The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1904-02-12
James Randolph flushed guiltily.

lowed meekly 1.-THE only hope ] see
for YOU" she said, presently, lis in
your Scranton visit. You can stop at
Horace Perkins while you are there.
OF course, l don't know anything about
Hates housekeeping. She used to be
reprehensibly lazy as girl but | pre-
sumo marriage has brought her out OF
some of her bad habits. And anyway,
she'll have servants, and even il she
shouldn't have, what you do get to
eat will be home cooking and will
agree with you better than the slabs
of heavy food they serve at hotels and
restaurants"
James Randolph looked uncomfort-
able, as if already smitten with an
advance installment OF the inevitable
dyspepsia. Its very kind of you he
said ito take such an abiding interest
in my digestion, but I don't see how
I can accommodate you. l don't like
| to stop at Perkins. 1t doesn't look
| well. He is the man l am going to
strike for the biggest pile of money
while Il am gone. and it looks hog
! gish to soak him for several hundred
| thousand dollars worth Of stock and
live off him at the same time. It's add
ing insult to injury
81 don't know anything about the in
| jury you propose to intiict," returned
Mrs Curtis, but do know that Kate
and Horace would be insulted if you
were in Scranton for week and didn't
stay with them. I'll write to Kate to-
day and tell her you are coming. |
am sure she will invite you to be their
guest"
James Randolph demurred yolubly
and with spirit, but his demonstration
of disapprOval was ineffective. That
night the disconnected correspondence
with Cousin Kate was renewed with
fervor. Two days later an answer
was received, and when James Ran
dolph left New York On the following
Monday it was the understanding all
around that during his stay in Scran-
ton he would accept the hospitality Of
Mr. Horace Perkins.
The Horace Perkinses lived in style
1t was made plain to James Randolph
during his first meal that there was no
danger of his going hungry while un-
der their roof, and that if his stomach
suffered. it would be from oyerstimula-
ton rather than the. lack of it. James
Randolph rejoiced in the gastronomic
abundance provided and the excellence
thereof on his wife's account as well
as his own.
''The dear girl will be delighted to
know that I am so well taken care OF"
he said to Cousin Kate 81 must write
at once and tell her how l am fixed,
otherwise she will be worrying herself
sick for fear | am starving to death. -
Notwithstanding the business acumen
which Mr.. Smith fattered himself he
had discerned in James Randolph. that
young man was in some respects a
simple soul. Never was his innocence
more blatantly displayed than in his
letter to Mrs. Curtis.
Il am living on the very fat of the
land" he wrote. "Your Cousin Kate
may have been rather lackadaisical
when a girl, but she has certainly de-
yeloped into remarkable housekeep-
Ell. shall try to tell you what we had
for dinner last night. We had some
kind of soup with little green specks
floating in i'll forget the name of it
two or three kinds of meat with ap-
propriate vegetables, pudding the
recipe for which must have been
CLEANED from the angels, and coffee
that might have been brewed in
Heaven. l don't believe New York
could show better menu than that
Really, Minnie, you ought to see me
eat. My appetite must astonish the
Perllinses. They probably think that
tasted for several weeks before COM
ing to Scranton. l am sorry that
shall wind UP the business here in q
week or ten days. / shall hate to leave
I think l would get fat if l lived with
the Perllinses long"
Delectable as was the fare, James
Randolph stretched facts a little wher
describing the variety of the viands
served, but he did it in a good cause
and his conscience was in nowise out
!, ragged He awaited with impatienct
his wife's reply When it came hi
, wished it had been delayed little
longer Its brevity frightened him.
"Dear James, she wrote. Il an
, glad you enjoy Kate Perkins cooking
Under the circumstances perhaps i
would be well for you to prolong you
visit indefinitely"
, For the first time James Randolph
{ realized that he had overshot the mari
4 in his former gushing epistle. ''B.
; George" he said, "the little girl il
jealous. l thought l understood Min
: ME clear down to the ground, but
v seems | didn't. Pm on the track o
4 her idiosyncracies now, however, an
: another letter will bring her aroun
e all right
: In his second letter James Randolph
2 changed his tactics.
4 Il am not in good shape at the pres
e ent writing" he said. IF things con
n tinue to go this way ! think l shal
: have to leave the Perkinses and sta
y at hotel l can't stand the cooking
: The first day was here they put thei
), hest foot foremost and fairly surfeite
T me with good things; but since the
s there has been a slump in the commits
sary department. and you can't get