The Ely miner., 1900-11-23

to happen. It happened. tt was .
few days before Thanksgiving. Juliet
took downtown Garland appeared ia
Fomeo-John's little Office in mid
morning. She was greatly agitated.
"Oh, Romeo-John!"
"Yes. dear; save your breath you'll
need it," he said, soothingly. "It
came this morning. The postman
brought"
mo, a boy. I've got it in my
pocket"
They read the little perfumed note
together in silence. Then Juliet read
it again, aloud. Her voice sounded
frightened.
My dear Mrs. IN, M, / write
at this late date to accept your kind
invitation to Thanksgiving dinner. I
am sure you will excuse the hardness
and rejoice with me when I tell you
/ it is my little Reginald's unlooked,
for improvement in health that makes
my acceptance possible now. The
children are all greatly delighted at
the pros"
"Skip it, skip it-that's piling it on,
my DEAR" groaned Romeo-John. Juliet
smiled weakly.
"After all, it's relief, Romeo-iust
to know there can't anybody else ac.
cept," she murmured-
''The dining-room is ten by thir.
teen," he said, relentlessly.
"Oh, know it! know it,"
OAnd tho foh1ac ORC oil f,,rYoJ
my DEAR"
But in the end he comforted her.
What else could he do? He got her
down on his knee and swung her
about tenderly in his swivel chair. She
essayed a subdued little smile by
and by.
"And we'll call in at Mr.. Pitchers
on the way home, Romeo?"
"We will that, my dear"
sand order a-2O-pound one, Ro-
meo? Children are so hearty, you
know A
"Twenty-two pounds, dear. There's
one hanging up there this minute"
-and-Romeo-"
"And, Juliet?" &H
"Th-three chickens?"
-Four"
He was bent on making the comfort
complete. He laughed with loud
cheerfulness and made good many
inferior little jokes to see her laugh.
But the dining-room haunted them
both mercilessly. 1t was ten by thir-
teen-ten by thirteen-ten by thir-
teen.
81 have It'll" Romeo-J ohm exclaimed,
suddenly, with sigh of relief. "We'll
have two tables of it, dear. I'm sure
I'll sit at the second ta-"
"Romeo-John!"
"Well, I don't see what else we
can do,' he muttered, diminished.
81 do-I've just thought. Oh, Ro-
meo, it's an inspiration!" she cried.
"Stop going round quick and listen!
Don't you know how we've said we
wished there were double doors be-
tween the dining-room and parlor-
don't you know it, Romeo-John? Well,
that's it. That's the inspiration. Well
have carpenter come right away
and cut it. We can run the table
through; don't you see we can? Then
I'll hire a slim, up-and-down girl to
wait on us. Mrs. Dooley's got one
just the right size. It's so lucky
haven't engaged Ann Mary Flint yet
she's so hither-and-yon!"
"She could crawl UNDER" murmured
Romeo-J ohm, absently.
The carpenter was engaged and the
turkey that weighed % pounds. Moth
er, John and the girls came over and
helped about the pies and the pud-
ding. There was great activity in the
little fiat. A certain amount of resig-
nation was born and grew slowly as
the days hurried to Thanksgiving day.
After all, there were obligations.
They would be discharged, anyway.
And it would teach them lesson in
morals.
Sand 1 won't let it be an expensive
one to Romeo. either" Juliet thought,
setting her little white teeth together
with click. "I've decided that fur
cloaks won't be in style this winter!"
Annie Hamilton Donnell, in Country
Gentleman.