Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-12-21


basement, where the blinds were up and
maid-servant conspicuously clearing a
long table of its dinner perquisites and
setting it for the next mornings break
fast, so that he who ran might see;
while tie other half was dark, save for
the flicker of freight in the window of
the room in the second story, which
must have been the nursery, from the
number of little heads crowded up
against the frosty panes, revealed ever
and anon by the winking light. You
see, one was clearinghouse, and the
other was home.
just as shabby little woman with
her hands full of small paper parcels
turned in towards the steps of the board
ing-house, a sleigh came jingling gayly
up, and gentleman, tossing aside a
black fur robe, leaped out with rather
an agile step for so portly figure, and
picking his way sprucely across the icy
pavement began to ascend the steps of
the other. He bore himself somewhat
pompously, and searched in his pocket
for his latch-key with "monarch-of-all-
I-survey" air, heightened in effect by
the colored coachman who dismounted
and followed behind fairly tottering
under the weight of pyramid of boxes
and packages piled high above his shin
ing beaver. But the search for the
latch-key was an empty form and moth
ing more, for the portly gentleman had
scarcely planted one well-shod foot upon
the first stone step when the front door
few open, as if its owner had touched Sc
cret spring, and troop of children came
frisking out, dancing gingerly on their
tip-toes for fear of the light tall of snow,
and shaking their hands up and down
with cold and excitement.
Papa! papal papa~ they screamed
in chorus; and then down they swooped
upon him like a cavalcade of Arabs,
each one eager to capture the prize; and
up his legs they swarmed; and over his
arms they hung and swung; and hand
overland they cliU. bed up his coat-tails;
so that as he crossed the threshold of
his home there WIS very little to be
seen Of the portly gentleman, in spite of
his size, and great deal to be seen of
his acrobatic progeny, in spite of theirs.
The great door closed, and left the
shabby little woman smiling to herself
as she hurried on. She entered the
clearinghouse, hastened up three
flights of stairs with her spry, nervous
step, and coming to the attic, where two
small bedrooms had been partitioned off
for the use of impecunious dodgers,
opened the door of the front one, and
scurried in as though she were afraid of
being caught at it. Five minutes later
found her Invested of the shabby bon
net and sacque, and with the shabby wet
shoes replaced by pair of shabby dry
ones, busily shipping twigs of holly
from branch and tying them with bits
of scarlet ribbon.
''I'll put them at their places down in
that dismal dining-room," said the little
old maid, among whose oddities was
this one of talking aloud to herself;
"they may be suggestive. At least it's
a wee spark of Christmas, and / may
to fan up quite blaze before
night, who knows?"
And she shipped and tied, and Christ
mas ditties went iigging in her head,
and neighborly thoughts made pleasant
lines about her mouth, and her eyes
beamed like the eyes OF a good mother.
An odd place for neighborly thoughts,
you may say; for each individual in this
house-this collection Of units"-was
as completely sundered from every other
individual in it, or out Of it for that
matter as If they rose and dressed and
fed themselves and went to bed in
different solar systems; always except
ing the little old maid Miss Nellie (she
was never called any thing but 'sMiss
For there was not one in that little
world of alien souls that did not love
Miss Nelliei there was not one who had