The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1895-02-28

tnougnt hDOut IL at all she would have
remembered that 1t was her new
switch she had on and that 1t was well
pinned, which would have been a com
fortiny reflection. But she thought Of
none OF those things.
The movement of her hand 10 the
back Of her head was purely mechan-
ical, ard Mrs. Jamison did not really
know that she had performed that
action.
Mr.. Smith noticed the movement,
however, and thought to himself what
hollow mockery for some women to
claim that they had n soul, heart, or
any feeling of any kind, for that mat.
ter. Here was he, he thought, plead
ing, rs one might say. for his very ex-
istence, and there sat that monster OF
"A woman staring at him blankly aud
arranging her hair.
Could anything he more outrageous?
What was her hair-it was probably
false, he thought-or the hair of all the
women in the world. for that matter.
as against his dig gastion? Could IL hc
that Mrs. Jamison was really mocking
him, and toycd with her hair to make
him understand that she considered
his digestion, his existence, of very Vt
tie account?
He had become quite excited by the
thoughts which flashed through his
mind. His hands began TO shake and
his head seemed to whirl for mo.
nlRnt Ian Ia gtt..i, N tat 80
tion that he well nigh lost all control Of
himself. AS 1t was, he thought he said
In ordinary tone, but shouted: ITS
outrageous" The vehemnncc display
ed 10y Mr.. Smith was so great. the force
with which he made the exclamation
was so explosive that 1t reused Mrs.
Jamison from the semi-stupor into
which she had been thrown by his first
words. She wondered how II had hap.
pencd that she had blundercd so: how
Ii had occurred that she was not so
careful as was her wont was beyond
her comprehension. And he, poor man,
ne must have suffered so, she thought.
because she had never seen him quite
so agitated before. The agony his
words had caused her made her heart
beat nudibly. And he had told hcr he
was going to leave her house, The
very thought of it made her feel limp.
ana in the very agony of despair, and
not knowing what she said, she al
most walled:
Good Lawd, Mr.. Smith. you're fat
ter now than you ever wus"
ITS n lic." shouted Smith.
He strode toward the door. and lndic.
nation seemed to radiate from him.
On the threshold he whirled about SO
that the baked apple, which
he was carrying on n small plate that
had been given to him by his mother
when he was boy, flew from the plate
rs If anxious to get away from the cen.
ter of Sc much excitement, and struck
one of Mrs. Jamison's newly covered
parlor chairs with thud.
Under ordinary circumstances Mrs.
Jamlson would have been up In an in.
slant 10 SEQ how much ruin had been
wiouent'Jy Che apple. But on this &c.
rasion she did not even notice where
lh' appiN huh ~ Us were
liked on Mr.. Smith, as he stood in the
doorway, looking at her Indignantly.
Like one In a dream sine heard him re.
peat: Its lie. say" And then:
Il was weighed this morning aud again |
his afternoon and was whole pound |
lighter than | was three weeks ago" |
Then he was gone.
Mrs. .Iamison sat quite still for few
Then the tears began to
gather in her eyes. She rocked herself |
10 and fro for moment. As the tears |
began To roll dowa her checks she got |
mp, put out the gas and stole quietly to |
her own apartments. When she ap. |
pcarcd in the dining room In the morn. |
ns she seemed 20 have grown year |
older during the night. Mr. Smith was
here, and she greeted him Just as
as had been her wont. She
If he was going to leave her
house for good after breakfast, and
'clt faint at the thought.
But no such idea was in his mind at
hat time. Her REMARKS that he hal
yained flesh since he had been at her
lousc was seed that had fallen into
GOOD ground In Lis brain, and -four.
shed during the nigh, into the convic.
ion that he had really grown little
,toutcr since he had been living at
Mrs. Jamison's house. lie had been
awake most of thy night thinhlng of ii
and had consulted the mirror many
times, and had Eat arrived N the final
uaul G:,rr daylight in the
But with that conviction. he
lccidcd he woU!. remain where he was.
llSo that hc haG done Mrs. JamlSon n
gross injustice ard made up his mind
% tell her SO at the first opportunity.
80 after breakfast he did tell her so
md apologi2cG for his conduct and
anguagc Of tine night before. She,
;ood soul, told him simply that she
vas glad he was goilc TO remain with