Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1905-08-17
COBB'S
LITTLE JOKE
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BY ARNOLD GoLswoRTHY

4 "
ed resident in Dunstead. He is a man
with a past II is true that since the
past" occurred he has striyen b.
years of diligent rectitude TO live 1t
down, but news is scarce in Dunstead
and the gossips will not readily let a
good thing go. If you should stroll
into the Dunstead Arms one evening
when there is a goodly company pres
emf and adroitly turn the conversation
in the direction of Elijah Cobb yoU
will gradually receive the impression
that Cobb is a man with fatal habit
of running off with other peoples CAST
boxes and spending the proceeds IL
London in wild orgies that for brillian-
cy Of color and wealth Of detail throw
even the Arabian Nights" into the
tull gray shade. Mr. Cobb's bushes
interests lie in Dunstead, and thong
he would be perfectly willing to beg.r
life all over again elsewhere. Mrs
Cobb is emphatically prepared to Sc
him hanged first.
Mr.. Cobb Is the grocer and genera
dealer of Dunstead. as was his father
before him. He is a fat, baid-heade
little man, and at the time Of his So
lapse from grace he was probably jus
as fat, IL not quite so bald. His offeaso
is deplorably exaggerated by the fact
that at the time he was a man Of 8
with a family Of eight daughters and
two sons, the latter being mere tod
dlers in pinafores.
Then one day Mrs. Cobb told him
that an elderly gentleman had ealiec
70 know whether they had a room TO
let. The gentleman was very old, in
deed, but very active, though as
man of business he was distinctly in
ferior. He offered Is shillings a week
for a bedroom and the use of the par
Tor, and, as Mrs. Cobb afterward re-
marked he could have bought house
for himself for that money anywhere
in Dunstead Mr.. Cobb attempted to
convince his wife that II was his own
superior business ability that had tri
umphed In this instance, but the good
soul speedily discovered that her hus-
bands strength merely existed by rea
son Of the others weakness. The old
gentleman gave his name as Braith
waite. In case. he added Mr. and Mrs
Cobb should desire to know more
about him he would inform them that
he was a professor Of palaeontology
connected with the British museum.
As far as possible he desired to haze
his presence there kept secret as he
believed he was on the eve of a very
discovery. II had come 10
his ears that some ueolithie arrow
heads, TO be attributed 10 the tertiary
epoch had been found on Duustead
common, and he had come down with
10 investigate the matter. III
fortune favored him he hoped to find
traces Of even the earlier epochs. and
the value Of such a discovery would
be inestimable. He asked Mrs. Cobb
IL she could recommend a steady and
reliable young man who was not
afraid Of work, as there would prob
ably be a lot Of digging to be done
Mrs. Cobb gave It up. She said she
could recommend a most reliable
youth, and she also said that the pro
lessor would be as comfortable in her
house as in his own home. But at the
earliest moment she took her husband
on one side and said that no good
could come OF harboring lunatics on
the premises and the sooner the old
geutleman's friends came and put him
under restraint the better IL would be
for all concerned. At the earliest con
venient moment she slipped across TO
a neighbor and said that an old gen
tleman who owned a museum in Lon
don was staying with her and didn't
want II TO be known. And before even
ing the news went round Dunstead
that Mrs. Cobb had got an old show
man staying at her house and that
anybody with a two-headed puppy or
a fvelerged calf should try and do a
deal at once. as the old chap was
throwing his money about regardless.
Finally Jim Border, in the genial
and communicative mood that even
village ale has been known 10 induce.
explained that he had got it. Under
the common Of Dunstead there was
gold; tons Of II. And the old cove
from London was keeping his secret
10 himself and was shoveling it up bv
the cart load. The mystery was ex
planned
There was he, Elijah Cobb. fritter-
ing away his duh existence in the sor-
ala atmosphere Of a grocer's shop.
when over his very head lay the
wealth Of a Croesus. the fabulous for.
tune Of a Monte Cristo. Heavansl The
thought was maddening. He TANNED
his hat on his head and slipped out
the door and strobe homeward at
rapid pace.
At the foot Of the staircase of his
house he met the professor The Of
eyes lighted up as he