Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-10-19

1t seems to me strange that | saw
nothing pathetic at the time in the
waggie of the little tail which stuck in
articulo out of one of those cruel holes.
l was not purpoSely cruel. 1 had got
UP in fact to put one little marauder out
of any agony he might be in by reason
of the faulty operation of the throttling
device. If he was alive l drowned him
in the kitchen sink. | went back to
bed and was soon asleep, as was my
wife, not having at the time any Of
the feelings Of Lady Macbeth by rea-
son Of having suggested the grocery
cheese.
There was no further mutilatiOn of
the portiere and no further noises were
! heard. We did hear some squeaking
behind the moiding of the wall and set
the tap again. But these sounds grew
fainter and seemed to die in the dis
lance on the second night, Us if the
companions Of our little victim were
/ moving away from us. We little realiz-
ed the significance of this diminution
of sound at the tine. Since then my
wife, thinking of it, has burst out cry
| ing and looked at me with eyes of har-
rowing remOrSe.
| On the third morning after the cessa-
! ton of the annoyance my wife told me
: to have the janitor send a plumber to
out fat She was sure the water pipes
were leaking just behind the wall of
| our room. [ did as she said.
That evening as [ came home to din
ner my wife opened the door for me.
She had evidently been waiting for the
sound of the elevator stopping at our
floor She closed the door after me as
one does when there is sorrow in the
house. Her head was bowed and she
pressed Il finger to her lip as if to keen
it from quivering. She stepped softly,
and her eyes were red.
My dear" l said in real alarm,
what is the matter?'
We had walked along Our narrow fiat
house hall to the parlOr, and thence /
had gone into our room between the
folds of the pOrtiere which had been mu
tilated. She followed, and grasping the
pOrtiere, looked ut me with the Cupid'S
bow Of her mouth all twisted out Of it's
Shapeliness by grief, as if Cupid had
wrenched it in a pet and left it out i'll a
nights rain. Then she burst out:
4 cried before the plumber. We
found the nest and the velvet, and, oh,
of the velvet. And oh-ohp'
Are you crying about the velvet, my
dear" [ asked, somewhat puzzled.
NO, oh, n-o-o-o; listen to me. The
plumber cIme and tore out molding,
and he didn't find the leak, but we
found the nest and the velyt, and, OH
oh, oh, those little squeaks we heard
she was there in the dark crying for
him, and we had killed him and he
couldn't come to her, and she starved
TO d-d-death.
My face, | suppose, expressed my
puzzlement, as the incident of three
nights before was not craven on my
memory. Then something like a pout
ut my stupidity puckered the Cupid's
bow of my wife's mouth into Il small,
| fresh JacqueminOt bud at Easter and
the tear-stained cheek flushed from
wet ivory to a warm velvet. "Oh, can't
you See?' she cried. The m-m-Ouse
was m-m-married and they would have
had ch-ch-children."
My poor child" [ said, and took her
in my arms, where she Sobbed again,
''and she was crying in the dark for
her h-h-husband, her mate, I mean"
My wife wept again at dinner as she
spoke of the housewifely qualities of
the deceased and how neatly she kept
her tlat-she meant her neSt-and she
smiled through her tears at the recOl-
lection of the plumbers surprise at her
emo ton, and how the plumber had i'm
parted to the maid to impart to her
the full significance of the discovery.
But it was not until night and dark
that a sharper thought came to her,
and she cried: 'Oh, suppose-suppose,"
and ''it might happen to us"
| [ hope that the doctor is right in his
opinion that this impression will have
mo evil effect on the course of future
events, and I assure all the mice of
Manila ttan that the trap has been burn
I'd in the range, and that they can come
and be welcome to make a mouse
tower of our flat.-New York Press.