The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-09-10

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had been tied TO her apron-strng all the
time. instead OF expatriated or hanged.
| Therefore the law-for want, / suppose.
OF studying medicine-is n little inconsid-
crate I'm giving children 20 fathers. and
taking them by force from such mothers
| as can support them; and therefore let
| Galllna go on cucking over her first
born. but Gallus be quiet or sing a lit
tie smaller.
With these preliminary remarks. let
me introduce 10 you character new
in fiction. but terribly old in history:
THE cLUCKING COCK.
Upon the birth OF a son and heir Mr..
Richard Bassett was inflated almost 10
bucsting. He became suddenly hospita-
! BILE collected all his few friends about
him, and showed them all the boy at
\ great length, and talked boy and little
else. He went out into the world and
| made calls on people merely 10 remind
them he had a son and heir.
| His elf-gratulati tion took dozen forms;
perhaps the most amusing. and the rich
est food for satire. was the mock-quer-
ulous style, OF which ne showed himself
| a master
Don't you ever marry" said ne TO
! Wheeler and others. Look at me; do
you think / am the master OF my own
house? Not I; / am a regular slave.
First, there is a monthly nurse, who or
ders me out OF my wifes presence. or
graciously let's me In Just as she pleases;
| that Is Queen J. Then there's a wet
nurse, Queen 2, whom / must humor
| i'm everything. or she will quarrel with
/ me, and avenge herself by souring her
milk. But these are mild tyrants COM
] pared with the young king himself II
/ he does squall we must all skip, and find
| out what he ails. or what ne wants. AS
| for me. | am looked upon as a necessary
] evil: the women seem 10 admit that a
| father is an encumbrance without which
! these little angels could not exist, but
that is all"
! He had a christening feast, and It was
| pretty well attended, for he reminded
all he asked that the young Christian
was the heir TO the Bassett estates They
feasted, and the church-bells rang mer-
rily.
| He had his pew in the church new lined
with cloth. and took his wife 10 be
| churched. The nurse was in the pew,
too. with HIS son and heir. II saualled.
| and spoiled the liturgy. Thereat CAL
| lus chuckled.
He made great gravel walk along
| the ha-ha that separated his garden
| from Sir Charles. and called II The
| Heirs Walk" Here the nurse and child
+, used 10 parade on sunny afternoons.
| He got an army of workmen, and built
a nursery ft for n dukes nine children.
II occupied two entire stories. and rose
In the form of a square tower high above
the rest OF his house, which, indeed, was
as humble as "The Heirs Tower was
pretentious. THE Heirs Tower had
a fiat lead roof easy OF access, and from
1t you could inspect Huntercombe Hall,
and see what was done in the lawn or
at some of the windows.
Here. in the August afternoons. Mr..
| 1wf., Il ~tK.rr
their tea, with nurse and child and
Bassett would talk 10 his unconscious
boy. and tell him that the great house
and all that belonged to IL should be
his in spite of the arts that had been
used to rob HIM of It,
Now, OF course, the greater part If all
this graduation was merely amusing,
and cid no harm except stirring up the
bile OF n few old bachelors. and embit
tering them worse than ever against
clucklng cocks. Growing hens. inflated
parents. and matrimony in general
But the overflow of 1t reached Hunter
combe Hall. and gave cruel pain to the
chAdless ones, over whom this inflated
father was, in fact, exulting.
AS for the christening, and the bells
that pealed for Il. and the subsequent
| ch,uching. the bore these things with
sore hearts, but bravfiely, being Things OF
course But when ii came to ther ears
that Bassett aud his family called his
den shutting out The Heirs Walk" and
his ridiculous Iunsery The Heirs
Tower" this reused bitter aninosi'y.
and. indeed. led TO reprisals. Sir Charles
built a long walk 81 the edgs % ms gsr-
den, shutting out The Heirs Walk, and
interccpting the view OF his own ~ .tases
from that walk.
Then Mr.. pa ssett made a little hill At
the end Of ms walk. 40 that the heir
I y all ate
rich inheritance.
Then Sir Charles began to fell timber
on n gigantic sCele. He went - work
with gangs OF woodmen, and all his
woods, which were very extensive, rang
with the axe, and the trees fell like corn.
lie made no secret that he was going TO
sell timebr to the tune OF several thou
sand pounds and settle II on his wife.
Then Richard Bassett, through Wheel
er, his attorney. demonstrated in his own
name, and that OF his son, against this
excessive fall OF timer on an entailed es-
tate.
Sir Charles chafed like lion stung by
n Rad-hy. but vouchsafed no reply; the
answer came from Mr. Oldheld ne said
Sir Charles had n right under the entail
to fell every stick OF timber and turn his
woods into arabic ground n he chose;
and even n ne had not looking at his age
and his wife's ~ was extremely improba-
bile that Richard Bassett would inherit
the estates; the said Richard Bassett was
not personally named IN the entail. and
his rights were all IN suppostion. n Mr..
Wheeler thought he could dispute both
these positions. the court Of chancery was
open 20 his client.
Then Wheeler advised Rassett 10 avoid
the court ~ chancery I'm matter so de-
batable: and Sir Charles felled all the
more for the protest The dead bodies of
the trees fell across each other. and day
light peeped through the thick woods ~
was Ike the clearing of p primeval forest.
Richard Rassett went about with n wit
ness and counted the fallen. The poor
were allowed the lop- wood: they throng-
ed IN for miles round and each built
himself n great woodpile for the winter:
the poor blessed STR Charles: he gave the
proceeds. fisoo0. 10 his wife for her sep
arate use. He did not tie II up. lie re-
stricted her no further than this she un-
dertook never 90 draw above fi0o az
time without consulting Mr.. Oi5neld as
20 its application. Sir Charles said he