The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-05-18
MOVING"

He CHANGED to sit opposite me In
resta urant. I noted at once that he hat
q load on his mind and a vast quantit,
OF miscellaneous objects In his pockets
Evidently nothing remained but to bur
den his stomach, and this he proceeded
to do in a sullen and desperate manner
Having thus brought himself TO an ever
keel, he paused and looked at me. Ny
features wore their usual winning smile,
which is al invitation to confidence tina
would be worth a good deal in the con.
fidence trick line.
IT don't see what / could have done
with it" muttered the stranger, and
then he began to rummage around his
pockets. / caught hurried glimpses OF
many queer things. Among them were
two gloves. one male and the other fe.
male, rolled together; a small hand mir.
ror, q screw driver, an iron caster that
might have come of the leg of q bed, a
soiled collar, several manteI shelf orna-
ments and q bottle of brown shoe dress
ing. Lastly he produced three gilded
balls and laid them on the table.
You can't commence business here
without a license" said /.
These things came of the end or cur
tain poles-pourchairs, you know, as
the French call Them" said he.
I'VE wanted to move the FIRST Of the
month";" he croaked, "but one thing
and another delayed us. The principal
trouble was that we couldn't get a man
with a a to move us. Three days ago,
however, I induced an old fellow out
there to make a beginning with %. We
had place in town engaged, and the
rent had begun to run, so I thought we'd
better u after 1t before IL got too far
ahead of as.
1.-THE old fellows name was Wenner.
He came round with his wagon Tuesday
morning just as / was ready to leave
for town. My wife was pumping air
into my ears 30 that I could run for my
train without getting ont OF breath.
That Is the way I playfully refer 10 her
parting admonitions. / explained to her
that Mr.. Wenner could take only one or
two loads that day, 80 she'd better send
ornamental than useful things. And
for heavens sake, I added, don't pack
away my pipe and tobacco the first
thing, as You did the last time we
moved IS
when ] got home that evening, I
found my wife weeping in the midst Of
q dismantled home. That dreadful
old villain, Wenner, said she, hasn't
kept his word. He's moved only half
things
well said /, that's all right.
He'll come again tomorrow and get the
rest. Let's have some dinner and try TO
forget q sorrows.'
"She looked at me rather strangely,
but made no objection. She put the dim
ner on the table, for we had sent our
servant away, and we sat down to eat.
While we were thus more or less pleas-
antly engaged my wife's sister an
nounced herself. She had come to take
us by surprise. They're q surprising
family that I've married into, but
they've ceased to surprise me. I'm be-
yond 1t. Whatever crazy trick they do
I'm expecting 1t. This refers to the. rest
of them, not to my wife. She still has
latent possibilities which could amaze
anybody. One Of them developed after
dinner that night.
"She called me aside and said: john
ny, it's perfectly awful Do You know
there isn't o bed In the house?' What's
become OF them?' ] asked. Sent 'cm
all away by Wenner, ; said she. Lis
ten Johnny, and don't be angry--it
won't do amy good. That man promised
that he would move all our things to-
day. ] thought we could get into our
fat this evening. And I said to myself,
What shall we need mogtf Why, the
beds, Of course. So ] sent them all Oh
On the first load
Then wen have to go TO London
and sleep In that fat, : said I.
But listen, johnny she said.
There wasn't room for the mattresses
on the first load. 90 T sent them on the
second.
Well, what OF it?'
They didn't get as far as London
abe walled. 'Wenner's got that second
load in his warehouse. I sent q little
boy owe to zee about It.
This staggered mss so our beds
are In London I gasped, and our mat
tresses are In Wenner's warehouse ON
the other side OF the foreet? Suppose We
go and sleep In his w~arehousef'
"She said that ! was very bitter and
cruel to suggest such athing. Perhaps
we could get along very well for one
night IL ] wouldn't make such a fuss.
There was n old mattress In the attic.
She and Lizzie would sleep on that, and
] could have a little canvas cot. 1t was
. very nice, comfortable bed, and she
knew 1t. She was logically convinced
Of 1t because she'd had TO 90 oven the
with our servant almost es-
cry day since the girl began DO try to
sleep on q cot. Say, did you ever try to
sleep on q canvas cot? 1T looks easy, but
IL isn't. ! retired at midnight In the
north room One OF my wife's relations
had II last winter, and he called ii the
blue ROOM because that was the color
OF his nose every morning when he eor
mp and scraped the frost of his looking
glass. But il was q warm night, and
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