Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1891-05-15
MELINDA AND THE MOUSE.
An Unexpected Attack That Aroused TIL
Whole Neighborhood.

An Unexpected Attack That Aroused the
Whole Neighborhood.
Melinda is brave little married
woman who lives in one of the hand
some new houses on West End av-
enue
She has n nice husband--f husbands
really can be nice, question on which
naturalists and women disagree-an in
come of ten thousand year, a horse
and phaeton, grand st. Bernard dog
and the finest singing canary that ever
mounted perch
Life, as you may well suspect was a
pleasant thing for Melinda until she
bought those new lace curtains. But
since then, alas
81 can't make out what becomes OF
brides Seed" said Melinda to her hus-
band few days after the new curtains
had been hung. II fill his cup every
morning, but when look the next it is
almost empty"
''Spring appetite" said Reginald.
"Oh, my! he never could eat all that"
''Tapeworm, suggested Reginald.
Nonsense. Who ever heard of such
thing?"
Rats" grunted Reginald.
"That's it, she cried, in sudden ex-
element. you've guessed it my dear"
Guessed what?"
cts the mice. I've heard of them
doing it before They climb UP the cur
tains at night and steal out the seed
when the bird sleeps. Oh, the horrid
little things"
Long after Reginald was asleep and
snoring that night Melinda lay awake
and watched and listened Every
nerve was trained to catch the first
sounds of the midnight intruder and you
have no idea unless you have listened
for thieves yourself how many sounds
there are at night which sleeping
house can evolve-sounds which sets
your nerves on edge and tempt you, un-
less you are particularly phlegmatic
person, to jump out of your skin, or
scream, or do something thatis desper-
ate.
The swapping of woodwork, the drop
ping of cinders in the CRATE, the creak-
ing of shutter at an open window, the
sudden yowl of the sleeping dog dream
ing of cats just beyond his reach, the
swish of garments in the street outside
these are the voices of the night that
speak with startling emphasis when
one is listening for an enemy.
have said that Melinda was brave
little woman, and she was. She feared
no man, nor any aggregation OF men.
But that mouse was q ticklish enemy
who was apt to fight from ambush.
She did not long for the encounter, but
duty lay before her, and she would not
turn her back upon it.
She had laid her husbands stoutest
walking stick and his thirty-eight cali
Der, self-cocking revolver on the bureau
handy to her grasp She was a dead
shot with revolver, and she felt that
with these two weapons she could
cope successfully with the largest mouse
that ever nibbled cheese.
Ha! What was that? She heard a
rustling of the curtain and then queer
little sound on the bird cage. 1t made
the cold creeps run down her back. But
she never faltered in her duty.
She slipped silently out of bed, seized
the club and pistol and started swiftly
across the floor. AS she neared the
window she could see the curtain trem
bling and hear the sound of seed falling
on the metal of the cage The little
villainl
She raised the pistol to the level Of
the cage clenched her white teeth, ano
was all prepared for deadly execution
, when suddenly her foot encountered 6
ball of tatting which the baby had beer
playing with and had left on the floor
1t was so warm and chunky that she
thought she had stepped on a mouse
She jumped aside to escape this awful
and unexpected attack in the rear, ant
the tatting became entangled in he1
foot and ankle. 1t seemed as il tina
diabolical mouse was running up hel
bare legs.
! The pandemonium which followed
can not be described. Shrek aftel
shrek filed the room. Every barrel o
that self-cocker went off. Table
l chairs, lamp and bric-a-brac were up
set, and finally Melinda, overcome will
Mysteries, fell back on the bed, ant
filed the air with. yells until every win
dow for blocks around was raised b,
+ the alarmed neighbors and policemen
came running up they are always thicl
: when you do not want them from three
different directions.
: Reginald is a pretty good liar, but hi
y ingenuity was taxed to the utmost tina
: night. He caught the clew when hi
wife in one of her paroxysms whispered
y 'mice," and he gave the police descrip
tions of three beetle-browed burglar
such as the rogue's gallery could no
= equal-burglars which the detective
: are looking for to this day There arr
c times when husband earns his salt
But if any one wants a pair of elegan
lace curtain cheap let him 60 to Yves
S End avenue and ask for Melinda. Sh,
has them for sale to the lowest bidder
IN. Y. Herald.
|. An Impressive Warning.
Frontier Judpe-Do YOU know of an