Hutchinson gazette., 1900-07-12
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NAT AND TAN.


| tHNg NetS wv iIVllyi IVuklol
youngsters, aged and 10, and known
ardously to tile neighborhood as
"those boys,' "the Johnsons' Siamese
twins" "the two nolsiest young ones
the Lord ever made" 'lthe Gmps,"
"Thlm TWO blissld darlln plaques Of
/ byes," and "Nat and Tan"
| II all depended upon the tongues
which were discussing them. Whether
IL were merry httle Mrs, Perkins, the
minister's wife, who lived across the
way, and enjoyed thcir mischief and
tried to look solemn out Of her eyes
while she smothered q laugh in her
handkerchief; whether II We're story
telling uncIc Tom, who had just re.
turned from The war, OF Aunt Chatty,
tie village spinster and gossip whom
Nat and Tan had nIcknlmed "a pes
tiferous old iuss-budget"; whether IL
was their much tried schoolteacher or
more tried Norlh the maid, or tLslr
mother anV lalhlr and the unNt-
quointed community IN general,
There's a wade difference In peopleI
and wider differences sun in peoples
estimates OF each other, And II didn't
take Nat and Tan long to find that out,
They even went further than that
they set themselves TO discover what
they were to all these different ma
lures and when they had found out,
/ they lived up to the standards set for
, them.
Did Mrs, Perkins call? Well, "Mrs,
Perkins knew thing or 'wo," said
Nat and Ian, and they entertained
her royalty with tales of their fun ut
school--l0ld in II boyish but gentle
manly fashlon-Nnd when her call was
over they generally escorted her home
and got some cake or tarts or apples
to munch on on the way back.
Did they meet Uncle Tom? Oh, how
they stuck to each other and TO him
until they had inyclglcd some good
battle story from him.
Did Aunt Chatty--whowa really no.
body's aunt at 0ll--sSOop down upon
the unusually peaceful home Of the
Johnsons, to stir mp disSenion, while
she whccdlrd a weeks liying out Of
the family, Nat and Tan nt once re-
tired TO the barn or the attic and crc-
alcd enough racket and pnndcmonlnm
to have driven away almost any other
human being for miles and miles,
Was IT. poor Miss Carter, the school
mistress? She never knew when ink
was safe, or pins were blunt, or muci-
lage dry, but she took il all 50 pleas
antly that I'm time ink and pins and
mucflhgc were let almost quite alone,
Then IL was Norahs turn; for fun,
with Nat and Tan was the backbone
OF their existence. II was something
nike fever, too. If Vt subsided in one
| spot II was pretty sure TO break out
in another and when they carried their
warfare into the Kitchen Norah, both
cross and amused, was fNin to repair
TO Mrs, johnson, whose "Nnt and Tan,
behayc!" brought n cessation Of hos.
/ NlitiCs, for time at least.
But a day came when the cessation
was so brief and the next outbreak so
violent, that Mrs. johnson entered the
field against her two boys I'm dead
earnest, and defeated them and sent
them to prison quarters.
At half past five in the afternoon,
after a luncheon Of bread and milk,
Nat and Tan were tucked up together
in their tlundlc bed and left there 10
stay until morning. This was a great
punishment for two such lively boys,
but il WAS useless to rebel against
| Mother johnson when once she had
decided matter as the boys had
learned long ago, II was useless to
try to be sulky, too, They didn't
know how. So they proceeded to get
as much fun out of their dilemma as
they could,
They thought Of all the wonderful
stories they ever had heard or read;
they retold some of Uncle Toms war
stories; they spoke of the elves aud
pjNics and midgcts and wondered IL
they ever came TO visit them while
they slept,
And so the minute passed, By-and-
bye The clock struck Then an hour
was gone. l'cforc long the daylight
faded. Twilight came. The quiet,
pleasant chatting came in fragments.
After n while 1T ceased altogether. Nat
had gone to sleep.
Tan tossed about restlcssly for q
time, Wishing Nat could have stayed
awake little longer. lie even had
some thoughts of making him wake
up anyway and he turned over to give
him "just the lcnstcst pinch" when he
saw strange thing happen.
Nat WAS sound asleep, Tan was
sure of that for his eyes were tight
shut, and he was breathing heavily,
lie was snoring, if the truth were
told, and his mouth was open just
tlny way. This is what Tan saw:
Softly, stcalthily, so slowly that she
scarce seemed to move Mt all, there
stole out from between Mats parted
lips n tiny, misty creature. Looking
neither at the right nor to the left,
she balanced herself for n moment on
Mats chin and then glided away
through the air Of the bedroom, out
through the open window and across
the fields.
Tt all seemed very strange to Tan.
Strange that he should see her so
plainly when she was so tiny. For he
watched and caught her glnnces, far
afleld, as easily as whel she was close