The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-04-16
Mr.. AND MRS. eoWSER.
BY lips TOMSER

|
| I'D stairs, and when be came down again ht
| bad on his old clothes Some changes had
been made in the house by which we hnC
! gained a new bedroom, and it at once oc
| CURED to me that Mr.. Bowser and his old
| clothes and that bedroom were in some way
| connected.
"You-you are not going to the Office thi;
morningF' queried.
"No, ma'am."
"You are not going to make gardenr
Hardly. I propose to finish up that bed,
room"
Howl"
"Weu, I shall paper the walls, to begin
| with"
Mr. Bowser, I wish you wouldn't. tele-
phoned for a paper hanger yesterday, and ne
Will be here tomorrow"
"And l stopped last evening and told hin
not to come up. I propose to have that job
done in style"
But you can't hang paper"
"Oh, can'tl Prepare yourself for sur
prise party. Mrs Bowser, don't propose to
have no wild eyed wall paper artist around
here for ten days to do what l can accom-
plish in one"
''l1r. Bowser, solemnly warn you not TO
pI H. l GU Will Cllly l11s1ho q A04Ad4 . VI
it and then blame me-"
There will be neither failure nor blame
about it. III show you the paper"
He had it hidden in the barn. When he
brought it in and displayed it l felt like cry
ing 1t was dark, cheap paper, Of a pattern
several years old, and was prepared for his
announcement that it was a job lot which he
had secured at five cents a roll.
Mr.. Bowser, that room ought to have gilt
paper"
''Had rushed off as you do, Mrs. Bowser,
should have got gilt. Do you know what
the most eminent chemists Of the day declarel
They say that gilt paper in q bedroom short
ems life by many years"
"And this stuff will probably prolong itF'
VERY likely"
"Well, it ought to! Any one who would
select such paper ought to live 800 years and
be ashamed of himself every day"
An hour later there was q crash up stairs
which awoke the baby, frightened the cat
into falling of the window sill, and caused
the cook to ay into the sitting room and call
out that "6inclone' had struck the house
and brought down every chimney. hurried
up stairs TO Mr.. Bowser. He sat in a chair
trying 10 smile and look Unconcerned, but
one of the steps of the ladder was gone and
knew that he had come down like load Of
stone.
did you caIlGn l asked.
"MeG Oh, no. l am studying on an idea.
There was paste on his hair and pieces of
wall paper sticking to his back, but with
drew without further remark When he
came down at noon ! was in hopes he had
abandoned the work. 1t was evident he had
lame back, and he dragged one leg as he
walked and [ thought tia fitting opportunity
to say:
81 wouldn't bother with that room any
more if l were you. l presume you are
wanted at the officen
Just before supper he came down and tele-
phoned for two more rolls of paper and forty
feet more of border; but he looked so pale
faced and stoop shouldeIed and done out that
hadn't the heait to say anything about the
room. He fell asleep in his chair while read
ing the paper, and every few moments uttered
a groan or sigh. He was paste and paper from
head to heel and back again, and could hard
ly get I'd stairs from the lameness in his legs
and back Next morning, as he seemed un-
decided whether to go TO the office or up
stairs, asked if l shouldn't telephone for the
paper hanger. That decided him and he re
piled:
Il wouldn'tbe as jealous minded as you are,
Mrs Bowser, for all the money in the world.
You are shaking in your shoes Tor fear that
1 viii do really nice bit of work"
1t was O'Clock III the afternoon before he
would allow me TO entor the room, and then
lie announced its completion.
Just give me fair and honest opinion Of
it, without reference to relationship" he
said, ss he stood in the center of the room
and looked around.
If he had been armed with a knife to cut
my throat I should have been compelled to
laugh. Seven of the strips were wrong end
up. Four or five Of them were on crooked.
He had Tapped the paper on to the base and
window castings and lis border was up and
down like the waves of the sea.
'Have you escaped from Kala1nazoom be
demanded, as 1 laughed until I had to sit
down on the floor.
''Mr. Bowser, l have a request TO make of
dying request. Let me bring
in some of the neighbors to see this
Certainly, and if they don't say it is one
Of the neatesU jobs they ever saw I'll give in. u
l sent cook out and got three of the nearest
ladies, and when they entered the menagerie
III 1oCNSGL ISl4iS 81 70 Qtt'SS llulSGu. lie
wouldn't come out until they had departed,
but be must have heard all that was said.
At supper time he came down and quietly re-
marked
Il suppose you want the custody of the
child, Mrs. BowserF'
"What do you meanr'
"W by, after encouraging me TO spend two
days Of my time in paperlng that room, that
you might criticise my work, it viii be best
that we separate. During the evening you
had better make out q list Of the things you
want to reserve"
Next day the paperhanger came up and
put On other paper. Mr.. Bowssr bought
pint Of lininlent and four porous plasters, and
there is no happier household in Detroit than
that of Bowser.-DetroIt Free Press.
Asking Too Much.
Hotel Porter-Will you please 70 refrain |
from splitting on the floor siri