more noise and mischief than was
tolerable. was glad to hear you order its
removal"
! My feelings literally choked my utterance.
! Thenext morning among some bills awaiting
/ my return l found this:
/ John Blank.
/ To 4. Ter-acegarden, florist
/ May 12-To one vine free grower............ Is
! May ITO one wire for sarle...........-.-S1 80
/ May 12-To two hours work ................ / o.
! Sept. ls-To one days work cutting down
! Sept. 1910 removing vine in carloads. i 90
/ VOts1 ........-...SS -
! And besides this I paid man rs for