The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-28
-:- OUR DAILY SHORT STORY -:.

at off in de alley. kase he say de watah rint aint paid, an how Ister git break fus wifout no fiah an no wa'ah' de
 good Lord, He only know. We hurriedly dressed. whhe Henry Jr., having awakened, entered into the
 spirit of the affair, and seemed to en- joy 1t, for he persisted in kicking his heels up into the air and throwing off his covering. We tied him fast in his cradle and then ran dewn to the kftch-
 en. where we found Phyllis in tears Tt are only de smoke. Miss Alice, explained the cook. drawing her sleeve
 across her eyes, while my wife, the picture of misery, was genuinely crying. There are draugLts all over this house" she said. shiverins as she are" her shawl around her.
 "Dar ain't no draughts in dis heah ole stobe, Miss Alice, deed dar aint." said Phyllis, flaming the grate with her ap- ron.
 Never mind the grate. Phyllis" said my wife but make q fire at once in the parlor. The little precious upstairs will take his death of cold And she went up to Henry Jr,, leaving
 me gazing dejectedly through a broken window out on the rffn-soaked, ash-
 covered landscape of the Sparrows oacK yard
 I was brought back to myself by my wife calling me to come up and unrope Henry ir.. who was strenuously obj ,ct- ing to his bondage. Just as l had free- ed him, there came from below an aw- full crash. ,,.
 "Bress nah soulr walled Phyllis from tho parlor If de whole front winder Of de parlah stobe amt oone fall out"
 ran down again, followed by my
 wife with Henry in her arms. .',rhis Is the last straw" l muttered' looking on our new parlor carpet, ruin ed forever
 where are you going. James?" said said my wife. as I was getting into my rain coat.
 I'm going, my dear" I replied. ito call. as early as 1t Is, upon that sparrow of yours, and twist its neck. T beg of you--I implore you not to go, James. Miss Sparrow will attend to everything, I am sure; besides, poor
 Miss Amy is going to be married only
 next month, and
 Before she had time to finish her un- cle entered and startled us with dou- | ble sneeze.
 "Oh. Uncle Henry!' cried my wife, in great distress, T knev you would take cold last night. You must let me get you something. I'm sure you must feel bad; I will"
 You may make yourself easy on that point, madam" he broke in. But be- fore I leave this house of conspirators
 want to advise you to place that child in an asylum where he will be properly
 cared for; while you, madam, should De confined in some sanitarium And as | for you, sir he shouted, shaking his umbrella in my face. take the gold cure-the pledge would do you no good you'd only break it. Take the gold cure the gold cure. the gold cure!' He slambed the front door after him. and shuffled down the street. While coming these things. Phyllis came in with her scuttle for last load She told us she had found an oil stove with enou hgoil in it to cook breakfast She hesitated as she added that she had | borrowed some water from our neigh- bor next door, who remarked that we had begun the borrowing plan rather carly for SO short an acquaintance. we commended our cooks enterprise ana | told her to do the best she could. Ana | for the next ten minutes we heard her
 in terms forcible. if not polite. pay her respects to the stove.
 | Breakfast was not success The
 coffee was cold, and the chops were gar nished with coal oil. the flavor or wnich | fingered WltH ioi hOa'S' Directly after breakfast I called on
 the Sparrows, who. while making my l cbirp. The elder bird said she couldn't afford to spend a cent at that time on
 repairs.
 | I notified her that we would vacate the house within three days. ] She fiuttered and chirped excitediy as they followed me to the door, ana thought I heard the betrothed Sparrow
 say something about damages. though | 1t may have been nothing more than an ] inoffcnsive twitter.
 After calling on my old agent, turn ed my steps toward our new home
 where I met the stove man who was. for the moment, leaving. He told me that he had fixed the parlor stove, but
 could do nothing with the kitchen
 range; that during the summer months
 the sparrows must have built their nests | in the chimney. l told him that hadn't the slightest doubt about it. My wife was anxiously awaiting my return. told her of my highly satis- factory visit to our old landlcrd. Poor Miss Amy" moaned my wife. | And, oh! you poor, disinherited, de- frauded little darling" she added, bury
 ing her face in Henry Jrs neck. 1 On the evening of the third day fol- ] lowing we were back in our old home.