The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-09-13

! with the milk that Sunday morning Mrs.
| John addressed him with brisk cheerful
ness
Get yourself ready for breakfast, John,
| and | will strain the milk" and she hustled
| down cellar, where he had taken the brim-
ming buckets.
| BY the time he had finished his slow toilet
processes on the back porch she was seat
ed at the table with little Johnny in his
high chair by her side.
Come, Uncle George: come, John-the
biscuits will get cold" she called. and little
Johnny echoed. "Tum Dom.
1T seems to me you are in hurry for
Sunday morning, amt you?" asked the
farmer husband as he took his place and
glanced approvingly at what he saw before
him.
''Yes, it is because / have a plan, she
said. Lets take the excursion train and
go to Indianapolis
Mrs. John had been tired and depressed
on Saturday night. The week had been
a hard one in various ways, and at its end
things in general seemed hardly worth
while. But the thought had come TO her
i'm the night which she was now making
known. After the manner of man when
woman makes plans, John raised obJec-
tons: also after the manner of man, he
succumbed when she disposed of his OBJ
jections one by one.
Little Johnny? Why, we'll leave him at
mothers, of course. She'll be glad to have
| him. Uncle George will stay here and
keep an eye on things-won't you, uncle?
| There's plenty of things cooked for din
| ner. No. there isn't any preaching at our
| church this morning. the preachers at the
other end of the circuit. We might go to
| the Presbyterian Church, 1 s'pose, and
reckon your folks'I think we're awful to
| go traipsing off on Sunday so, but haven't
| been farther than the burg since Johnny
| came, and that's nearly two years. I'm
| tired to death of seeing the same things
over and over, and 1 want to go where
| there's something new, Sunday or not.
| Anyway, 1 don't see that it's any worse to
! go to the city on a Sunday excursion than
| it is for people TO drive out from town to
spend the day in the country. You know
| I've had to cook for company half the Sun
| days this summer. I've an idea all the
| Davis cousins will be out to-day. Let's 60"
Then, as a clincher she craftily added:
you've been wanting to see Ben Miller
about that strip of woodland. and this will
| be good day to catch him. He won't mind
| talking business on Sunday, if he is a
| Friend. And 1 should say that if you want
| the land there's no time to lose. for Sam
Allen has his eye on it. Come on, let's 60"
And they went.
The excursion train was crowded, but
| neither John nor Mrs. John minded. The
| very first person Mrs. John saw on enter
| ing the car was an old schoolniate whom
| she had lost sight o. for the past FIVE
| years and they talked over old times and
| new times and all their mutual friends with
! so much eagerness and absorption that In
| dianapolis was reached before they thought
| of being the end of their journey.
Mrs. John was always little timid on
| the rare occasions of her visits to the cap
| ital city and she had never gone about as
| much she would have liked The noise
| at the station confused her and she was
| never sure about the street cars, they were
| so many and bewildering when one
| didn't know the streets. But with John TO
| look after her the situation was very diff
| ferent-'men never get lost or take the
| wrong or fail to get off at the right
| place. she reflected with true, IL not alto
| gether wel-founded feminine confidence.
| Let's go UP to the Soldiers monument
first. John" she said i've never seen
| IL close to-
So they strolled up Meridian street, which
| looked rather grim and strange. with the
| business houses closed and no boxes or bar
rels or stoves or other merchandise crowd
| ing pedestrians off the sidewalk.
| In company with troop of 9TH
err excursionists they climbed the
steps of the monument. They read the in
scriptions and inspected the sculpture; they
looked admiringly at the fountains; they
gazed wonderingly at the massive shaft;
some entered and climbed to the top, John
| among them. Mrs John would not ven-
| ture. nor would she ascend by the less
| laborious way TWENTY-FIVE cents is too
| much for an elevator ride" was her frugal
and very reasonable objection, but secretly
| she trembled at the thought of the great
height and was glad to be safe on the solid
! foundation below. So she sat on the steps
! outside and waited for John, feeling sense
| of relief when he returned. out of breath
and confessing to a shakiness of knees
| from the exertion But it was a great
| sight, he told her. the view of Indianapolis
| to be had from the top of the shaft. He
never knew before what big city it was
/ She ought TO have seen it.
/ Then they strayed over to the Statehouse
and rambed through the handsome corri-
| doris and looked up at the dome, specializing
| a little concerning the statues in the inches
/ below, but not greatly admiring them
which was no reflection upon their artistic
| instinct.
II want to see some of the streets where
people live said Mrs. John, as they
| emerged from the east door and looked
| down on the hole i'm the ground where will
! one day be the interurban station troll
/ ley car stable in the Statehouse foreground.
They wandered over To Meridian street
| John, the man who knew" taking the
precaution to ask the way, and there they
] came upon the postoffice. with its
| powerful derrcks and rising stone walls.
4 In this neighborhood restaurants attracted
their notice. 1t was not yet noon, but they
| had eaten breakfast early and were hungry
| so they had dinner. They enjoyed the din
! ner. though John. with his vigorous APP
petite. thought the portions OF vegetables
! i'm the little dishes were rather small. and
the slice of beef needlessy thin, but they
! agreed that ii was very good and that it
| would be nice il they could have fresh
meat oftener the farm. The iced tea and
the ice cream appealed especially to Mrs.
John.
I'VE must try and have an icehouse next
Il