The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-11-28

have reached my ears. and | want to
know if there is any truth in them.
Did 0 say 'pshaw,' sugar or-or'-
The deacon had reached testimonial
No. 4, and he became SO deeply in
terested that he forgot to answer the
question. Had it been otherwise he
might have been compelled to admit
hat his exclamation had neither
"pshaw" nor sugar in it. Mrs. Dolby
sat looking at a three-Quartor view of
him Tor two or three minutes INC then
continued:
"At the dinner table today l asked
you to pass the fried eggs. The plate
was hot, and you burned your fingers
and dropped it with q crash. 1t was
bad enough to have the plate broken
and the contents spilled all over the
tablecloth, but that was nothing to
what you said. AS the plate fell you
yelled. AS l didn't say anything at the
time you probably thought l didn't pay
attention, but l want you to know that
I did. Samuel Dolby, you are a man
ffty-nine years old, a deacon Of the
church and supposed to be a living ex-
ample before the world, and yet when
you burned your f-eers you yelled out,
'Thunderationv Don't deny it, sir. I
not only heard it, but 1 wrote it down
on the pantry door as oon as / got up.
1t will remain there as long as we live
in this house, and 1 shall never see it
without having cold chills go over me.
What have you got to say for your
self"
He had nothing whatever to say, but
something like a smile appeared at the
corners Of his mouth. He was thinking
what he would have said had he
stubbed his toe instead of burning his
fingers. He could have defended the
word "thunderation' as perfectly prop
er under all occasions Of sudden excite
ment, but before he had made up his
mind to do so Mrs. Dolby went on:
cat 3 o'clock this afternoon I asked
you to go up into the garnet md get
down my quilt frames while 1 went
over to see Mrs. Green about fall pic
kles. Just as I returned you fell down
stairs with such a clatter that for a
moment I thought the house had been
struck by q cyclone. I was so excited
and l came SO near fainting away that
I don't remember what you said, but I
know you yelled out at least four
times. Samuel, I want you to tell me
exactly what you said. 1t vas some
thing dreadful, but perhaps under the
circumstances l can Gus it, and you
can make a fresh start. l know that a
fall downstairs is i sudden thing, and
e. 80 l;oIJa 70 fhrnr ny-op n .Iooann off
his balance. Did one of your express
sions refer to the bad place. Samuel:'
All four Of his yells were directly
connected with the locality mentioned,
as he distinctly remembered, but the
deacon didn't propose to enter into
any arguments or discussions. He had
said what he had said, and If Mrs.
Dolby had any doubts about il then
all the better for him, and he had
made a safe escape of it. He tried his
best to become deeply interested In
testimonial No. 6, which stated that
the None Such windmill" only needed
the breath of a sleeping babe TO set 1t
in motion, and after heaving a few
signs over the general situation Mrs.
Dolby brought forward the last Of
Tense:
when I was ready to set about get
ting supper, I asked you to bring me
In q pail Of fresh water from the well.
You went out with the pail, and I
suddenly heard some one shout out. I
went to the door and found you lying
on your back on the ground. You had
struck your toe against the soar kettle
and fallen down. I didn't say any
thing, Samuel-not a word. I don't