The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1895-05-17

ed my own ideas Of them and am real
anxious to see them. They must be
Just charming people to have a son
IKE my Ally"
ALLY" is what she always called
him. But there was no music in the
sound OF the sweet diIninutiye as she
uttered it on this fateful morning al
ter breakfast Brownlee had a head
ache and was not as responsive to his
wife's affecticnate caresses as usual.
well, I'm not ashamed of 'em any
how" he replied in desperation.
They packed their things and lett
town the next evening.
II Mrs. Brownlee, in her buoyant
trustfulness, anticipated scenes OF
greeting in which mingled residence
on the banks of Lake Como, as de-
scribed by Claude Melnotte, with the
other details Of romantic stage illu-
sions, which beguile the sense OF girl
who has seen only the fashionable side
of life, her anticipations were some
what dampened when they stepped on
the train in the dark and found them
selves on platform where some rough
looking men we're lounging about un-
der the canopy of projecting roof that
was sheltering them from dreary
rainfall.
They seemed to recognize the men,
Der Of Congress, despite his disguise.
for he wore fashionable overcoat and
a closely rolled umbrella, though he
had exchanged his silk hat for a der
by. After some whispering the knot
of loungers gravitated toward them.
DOG my cats, Billw called one, III
this amt Smith Brownlee, Hello
Smith, got back, have yo'?" slapping
him on the back. my, but yo' look
putty! Come ere, Jim, look at i'm.
Would ye know i'm If yo' met i'm on
a dark road? Say, Smith, yo' must
struck it rich when we sent yo' 70
Congress? When yo' left var yo'
didn't have an overcoat to yo' back, an
I'll leave it to the crowd, now did
'ee?"
Smith tried to take 1t as a joke.
He laughed softly, and introduced his
wife in the ill-lighted waiting room,
whittier the delegation Of his constitu-
ents had followed.
They removed their hats and stared
at the lady like lot OF pumpkins; but
this diversion continued only until the
most loud spoken constituent could
think Of saying something that
was intended for a compliment to Mrs.
Brownlee. but which ricochetted upon
her husband in the form Of another
rude sally at the metamorphosis OF
his condition, when they all "haw-haw-
ed" in chorus.
Mrs. Brownlee was beginning to feel
shocked. The smell of the coal oil
made her i'll, and she pinched her hus-
bands arm as a signal to break away
and HE to the bosom OF his family.
Brownlee cursed himself and the
crowd, and for the first time in his
life felt sorry that he ever married.
Outwardly, however, he gave no token
Of his chagTin, but smiled and crack
ed jokes and clutched at every straw
that promised him relief from the mer-
ciless persifage of his ill-bred con-
stituents. He finally managed to get
his wife and himself into a foul-smel-
ling country bus that carried passen-
gers, and hoarse shout that sounded
half derisive to the well-trained per-
ceptive faculties Of Mrs. Brownlee
went up from the platform through
the darkness and rain as they drove
away
Brownlee told the bus driver to
stop at the hotel. He did; but the
owner was tearing down that part OF
the building where the rooms for
guests were located to rebuild, he said
"agin court time" and there was no
place there for them. So there was
nothing to do but what Brownlee, in
the most desperate calculation Of his
chances had never contemplated even
as a last resort-stop at his home
Daisy" said he in hoarse voice,
as the bus splashed through the mire
Of the road; "Daisy"-softly taking her
hand in his-"are you prepared to
make a sacrifice for me; greater, I
hope, than any / shall ever ask you to
make for me again in all our lives"
She said "yes" wearily, with her
head swaying loosely on her shoulders
like sick childs. What do you ask
me?"
THAT you will not hate and despise
me when I introduce you to my fathen
and mother" he said tenderly.
They are poor, them" she asked In
the same weary tone.
"They are the commonest people In
the oldte. lney are SO common tndt
when everybody in town had the
cholera it passed them by as not worth
noticing"
"Myw she exclaimed, how did you
ever get into Congress?"
by my own efforts and not with
the help Of anybody in the world.
just simply hustled for it,"
We'll" she said, ''let it come"
What she meant by "let 1t come Is
something that must be left to the
solution of the reader, but the resign
ed tone in which she uttered that die
tum implied that as nothing worse
than meeting the commonest people
in the state could come to her, 1t was
as well TO let 1t come then as any
time.
The parental Brownies lived In a
plain, yellow, frame house, colonial In
style, in that 1t shot upward on four
sides like big box, but without any
ornate adornments under the caves
and without even a veranda, except a
small one that afforded a view Of the
HI tnh a.