The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-04-09
THAT THERE BROWN.

position he commonly burrows under
the doormat and howls until the return
of his proprietors. But the howls now
heard by myself and my wife were dis
tinctly human and proceeded from our
culinary department at the passage end.
Something must have happened to
Looshal We sprang from the dinner
table, and made one bound to the
kitchen door. With instructive delicacy
we listened a moment before bursting
in. The outcries never ceased, though
at times they sounded strangely mufllcd.
Had a burglar dropped in for a late af-
ternoon visit? Was he garroting the
too faithful creature who had refused to
reveal the whereabouts of the plate
basket? ! Igrspcd the soup ladle-which
l had unconsciously retained - with
nervous determination. We rushed in
quietly.
There was no burglar Only Loosha
behind tho scullery door, with her head
wrapped up in towel, was giving vent
to bursts Of emotion which might well
have aroused the envy of the poodle
down stairs. With compassion, slightly
tempered with severity, we questioned
the girl She took some time to coax
out of the chrysalis or pupa condition,
but finally emerged from the folds Of
the towel and explained. Mother-who
should have known better, having but a
brief twelvemonth since inferred her
Second-was now receiving the address
es Of potential Third, himself wild
over with nine membranes. In jus
tice to the aspirant, we may mention
that he was fairly well to do, being
retired joiner by the name of Mr..
Brown. In Loosha's bitterest moments
she deprived him Of the prefix, calling
him simply, and for short, THAT There
Brown"
The fell news had only just been
brought by Loosha's little stepsister Elm
incline, though Loosha had had pre-
monitory warning in the way of creeps
down her back whenever she had en-
countered the designing Mr.. Brown for
some time past. 1t had been adjoining
in her mind, she said, by degrees as
there was something upi and this very
afternoon he had upped and spoke, most
| barefaced, on the identical doorstep
Says he, "AIrs. Hcmmans, will not de-
/ ceive you, that it was Just through you
dropping in in friendly way to 'elp at the
! laying out Of her rs is gone (and her only
buried eleven months) that my attention
was in a manner of speaking drawed to
you; and in homely way, putting the
thing plainly for your thinking over quiet
by yyourself, will say you have three and
me similarly nine, and both being unin-
cumbijed, why not make one extra large
table out of your medium and my full
sizedg' Which table, Loosha parenthet-
ically observed, would ultimately prove
her deathbed.
We tried to soothe the aggrieved
handmade by every means in our power.
Being within three days of Christmas
day, and having proposed to entertain
the representative members of our re.
spective families-between whom, all
the year round, great enmity exists-at
a social dinner, the prospect before us
was overshadowed by Looshas grief
If matters came 10 a crisis she would as
like as not take to her bed and remain
there for two days. At the end Of hel
period of sackcloth and ashes she would
we knew by previous experience, reap
pear as fresh as paint and quite recon
ciled to the dispositions Of fate. But il
the meanwhile what would become ot
us? l tried to argue. Ireminded Looshi
that her mother was still young, activ,
and Industrious; and that one could not
while deploring the act of Mr. Brown
revile him fer his choice of a successor
to the departed; that that successor
might be called, even now, a pretty
woman; and that men would be men
no matter how foolish it was. woult
have continued in this strain, but tina
Loosha became hysterical.
"She amt youngW she screamed
with me twenty-three, how could she
And she amt pretty; or if she is sh
ought to be ashamed Of herself! An,
both my father an Emmeline and FL
freds father would say so if they wer
herel And if she does it-which at he
time of life is disgrace-I shall drowl
; myselfr
Then she went into Mysteries an,
drummed the floor with her heels an
the back of chair with her head il
quite an alarming manner; and wa
ordered out of the kitchen that sh
might be unfastened and the inevitabl
remediats applied, 1t took whole gil
of Tarragon vinegar and the best par
of the tail feathers of our Christmas tul
key to bring her to anything like con
a posure.
8 That was three days before Christmas
e We have got over the dinner and tn
I meeting Of the clans without any casua,
y ties other than those we were bound {
e expect. And Loosha is preteInaturall
bright, sharp, tight and brisk, AS sh
goes about her work she sings. "Com
Buy Ny Colored ERIN" is favorite VI
+ cal exercise with her. But it has bee
superseded by Take Back the Art.
- And, from the piquantly expressly
meaning Loosha infuses into the openin
lines, it is plain that she applies them
Mr.. Brown, whose addresses have bee
discouraged, and whose matrimonii
plans have been circumvented, thanks
= the prompt action taken by Loosha i
= the matter. 1t may be mentioned ths
our handmaid's baptismal appellatio
was originally derived from a popula
novel, called "Loosha Of Lam He
More, and read by mother at an iinpo
tant crisis Mother is quite a literaT
!, person, having worked for several al
thors, one Of whom was poetical GENT
attached to a wen known firm of soal
makers.
Looshas mother, like many small
i meek looking people, possesses a consi,
cradle amount of determination. II 81
really entertained a weakness for Nj
Brown, that weakness was not to be pl
down with the strong arm. Loosha r
allied that, she tells us, as she stood q
y the kitchen floor and met those blac
beady eyes, so like her own. True, 81
opened no parallels, but dashed upC
her subject in way peculiarly distin
tive. Emmeline and Elfred, seated {
two chairs against the wall, paused
+ their consumption Of bread and treac
on hearing themselves alluded as po
lambs and joined their lamentations
- Sister Looshas. The tumult ragged hig
though Mrs. Hemmans preserved a cali
even, stony dcmeanor And in the mi
die Of it all That Thcre Brown knock
at the door
No quick change artist ever effected
more wondrous Transformation than
Loosha in that minute, Mrs. HeInma
had glidod away 10 put her cap straig
and smooth her sleek parting. in q
interval between her disappearance al
her return, Lousha and Mr.. Brown h
become quite friendly. Mr.. Brow
manner WA quito fatherly, and his fl
lures ahane With smiles and gin al
water BE ild been serewing up I
courage that fortifving heyeral