The suburban citizen., 1901-03-02
J0NES'S LITTLE GAME
BY Peirce b. Barnard.
KSS9SS8 SSSSS8SSSS3 : ; - ) ) 3

y OR the first time in life he
~ found himself in the country
The express train from which
g he had just alighted dwindled
into n mere speck on the horizon, leav-
ing him surrounded by a vast wilder
ness.
Jones was a city man; he worked on
a high stool in n counting house. He
had gathered his ideas of the woods
from the trees in Central Park; but no
one would have ever guessed by his
conversation that Jones was not truly
rural, for he always took care 10 men.
ton rotation of crops and new farm
machinery and other topics pertaining
to the gentle art. From the pages of
an agricultural weekly he stocked his
mind with rich stores of information,
out of which his imagination construct
ed alluring pictures Of rural bliss
Sometimes he strOlled through the
commission markets, regaling his eyes
with the sight of prize pumpkins and
inhaling the fragrance from the newly
opened barrels cf apples. Sometimes
he attended the theatre, where domes-
tic dramas of farm life were presented
in which the old folks gather in the
front yard, and the prodigal son re-
turns from the KlOndike and pays off
the mortgage to slow music and i'm
mense applause.
Sometimes he slipped away to an
agricultural fair to catch a sight of
blue-ribbon cattle and to chat with the
rustics, if occasion offered, about the
newest thing in labor saving machin-
cry, of which they happened to
know nothing All this time Jones
knew nothing of the country at first
hand and it looked like a great waste
of energy to his friends to see him con-
tinually dreaming of what might new
er be his; but they did not know what
pleasant fancies of plowed fields and
home grown vegetables beguiled away
the long hours at the ledger They did
not know the satisfaction he took in
walking out into the middle of the
paved street and looking up between
the tall buildings at the blue sky-the
only natural object in sight.
But least of all did they know that
Jones had a wife with vast social am
bitions. Mrs. Frances Fleweller-
Jones, as she styled herself, longed to
out-do people Of ten times their means;
their two daughters were figuring on a
couple of noblemen already Papa
Jones had only one way of suppressing
these unnatural and dangerous long
ings, and that was to threaten to pull
up stakes and move the entire estab-
lishment to the woods.
At the mere mention OF farming,
catalogues of cheap European tours
and invitations to swell social func-
tions disappeared like magic. The
household resumed the even tenor Of
its way, and endeavOred to look de-
Gently happy over one thousand year.
Not that Jones was a brute; for he
was a very passive, obedient sort Of
twentieth century husband, acQuiesc-
ing in everything reasonable, and per-
fectly willing to walk while his wife
rode in an automobile if it could be
arranged.
But one Saturday afternoon Jones
came home and found the house turned
topsy-turvy. His wife was waiting
for him at the head of the stairs
"Philander, dearr' She used this
name exclusively for raising money;
Phil was sufficient for all other occa.
sions. "Philander, you'll have to rake
together enough to buy something new
for Evelina; she's fretted herself sick
over her old bah dress, and the two
young noblemen arrive tomorrow"
IF that's the case l guess I'll have
to look at some farm property, moth
er," Jones observed very seriously.
Never mind the farm just now,
Philanderl we need your help; I've
almost completed arrangements for the
automobile, and as for the yachts
Il don't feel equal to it at ALL" said
Jones, examining his empty pockets.
"YOu must really excuse me this time"
"Phllanderw cried his wife, bringing
down her foot somewhat emphatically.
But it was too late; Jones was hur-
riedly jamming n few things into a
yalise,
He notified his family Of his future
whereabouts and then struck out for
the station, expecting to reach in two
hours the farm he had seen advertised
in the morning paper.
Heretofore Jones had always soothed
theig unQuicc longings by merely sub
scriblng TO an additional farm paper