The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-09-14

WITH MR.. PRIMER.
body some day to be patient with us we
will soon learn to be patent with Others"
eyes, that's true. Did you ever think
what trial Methuselah must have been
to his familyY'
eyes, but Methuselah retained all of
his faculties up to his eight hundredth
year. He could read fine print, you re-
member, up to 1856 years of age. and
then he began to imagine that smoking
was hurting his eyesight, SO he quit for
30 years, but it did not help any and he
went back to it, they say-only worse. to
make up for lost time.
"But the last 80 or 90 years of Methu-
selah's life he got so that he used to re-
peat himself q good deal. Even Enoch
was tried with him, and when one of
Methuselah's grandchildren some of
them 200 years old-used to wake up
with the Group in the night, the old man,
forgetting that he used to have it when
he was their age, would humble to him
self and gnash his teeth for hours, after
which he would put them back in the
bureau and go to sleep again.
but what started me off on the sub
ject of old people was my wife's grand
father. He lives with us. He is 90 years
old today, and we are going to give him
birthday cake. have just bought
eight dozen wax candles to put on it.
MY grandfather lives with us also.
He is 81 years old in November. Both
of the old gentlemen live with us, hav-
ing no other relatives they can get along
20
with me when my wife and went keep
ing house, and two years after that my
wife's grandmother died and the old
man came to our house.
ut has been rather ticklish business
to manage the two, for my grandfather
has an ungovernable temper, and for
moment or two sometimes you'd think
he might assassinate some one, but once
or twice year is as often as lie has an
outbreak like that.
my grandfather's name is Peradven-
ture Primer, an old Bible name selected
from the begat column of the good book
reckon. My wife's grandfather's name
Is Mortimer Dowd. They call each other
Peradventure and Mortimer when they
are calm. but if anything goes wrong
they call each other Primer and Dowd.
II was afraid that my grandfather
might get one of his little spells of temper
and drive my wife's grandfather into
the earth with n club, for Dowd is the
gentlest man you ever saw. So one day
1 told Mortimer that Peradventure was
the kind Of man that had to be sat
down on the moment he showed anv
signs OF temper, and if he had the nerve
TO shut him up once for all he would
have no trouble, but was afraid he did
not have the necessary courage. How
ever, told him that he was so much
older than Peradventure he must take
hrm hand with him at the start.
II used 70 have them do the chores to
Keep them out Of mischief Mortimer
bad to milk and feed the chickens, and
Peradventure cut the kindling and car
ried in the wood.
"One day they had been down town
together, and Mortimer had bought q
songbook with the money gave him.
1t had the words of an old song set to
the tune Of 'Wellington's Farewell Per-
adventure had bought horehound candy
with his money and had hidden a part
VI IL III LILO WOOQSueus where ! found IT
and took it away because I was afraid
he would be sick eating candy along
with the root beer he had been drinking.
"He discovered that it was gone at
about dusk while he and Mortimer were
in the woodshed together. Mortimer Is
rs lovely q character as ever lived. He has
6ne, soft, silky white hair and skin like
IN undressed kid. When the two arc
asleep at night together and I go in at II
o'clock to see if they are covered up all
right. can't help comparing them, for
Peradventure has eyebrows. you know,
that he can toss back like name when
he wants to. and he has big red beak
ON him like penguin. and as you ap-
proach him at night you can hear it
purr. He also sleeps on his back, and
his mouth comes unclasped at times.
But Mortimer has q soft voice and a
noiseless slumber that endears him to
every one. He says very little, and if
ee can't hear very well he lets it go,