The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-13

wholly new to that astonished young lady
principal of the seminary where Patty had
been a pupil. 1t was the custom in those
days for the visiting sutton to make him.
| self perfectly at home in the domiciie of
his inamorata and the professor easily
laid aside his hat and cane and disposed OF
his carpet sack in a convenient corner Fan
realized all the terrible meaning of the
event. A guest in the house and nothing
with which TO furnish forth the table.
Worse than all, Aunt Polly launched upon
the tide from which there was no turning
until nature had taken its course.
AS soon as the news was broken to Nell,
that young lady descended from her perch
and dismissed her lover with little eere-
mony council of war was held and it
was decided to go at once and undertake
to reason with Aunt Polly. Accordingly
the two tiptoed softly to the smokehouse
door, applying their rosy lips to the dingy
| keyhole.
| Aunt Polly! Oh Aunt Polly!"
Silence.
"Oh. say, Aunt Polly, open the door a
minute
Here a wild, wailing yowl from within,
calculated to raise the dead, broke in upon
| their communication.
"Oh. mercy, Nell" whispered Fan;
don't say anything more to her-hell hear
her. know he will
A flood Of lamentations broke from the
confines of the poor old woman's tenn
| porary prison - despairing lugubrious
sounds like the lost souls in torment. The
| girls beat hasty retreat, and as they did
so Fans eyes fell upon Father Burford's
| pullet stepping about with the dignity of
| early maturity.
ooh! Nell" she exclaimed, eff we could
only get that chicken we might manage to
/ cook 1t for dinner. Was there ever such
| luck? Here is Patty, who we never
dreamed would ever get anybody to look
at her. and in such a mess!''
! And then Nell had her inspiration.
| Lets get Uncle Eph to stay at home
| and get dinner!" she cried. and the next
| instant the two were chasing across the
garden to the wagon shop. in front of
which stood the fishing party in the last
stages of preparation. The girls threw
themselves before Uncle Eph in attitudes
| of supplication and began an incoherent
| explanation of their dilemma.
| ooh, Uncle Eph,'' they exclaimed, Patty
has q young gentleman come to see her
| and we must get dinner. And Aunt Polly's
| sick, you know, and we don't know how to
| kill the chicken. Oh, Uncle Eph, can't
| you, won't you, stay at home and help
| us?'
The tiding staggered Uncle Eph, and he
| cooked his weather eye in a manner pc
culiar to himself when i'll an incredulous
| and reproving mood.
! WHAT" he exclaimed. Patty indeed!
| IT'S one of your own good-for-nothtng jew
| larkies, I'll be bound.''
| Fan seized him by the arm and dragged
| him aside. Its nothing of the kind
| Uncle Eph. It's a real. live man come to
see Patty, and 1 know he means to propose
| to her 1 can tell by the way he acts"
"Oh. Uncle Eph'' broke in Nell, "he's
| such a nice young man (Nell had never
| seen him), end he's professor in the SEM
| fnary-such postion--oh, Uncle Eph, we
must do something to help Patty. Oh, if
Aunt Polly only knew. We tried to tell
her. Uncle Eph, but she cried so loud and
wouldn't listen. You know it's no use"
Uncle Eph scratched his head. ooh, yes,
L know" he replied, ruefully; II know it's
no user
He looked at the two pretty girls, who
were fairly wringing their hands with emo
tion, tears hung upon their long black
lashes, fit, as Uncle Eph phrased it to him
self, to melt stone; then he thought of
Patty in the parlor with her first lover
poor Patty, whom nobody but Uncle Eph
had ever considered pretty. But to give up
a fish of such magnificent promise and
proportions. Uncle Eph looked at the
wagon, then at the SKY; oh. what a day
for bass! The old man stood irresolute a
moment. while the girls hung breathless
upon his forthcoming utterance then he
stepped up to the wagon and lifted small
chocolate-colored jug from among the vari-
Gus articles with which it was supplied
The group of fishermen stood petrifed as
he faced them, and he looked truly heroic
as he addressed them:
Boys" he said, "Eph Beasly never went
back on you before; you know yourself I
never did; hell and high water never
skeered me out, but I got to stay at home
this time. Company" he continued, as
Stunning rather lofty air, has come in
unexpected, an my wife amt to say right
well; got to give it up, boys, you take my
seine an my gig an everythin'-'' (Here he
cast an apologize glance at the jug tightly
clasped in his hands) The old mans voice
was husky; tears swan in his eyes; it was
the sacrifice of his life.
Now while Aunt Polly in her fits of de-
lirium was seemingly unconscious of ali
Surroundings, there was a certain crack in
the smokehouse wall through which she
sometimes took note of passing events. BY
this means she happened to observe sight
which recalled her to a sense of reality. in
haste. This was no other than a vision of
Uncle Eph in hot pursuit of Father Bur-
ford's pullet now jumping over the goose
berry bushes, now lodging under the grape
arbor in a manner utterly astonishing in
Uncle Eph, given, as he was, to repose
of manner. Soon subdued squawking an
nounced to her Mortified ears that the chase
ended, and moment later the in
dustrious whetting of the butcher knife fell
like a kne1l upon her startled senses. The
immediate hustle of preparation that
sounded from the kitchen added fuel to the
flame, and soon Aunt Polly was sitting up
listening intently and trying to adjust her
dazed senses to the new order of things.
Oddly enough, unexpected company did
not suggest itself to her. The pleasure of
entertaining had so long been in disuse
and all that presented itself to her mind,
demented. if not by actual disease, at least
by days of nervous giving away, was the
fact that Uncle Eph and those lazy girls,
improvdent and utterly careless of the fu-
ture had decided to kill the fatted pullet
and have feast. 1t was too much of all
the indignities to which fate had subjected
her this the worst. involving, as it
did, all phases of her trouble. The ingrati-
tude of the girls the mean spirit of Uncle
m instead of pr0x-idipcr would tolya