The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-05-26

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promptly; perfectly charmed And
then, you know, if there are girls
here, we can introduce quadrille fig
ures, and make it beautiful. For in
stance, the boys and girls will GO
round opposite sides, and as they
pass each other the boys'll wave their
plates over the girls heads, and it'll
be lovely"
Verify" shifted Tom scornfully ;
the way you'll drop little rivulets Of
syrup and gravy all over the young
-sadies' tresses will be something
ideal p But poor Tom found, to
his chagrin, that his opinions receiv-
ed no attention whatever, and that
very evening the first trial was made
of what Jerry dubbed the 'Theo-food
march" ("
Not only did it prove effective, pic
turesque and unique, but Margery de-
clared it a most expeditions method
of getting the table cleared, and only
wondered that no one had ever
thought of adopting such scheme
before.
Practice makes perfect, and after a
day or two, the young Merits execu-
ted their march around the table un-
der Theo's leadership, in a manner
that might have given pointers to a
professional stage manager. So great
indeed was the young gentleman S
success that he began to wonder if he
would not be making mistake in Sc
lecting law as his future profession.
Meanwhile, Alice, Lille and Kate
had expressed their intention of COM
ing to their dearest Margery" on
the Thursday following, and added ,as
a postscript, the formidable informa-
ton that they were to be accompa-
MED by an old maid aunt, in the ca
pacity Of "chaperone."
"Aunt Jane" was the young peo-
pies bugbear, and in their eyes she
possessed but one redeeming quality
that of laziness. This, of course,
is usually deemed a fault, but in the
case of Aunt Jane it was different,
for this overruling trait often preven-
ted her even discovering performances
which would have called forth tor
rents of wrath had they not remained
a secret.
In the first place, Aunt Jane always
lay in bed late of mornings, and if
the young people possessed sufficient
energy to rise early there was no
knowing in how many frolics they
might indulge, undiscovered and un-
disturbed
overcome with fatigue the elder lady
Sought her own apartment at once,
and it was with sigh of deep thank
fulness that the youthful crowd
caught the last glimpse of the stiff
gray curls bobbing away upstairs.
1t was hours later, however, before
the girls, in their own rooms, had
whispered their last stealthy secret
and giggled their last giggle for the
night. Aunt Jane was to be the vic
tim of plot.
1t was not a plot, however, that
dealt with poison or dynamite, but
only some miner details of etiquette.
Aunt Jane would probably seek to in
terfere with some of their arrange
ments, but they simply didn't intend
to let her-that was all.
At breakfast that lady failed to put
in an appearance and all went well.
That is, the food march," after the
first course of fruit was finished, was
carried through, much to the delight
of Alice, Lille and Kate. Several
new figures were introduced, and not
one of the boys was so unfortunate as
to spill syrup or gravy on any young
lady's tresses. ct might be well to
explain, however, that there was no
syrup or gravy to spilD.
At dinner, however, Aunt Jane was
sitting rigidly erect at the foot of the
table, when an ominous little bristle
of the stiff gray cur1s, as though
scenting mischief in the air, was OBJ
served.
She was unaccustomed to having
no one to wait On the table, and ex-
pressed strong disapproval at Carries
dismissal. How desert was to be
served she had not the slightest idea,
and when the first course was COM
pleted she was greatly startled by a
sudden thunder of loud chords from
the piano, and in a moment more sur
prised quite speechless when the en-
tire crowd rose abruptly from their
places, seized their plates and began
a rapid march around the table.
Absolutely incapable of speaking,
the poor lady leaned back in her chair
and gasped, while the gay crowd
whirled and revolved about her, quite
ignoring her presence.
So great was the din, combining as
it did the music, the clatter of china
and shrill peals of laughter, that no
one heard the door bell ring time and
again, till at last the visitor, tired OF
waiting, entered unannounced upon
the scene.
No one so much as saw him ex-
cept poor, wretched Aunt Jane, who
dropped her glasses, twisted her car
awry, and turned almost purple with
modification.
It was the minister, an old friend
of both Aunt James and the Merrills'
Far from Mortified, however, that
gentleman stood watching the scene
for a moment with merry twinkle
in his eye, then, catching the spirit
of the occasion he seized Aunt Jane:
plate, and, joining the marchers, de
posted it on the sideboard himself.
The young people had triumphet
and Aunt Jane was completely defeat
ed. After that there was marching
besides all its other good results.
Certain it is, too, that Theo's plat
solved a problem for Margery which
had for some time been troubling her
1t had been her dearest wish to en-
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