The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1894-01-05
Ne. having such a high-toned hus band

and she set down the cup of
starch which she had borrowed.
and, saying that she could not
stay a minute, turned again to
the door. l followed, for l thought /
ought to be civil. She stopped to tell
me that the head of the family that
had moved in opposite was detective
and that there was a case of scarlet
fever on the next block. Augustus had
resigned look when / returned, but
he magnanimously said nothing. In
five minutes more the grocer's boy
came for orders, but that did not de-
tain us long. 1t seemed as though my
rolling-pin had never made SO much
noise, and my head began to throb with
the effort to listen, and it became still
worse when 1 began the lively process
of baking and rolling out at the same
time: every now and then Augustus
would glance up, as much as to say:
"There's fine passage for you," and !
would smile in a vacant sort of way to
show him that appreciated it. At one
place he stopped and enlarged upon the
subject in way which was very inter-
esting, but l knew ought to look III
the oven, and hated to interrupt him,
so / waited till he turned to his volume
and then found two tins of cakes
burned black | was so thankful he
| did not notice 1.-THE is such an ecOnO-
mist but it is very true that he is mot
q man whose train of thought is inter-
rupted by trifles.''
After the cakes were rolled out and |
had nothing to do but watch the oven
managed to grasp the thought little
better: but just as I was removing the
cakes from tin and my attention was
momentarily diverted he turned to ne
with the exclamation: There! isn't
that we'll put?" Eyes, indeed.' I said
with emphasis; and the lie troubled my
conscience for two days thereafter
Our little three-year-old Isabel, who
had been playing in the sunshine on
| the front porch, now came in, wheel
ing her dOll-carriage. You must be
very quiet if you stay here" whis-
pered; papa is reading" The lite
darling meant to be very obedient, and
it was amusing to hear her talking to
her doll in pretty, broken accents:
900 must be till, dolly, and hear papa
wead." In spite of myself, was more
interested in her than in the momentous
questions which were being settled b.
her father and his old instructor
had turned toward the child, and sup
pose Augustus glanced up as he had
done before, expecting to meet u re-
Spouse on my face, and found me nap
ping. He came to an Ominous stop. lis
it possible, Maria. that you arc not in
terested?" he said, coldly. ooh, yes."
I answered, humbly. do excuse nc,
Augustus, but she is SO cunninr."
''rhat is true" he replied, his severity
disappearing as he looked fondly at the
little prattler; for, as ] remarked be-
fore. he is a very affectionate father.
The cakes were now all out of the
oven, and l sat with eyes fixed upon the
reader, determined that nothing should
divert eye or brain; but there came Il
knock at the door; l answered it: it
was tramp, a Misunderstanding fell
low who wanted something to eat
Augustus never allows me to feed these
Migrants, and 1 dismissed him quite
CURLY, and turned away. He opened
the screen door and followed me into
the kitchen; he beat a hasty retreat as
soon as he saw Augustus, who has such
commanding presence that even a
tramp is affected by it.
i seated myself again, and in about
three minutes Isabel, the enforced
quiet having become irksome, began to
trundle the doll carriage over the bare
floor in most distracting manner
'Oh, do wait minute, until l can dis
pose of this childr' I cried I took her
into the dining-room and brought out
some toys which she is allowed to have
only on state occasions, and hurried
back. The end of a chapter was soon
reached, and Augustus announced that
he thought that would do for that
morning, and disappeared up the back
stairs. l thought afterward that
l did not express my gratitude
as l ought; but 1 had happened
to glance at the clock as ! came
in from the dining-room, and was
startled to find how near dinner-time
it was. Augustus is so punctual, and
does not want the time of his meals to
vary minute; so, though it is great
help toward forming correct habits to
live with such a person, 1 am extreme
| ly nervous if l get behindhand Another
! aggravatiOn was that when mt to
set the table found that Isabel had
marred in shocking manner the { g
of the handsome wax doll tn Augus-
| tus' mother gave her last Christmas.
saying that. with care it would last un-
til she was done playing with dolls 1t
was all my fault, too, for giving it to
her.
Dinner was late, of course l know
Augustus was annoyed, though he was
kindly silent on the subject. 1t seemed
as though L never should get nv
dinner dishes washed, and then | had
to go to bed with a nervous headache.
Augustus has never offered to read to
me since, nor referred to the book.
Ihere are some other subjects that to
my mind seem to need reconciliation
as we'll as science and religion, but
what troubles me the most is that all
these things make it so very discourag-
ing for Augustus.-S. J. Underwood.
in Outlook.
-Customer-"Do you suppose you can
take good picture of me?' Photog-
rapher-s.I shall have to answer YOU in
the negative, sir"
Tnos,. Who reason only by analogies,
rarely reason by logic, and are gener-
ally slaves to imagination Sim
mons.
Freaks OF Memory.
A smart young cavalry officer was
| -, I: