The Worthington advance., 1900-07-13

uS '4oN IA Il. SuAACAcut SmOu0t'C0
proceed out loud, his next few remarks
were made without notes, and were of
an entirely personal nature; relating
especially to the donkey and his DON
key mothers for several generations
back. -
Mr.. Limkins then, proceeded tosbe
very mean to the donkey and, ended up
by incasing him in q coil of clothes
line, which he found in the. barn:
Around and around he wound the
clothes-line until there was nothing
of the donkey left visible but his head
and ears. With the donkey in, this
helpless condition, Mr.. Limkins took d
fresh start at the beginning Of his
speech and recited it over and over
again several times. Every time Mr..
Limkins reached that particular cli-
max, and made those magnificent gest-
ures, there was perceptible quiver
in the bundle OF clothes-line, which al
ways caused a slight break at that par!
ocular part, in the otherwise easy Cow
Of Mr.. Limkins' speech. ~ - -
At last Mr.. Limkins felt that he
could not improve by further practice,
and, giving the bundle of clothes-line
parting kick, closed the interview.
That night Mr.. Limkins listened to
the several speakers that preceded
him, his heart swelled with pride as
he thought how favorably his speech
would compare with any that had been
delivered. It may be that it, is i'm
possible to impress man that is so
thoroughly interested in himself as
was Mr.. Limkins; but be- that as it.
may, Mr.. Limkins failed to find any
thing worth noting, AS he arose in
his place to respond to "Our Sons" he
felt confident that he would take his
seat the hero of the evening. .
A slight nervousness, together with
some .impatience to reach his most.
impressive periods, made him talk rap
idly at first; and he also had some
little difficulty in controlling his eyes,
which showed a decided tendency to-
wards, 9 fixed stare. However, he
managed to vary the stare some
extent, and continued to do fairly
we'll until he reached that particular
part which the donkey had pointed
off SO persistently. At this. point
Mr.. Limkins made slight pause and
could not recall his next few lines
although he made heroic effort I'd
do so.
The picture, of the donkey suddenly
filled his mind to such an extent as to
drive out everything else. For mo-
ment it seemed impossible for him
to get away from the scenes in the
barn. One view after another swift
ly chased each other through his
mind. He wondered if anyone had
found the donkey and set him free; or
whether he was still embalmed in the
clothes-line. He wondered who would
be the one to find him-whether the
cook, Silas, Jr., or one OF the neigh
bors. He speculated on the chances
of having been seen entering the
barn in the afternoon, and what ex-
planation he would make if ques-
toned about it. He thought it would
have been wiser to have restored the
donkey his liberty before he left him.
He could see the sad, lonesome look
in his face as it protruded from the
bundle of clothes-line; lying there
through the long night on the cold
floor of the barn.
All this was but a few lightning
flashes through Mr.. Limkins' mind,
and he was vainly trying to fix his
thoughts on his subject. From this
point Mr.. Limkins was obliged to
proceed in a truly "extemporaneous"
manner. He wandered on tremulous-
ly-sometimes on the track, some-
times off, and sometimes partly on
and partly of. Occasionally he would
get glimpses of his prepared speech;
and when he did, he would eagerly
fire them off-whether they fitted the
place where they occurred to him, or
not-sometimes getting things con-
| siderably mixed.
For instance, referring to Mr.. Linn
kins' notes at one place, he should
have said: 'Who can tell how great
our sons may be, or what grand
thoughts the fathers of,"-and Mr..
Limkins, as he caught this on the
fly, challenged the company with:
'Whowho can tell whose son he may
be, or who his father was?" Again, in
another place, according to the notes
that were slowed away in his inside
pocket, he should have said: "Our
forefathers, who for eight long years
daily drank the bitter cup of want,
that we might now be free - they
never hoped for such development as
this" And Mr.. Limkins waylaid this
as it went by, and waving his glass of
wine before him, said: "Our forefa-
theirs, who for eight long years daily
drunk-on that bitter cup that is now
so free-they never dreamed-of any
anything like this"
All things must have an end; and
when the marks of approval, which
Mrs. Limkins had been administering
from beneath the table, became too
pointed to longer overlook, Mr.. Linn
kins came to an end-abruptly.
Side by side Mr.. and Mrs. Limkins
silently walked to their home that
night; and to Mr.. Limkins there was
an ominous sound in the steady, de-
termined grinding of the snow and ice
beneath Mrs. Limkins' feet. Occasion
| ally he stole humble glance in her
direction, but found nothing in. the
steady, sober face to give him hope.
Sadly he turned into his street;
and as he still more sadly turned be-
meath an avenue of trees leading to
his own door the moon came out in all
her gentle glory; the stars looked
down and through the leafess
branches the light of heaven. shone