The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-09-18
4 DOMESTIC INCIDENT.



Wife Always Listen9
'sRead to me- Billiger''
It was Mrs. McSwat who spoke. She
was lying on lounge in the family sit
ting room.
What's the use, LobeliaS,' said Mr.. No
Swat. "You know you'll go right to
Sleep
"You always do go to sleep, anyhow.
What do you want me to readg''
Something good I'm not particular"
'tHow will story by Grant Allen DOPE
GAS well as anything"
''Well. happen to have one in my hand.
will read it,
Mr.. McSwat began:
1T was detected, dispirited, sheepish
looking throng that gathered one black
Wednesday ro6nd the big back door in
Burlington gardens, for it was taking
away day at tho Royal academy.
g For weeks before that annual hoIo-
caust many anxious hearts have waited
and watched in eager suspense for the final
verdict of the hanging committee. To
hang or not to hang, that is the question.
But on taking away day the terrible fiat
at last arrives The committee regrets, or
Autographed form, that want of space
compels it to decline Mr.. So-and-so's oil
painting, 1.-THE Fall of Babylon, - or Miss
What s-her-name's water color, ''By Leafy
Thames, - and politely informs them they
may remove them at their leisure and at
their own expense from Burlington House
by the back door aforesaid. Then follows a
sad ceremony-the rejected flock together
to recover their sighted goods and keep
one another company in their hour of hui
initiation ;"
The reader stopped moment to glance
at Mrs. McSwat. Her eyes were closed,
hI1t she onerad them Instantly
$50 ahead, Billiger, - she said. 'sThe
last word was humiliation. heard you.
Go on"
Mr. McSwat resumed:
Sc 1T is a community of grief, a fellow
ship in misery. Each is only sustained
from whitening under the observant eyes
of his neighbor by the inward conscious
ness that that neighbor himself, after all,
is in the selfsame box and has been the re-
cipient that day of an identical letter."
''What are you stopping for, BilIiger,"
demanded Mrs. McSwat, again opening
her eyes suddenly. ST hear you. Go on.''
g Nevertheless it was some consolation
to Kathleen Hessel grave in her disappoint-
ment to observe the varying moods and
shifting hunors of her fellow sufferers
among the rejected. She had keen sense
of the ridiculous, and it lightened her
trouble somewhat to watch among the
| crowd the different funny ways in which
other people bore or concealed their own
/ disappointment for her edifcation.' 4"
Here Mr.. MeSwat, who had stolen a
! glance at his wife and observed that her
eyes were closed and that she was breath
/ ing deeply and regularly, hastily reached
! for copy of the official Directory of the
Fifty-third congress that lay on the table
near his hand, opened it at random and
without moments pause went on:
I" William Alfred PETER of Topeka was
I born on farm in Cumberland county,
Pa, Sept. 10, 1881; attended a public
school; began teaching at the age of Is
years; taught during winter and farmed
in summer; removed to Indiana june,
1853, and opened a farm in ST Joseph
county; removed to Missouri September,
1859, and purchased a farm in Morgan
county; because of the war removed to
Illinois February, 1869, and enlisted as q
private in Company f, Eighty-third Iili-
nois infantry '-'m-'m-when did he
Oh, yesi-' Removed to Kansas in Janu-
airy, 1870, and pFactieed law there till
1878, in the meantime establishing and
conducting two newspapers, the Fredonia
Journal and the Coffeyville Journal; was
elected to the state senate in 1871 -
The reader here paused involuntarily to
yawn.
Instantly Mrs. MeSwat opened her eyes
again.
go On, Billiger. hear every word.i'
Nevertheless it was some consolation
to Kathleen HesslegraVe in her disap-
pointment to observe the varying moods
and shifting humoFs of her fellow suffer-
ers among the rejected. There were SUM-
dry young men, for example, with long
hair down their backs and loose collars OF
truly Byronic responsiveness, whom Kath-
leen at once recognized as unacclaimed
geniuses belonging to the very newest and
EXTREMIST school of modern impressionlsm,
Tom L. johnson of Cleveland was born in
Scott county, KY, July 18, 1854; was edu-
Gated in the public schools of Evansville,
Ind; was secretary and subsequently SUI
perintendent of the Central Passenger Rail
way company of Louisville; in 1876 be-
came owner of the indianapolis street rail-
road; in i979'-Whats the difference any
how, - proceeded Mr.. MeSWat in the same
tone of voice and without pause, what
Tom L. johnson did in 1879? You're
asleep, Lobelia, and you know it, and you
haven't heard word I've read for five
minutes, and you We got q smudge of dirt
on your nose, and your hair is ali tangled
and untidy, and the dress you've got on
isn't overly clean, and it's an imposition
on a man to ask him to read you asleep
when it is all he can do TO hold his own
eyes open, and I'm getting tired of this
thing, by George, and I'm not going to
read another wordW
His voice ceased, and Mrs. Mcswat
spoke again:
81 hear every word, Biiliger. Go on"
) $50 on?'' he echoed. why, that's all
there is of it,
J well /" she replied somewhat dubious
", "it's an interesting story, but don't
you think it ends rather abruptlys'
Then Mr.. MeS9at went hurriedly out
of doors and sounds were heard presently
coming from the region of the woodshed