The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1903-03-11
did Bridget upon her return vouchsafe

informed Mr.. Grimston that the old
/, lady who lived in the house with the
extensive grounds in TIE EexI block
wished to see him. She was he rich
est woman in the neigh bo1 EocG and
/ was said to be, ecc6ntI 4 .nG more or
less of terror to her ac4..il.tances.
| Greatly surprised 1t fer wish 10 see
! him, and tlying to surlnisG what her
! object could be, Mr.. Grineson called
| there On his way to the train. The
! maid who opened the door left him
| standing in the wide hall, after sourly
Informing him that her mistress, would
/ be doWnIn nom ent.
The mistress soon appeared; she
was tall and large in proportion. Her
mouth was so set with anger as to ap-
pear almost square, and her eyes had
! so narrowed themselves as to be near
! ly closed. She seemed to I'LL the hall
with an atmosphere of wrath.
Il would have you know, sir" she
said, in low, intense voice, "that my
place is not a pound"
Certainly not, madam" agreed the
puzzled Mr.. Grimston.
Then what do you mean by 1eav-
ing your wretched cats here?"
He understood her now. Bridget had
let the kittens escape, and they had
entered this woman's grounds.
''Oh,,. he said, smiling feebly, 81 am
very sorry, indeed. IL missed my
kittens, but had no idea where they
had gone. Am very sorry they came
here, but there is no telling where
cats will wander, you know"
WANDER! You don't mean to say
that three kittnes will wander away
in basket OF their own accord, do
you? My youngest boy saw your maid
leave those cats on my back porch last
night. Determined to find who she
was he traced her to your house."
81 sincerely regret this" he said, in
great distress. "Our maid is just over
from the old country. She does not
seem to understand half that we say
to her. l haven't the faintest idea
why she brought the kittens here"
His antagonist surveyed him cynic-
ally. ...-
s'It is your maids fault that the old
cat also is here?" she asked.
Il don't understand" !" murmured Mr..
Grimston.
Follow me, sir!" she commanded,
and preceded him to the back porch.
Alas! There was the identical peach
basket, there were the three kittens
playing about, and, worst OF all, there
was Mary Ellen herself, who arched !
her back and affectionately rubbed
herself against him as one who joy
fully greets an old acquaintance.
81 assure you, madam" declared the
wretched Grimston, ''that l had moth
ing whatever to do with sending the !
cats here!"
g My coachman passed your house |
early yesterday morning." said she. |
He saw you start out with this cat; |
when he returned an hour later the |
creature was in my yard
Mr.. Grimstoh felt that were this |
ease of murder the circumstantial evil |
dence would be strong enough to hang
him. He tried to explain, but she |
would not listen, being one of those
persons who like to hug grievance
to their hearts and are loath to have |
it explained away.
"Take your animals and go!" she
said
He put the kittens into the basket, |
not without some difficulty, for they
objected strongly to the arrangement;
then, taking Mary Ellen under the
other arm, he bade the mistress of the
house polite good morning and went
out at the back gate, feeling that his
exit was by no means dignified one. /
He carried his burdens home and left
them in the cellar.
IF you let those cats out of here
again" he said to Bridget, relieved to
find some one upon whom to vent his
wrath, you'll be sorry 1or it!''
The injustice of this explosion
wrought upon Bridget's feelings to
such a degree that when he returned
home that night he found his wife
with tragic brow preparing dinner,
and was informed that the maid had
departed.
The garden, the cause of all this
continued to grow with the
had remarkable roots, but no tops A
sufficient quantity of small pale leaves
were procured from the bed one day
to garnish dish of cold ham, and
that was the first and last appearance |
Of Mr.. Grimston's lettuce in public. 4
The radish leaves were large and
strong, but their roots were pale and
the tomato plants grew
tall and vigorous and produced two or
three tomatoes the size of cherries.
Aunt Deborah from the country sat
lown on the ground and laughed when
she visited: the garden.
"You don't mean to tell me, Oliver,
that you tried to raise onions from
ihe seeds?" she said. ''Why didn't you
get the sets?''
ST didn't know that there were such
things as onion SETS" said he. ''They
have done any good if I had
planted them. had tomato Sets