Griggs courier., 1898-09-08
JONES' UNFORTUNATE
JOKE
MATE PALMER.
MATE PALMER

M OF humOr-cOulQnL I see joke un-
less it was labeled, and wouldn't put
themselves out to reach serious in
.terpretation of the airiest jest.
His wife thought such jokes as his
would hardly be recognized if they
were labeled and said clumsy prevari-
cation was long way from wit
ticism anyway, and man of refined
ssensibility wouldn't play practical
jokes on his own wife.
Then Jones grew very angry. It
isn't pleasant to be misunderstood and
xnaligned, and to have ones innocent
pleasantries and good-natured fun
dragged in the mire of condemnation
and dubbed falsehoods.
He said cruel things calculated to
eankle for long time in the feminine
heart, if by chance it didn't perma-
rently ruin the domestic harmony of
the establishment, and his wife took
them all in dead earnest. They
wouldn't have more weight if they
had been deliberately planned six
<months in advance.
She knew she was 'heartbroken and
she assumed an injured-innocnce
manner which she intended should be
deeply pathetic, but which was really
YER ludicrous and strongly suggestive
of fit of the sulks. She was bound
to make the punishment fit the crime
end determined that only the most
-abject apology should ever bring
her off OF her stilts.
She performed her various house
hold duties with the utmost precision.
She prepared delicacies of which he
was specially fond, thus heaping Goals
of fire on his weary head, and then
sat like wooden woman while they
were being served.
But posing as martyr is difficult
task. Few women can endure the
tension longer than a week. Mrs.
Jones kept it up five days, and then
her dearest friend found her, like
Niobe, dissolved in tears.
She had INDUCED in few surrepti-
tious crying spells at different times
ton to conquer, she had been able to
choke back all such indications of
weakness and present heroic appear
ance when the enemy arrived. But
victory seemed as remote as ever and
her nerves appeared to be dancing q
perpetual cancan.
She feared she was on the verge
~cf total collapse, mental as we'll as
physical. and visions of detention hos
pitfalls mingled with the shadowy phan-
etoms of hysteria.
Her friend was astounded to find her
tsn such state of grief. Jones had
always been considered model hus-
band; 1t couldn't be his fault, and no
one was dead or seriously ill. That
much she managed to gather between
the sobbing and moaning. But it was
some time before the poor sufferer was
sufficiently quieted to give coherent
idea Of the cause of all her woe.
1t appeared that few weeks be-
fore, her husband had told her that
:some old friends of his had moved to
Chicago. He was delighted because
they had come, for he was very fond
of them, but sorry he had not known in
season to get them into their neigh
borhood. She had asked where they
did live and he said: "Away out on
Minute street beyond Jackson park -
and told her she must go and call on
them as soon as possible, and then
fearing she might forget the number
lie had written it down for her, -
Minute street.
Two or three weeks went by before
she could spare the time, and it was
4 cold, uncomfortable day when she
finally started to make the visit. It
didn't occur to her to ask any ques-
tions. Her husband had said that they
were way out beyond jackson park.
ESQ she took a Cottage Grove avenue
car and when they got out in that
tneighborhood she told the conductor
ITO let her off at Minute street. He
& asked her over three times and then
=said she must be mistaken in the name,
he had never heard of such street
But he was new man on the route
I and there might be such street.
She was sure she had gone fa1
enough, SO she got off and walked and
studied the names on the lamp posts
She asked small boy and he giggled
md said it was "just up yonder."
a