Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-10-28

t:sss2sxss9 It, and all With the best in.
tentions in the world. Elsie had bad a
hard day at the school, principally ow-
ing to the perversity of the irrepressi-
bic JOSIAH. whose love for deviltry
was getting the better of his respect
for the new teacher. The boy had dis
covered that elsie never reported his
bad conduct to Captain Perez and
therefore that the situation was not
greatly different from what it had been
during the reign of Miss Nixon.
On this particular day he had been
little worse than usual, and as lneasi
ness and mischief in sclloolroon are
Came home tired AID nerSoa apnC ap stain
Fri and Mrs. Snow were certain that
this increasing nervousness on the part
OF their guest was not due to school
troubles alone; but, at any rate, nerv-
GUS she was, and particularly nervous,
and. it must be confessed, somewhat
inclined to be irritable during the sup
per and afterward on this i'll starred
night
when Ralph Hazeltine called. Mrs.
Snow was with her patient in the up
per room. Captain Fri was out, and
Captain Perez and Captain Jerry were
With Elsie in the dining room. The
electrician was made welcome by the
trio-more especially by the captains,
for Miss Preston was in no mood to be
overeffusive-and a few minutes Of
general conversation followed. Then
Captain Jerry, in accordance with his
plan of campaign, laid down his news
paper, coughed emphatically to attract
the attention of his partner and said:
"Well, l guess I'll go out and look at
the weather for spell. Come on.
Perez
''Why, Captain jerry" exclaimed FL
sic, ''you were out looking at the
weather only ten minutes ago. / don't
think it has changed much since then.
Why don't you stay here and keep US
company"
ooh, you can't never tell about the
weather long this coast! It's likely
to change most any time. Besides"
with wink that expressed compre-
hension unlimited, II reckon you and
Mr.. Hazeltine don't care much bout
the company Of old fogies like me and
Perez. Two's company and three's a
crowd, you know. Ho, no, ho!"
Captain Jerry, come back this min.
utew .
But the captain chuckled and shook
out Of the door, followed by the obedi-
ent Perez, who, having pledged fealty,
stuck to his colors whatever might
happen
At another time Elsie would proba-
bly, have appreciated and enjoyed the
joke as much as any one. but this
evening 1t did not appeal to her in the
least. Ralph put in a very uncom.
Portable half hour and then cut his Wis
1t short and departed.
1t certainly was Captain Jerry's I'M
lucky evening, for he left Perez chat
ting with a fisherman friend who had
left favorite pipe in his shanty and
had come down to get it and entered
the house alone. He had seen the cleo
trician go and was surprised at the
brevity Of his call, but he was as far
from suspecting that he himself was
the indirect cause of the said brevity
as mortal could be.
He came into the dining room, hung
his cap on the back Of chair and re-
marked cheerfully: "Well, Elsie, what
did you send your company home SO
quick for? Land sake, IL o'clock
want none too late for me when I
was young and goin' round to see the
girlsw
But Miss Preston did not smile. On
the contrary she frowned. and when
she spoke the captain had vague
feeling that some one had dropped an
icicle inside his shirt collar.
Captain jerry" said the young lady,
~ want to have talk with you Why
do you think it necessary to get up
and leave the room whenever Mr.. Ha-
zeltine calls? You do it every time,
and tonight was no exception, except
that by what you said you made me
usual. Now, why do you do it?'
The captains jaw fell. He stared
at his questioner to see if she was not
joking, but, finding no encouragement
Of that kind, stammered: "Why do I
do it? WhyW
Eyes, why?"
"Well, I don't know. I thought you
two would ruther be alone. know
when used to go to see my wife fore
we was married r.
please, what has that got to do
with Mr.. Hazeltine's visits here?"
"Why, why, nothin', s'pose. if you
say so. jest thought
what right have you to suppose
that Mr.. Hazeltine is calling on me
more than any other person or persons
in this house?"
This was something Of poser, but
the captain did his best. He sat on
the edge of chair and rubbed his
knee and then blurted out: 'Well,
s'pose THAT is, we thought he was,