The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1900-04-21
THE COMEDY OF 1T.

The CUMED1 OF lI.
The Hennesseys and the Whimpetts
were at 1t again. 1t was the revival of
IN ancient unpleasantness, and 1t had
Its beginnings in the fact that when
Mick Hennessey, for reasons not nee
essary to mention, raj laid OF at the
s~tockyards, Bill Whimpett went in and
took his Job. Immediately upon this.
Nora Hennessey, az bad luck would
have 1t, fell i'll with rheumatism, and,
while she was In bed, little Pat, who
was 10, got into bad company, and TAX
ing the bit in his teeth, as young colts
will nov and then, he ran away. 1t
was three months before he turned up
again at home, and when he did he had
acquired a good deal of knowledge
which a boy of 10 can do nicely with
out. All of which the Hennesseys laid
at the door Of the Whimpetts. Indeed
and indeed, when Mary Whimpett
ventured over to the Hennesseys with
a baking Of warm bread-that was
while Nora Hennessey was in bed-she
got her trouble for her pains. and the
bread flung back at her.
In the course OF time both families
would have been we'll enough pleased
to have fluttered a flag Of truce, but a
perverse fate attended all efforts at
reconciliation. II the grown folks were
in a mood for amity, the youngsters
gave each other bloody noses, and the
respective mothers, fierce as tigresses,
espoused the part of their young.
Moreover, Mick got a place on the Hal
sted street line as grip driver, and the
first thing he did was to run over the
Whimpett's terrier. The terrier had
been more petted by the Whimpetts
than any child they ever owned, and
the death was celebrated with solem-
uity.
The Whimpetts had, moreover, some
cause for envyings. They were better
off than they had ever been before in
their lives. They enjoyed the distinc-
ton of a front fat, a piano, a new set
of parlor furniture and some flow
cred dishes-126 pieces, including
scimitar-shaped dishes for the rinds of
baked potatoes. With such onven
fences it is possible to live in an ele-
CANT manner. Jack Whimpett had,
moreover, gone to Cuba at the call Of
his country, and though he was now
engaged in rolling barrels of sugar and
flour from the trucks of a wholesale
grocery house he made bold to wear his
blue Jacket and bun leggins and the
SLOUGH hat that suggested San Juan
and other heroic episodes. But with
the Hennesseys it was different. They
had seen much better days, and 1t was
not easy for them to forget it. When
methods were simpler, Mick Hennes-
sey had been a contractor and had
made money. But figuring got too
close, finally, and Mick made blunders,
lost his property and his reputation,
and had the pain of seeing his family
move out of their imposing three-story
brick into an apartment beside the
Whimpetts. However, they still lived
in the shadow Of prosperity, for Mrs.
Hennessey's sister, Kate Cragin OF
Boston, had the goodness to keep Rose
marie Hennessey at the convent, a
fact which the Hennesseys douted now
and then before the Whimpetts, who
sent their brood to the public school
and had expectations Of nothing bet
ter.
Keep you clear of that Rosemarie
Hennessey!" warned Mrs. Whimpett,
speaking to her son the day before the
girls expected return.
"Heh!" shifted Jack. "I've no need
to go to the Hennesseys, I hope, to find
a girl to my liking"
Say, there's others, amt there,
Jack?" piped Dick. who knew things
the rest of the family did not. He had
seen Jack taking. girls into ice cream
saloons, big as life. Jack was a hand
some fellow. His broad shoulders and
sturdy legs, his big round head with
it's clustering black curls. his brave
eyes and simple manner, were calcu-
lated to do execution, though, to be
.1ust, he was not vain.
The Whimpetts heard great goings
on the night of Rosemarie Hennessey's
return. There were lights in all the
windows, and the sound Of flddling,
and an ice-cream freezer from the
standing out in the hall. The
young Hennesseys paid full tribute to
the glory of the occasion by running
In the corridor, in their Sunday
best, and sticking out their tongues at
the young Whimpetts.
Jack Whimpett sat in his own house
and endeavored to read the book he
had brought home from the public IL
brary. It was a good book. but he
could not really understand 1t because
OF the addling next door. which got
into his blood and made his heart
dance, though he forced his feet to
keep perfectly still. He had no mind
to let the feet of a Whimpett make
merry to the music of q Hennessey.
Resides. as mentioned before, the Hen
nesseys and the Whimpetts had been
at It again.
II was a close summer night, and he
determined at length, the younger
children being in bed, his mother nod
ding over her paper, and his father lot
yet hpme--.he was on a night shift at
the yards-to go out for a little air.
He had to pass the Hennesseys' door
to reach the stairs. and he meant not
to acknowledge the merry-making by
: firn OF the head, But there