The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1908-05-01
On Thin Ice.
BY JAMES NOR TON.
copyrighted. 1905. by the Associated
Literary Press.

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When the letter from Aunt Salina
WIS r""nfvod announcing that sha
"'''i'h irrtTH "h :. visit r..A nrii vac.
'''"' nj "id hin'l,-r l.j.caI ~ each
"'hrf lOi i i"rg Llii1tlte. rhe1 tle IoT-
mer said:
I'VE must keep it from her"
Yes"
III we don't she will certainly talk
rlght up to the deacon and make things
worse than ever. Your Aunt Salilla is
not afraid Of any living man. You
just act as natural as you can. and
don let her catch on to a thing
And yet five or six DAYS later. when
the guest in question arrived. she had
not been in the house half an hour be-
lore she set her jaw and said to Mrs.
thompson. her widowed sister:
Now. Ruth. while Mary is upstairs
want to hear all about it. There's
some skulduddery been going on here.
ana l want to get at the root of it.
It's no use to put on that innocent
look. for I'm a woman that can't be
deceived"
Then the widow had to fix it up.
Her daughter Mary. now twenty years
old. had been keeping company" with
Deacon Bromley's son James. and the
marriage day had once been set. Dea-
con Bromley had then favored the
match. The widow had a fine farm
adjoining his. and if she took forty
acres off Of hers and he forty off of
his the young folks would have a good
start in life. She as well as he could
also contribute considerable cash to-
ward building the new house and barn.
Yes. it would be good match all
around. and everything was going
swimmingly when the deacon took in
summer boarder.
He was what might be called half
cash boarder-that is, for two weeks
he paid half the price Of board and
lodging in cash and the other in infor
nation which changed the deacOns
nature all over. The boarder had made
study of family trees, SO he asserted.
and after scratching his head and con-
sultfng the signs in the family almanac
for a fortnight he announced that the
Bromleys were direct descendants Of
Lord Bromley of England. while Lord
Bromley himself was granddaughter
of William the Conqueror.
The deacon had always been rather
a stiff necked man toward the COM
munity. and this Information added to
his pride. He did not question the
strangers Information. and after q
time it began to get in its work. He
wasn't rich. but he had the blue blood
in him, and that was even better. In
four weeks he was walking as If he
| had poker down his back. and at the
end of four more he said to his son:
James, there is nothing that hurts
family more than misalltance
What is the world going to say when
it hears that a Bromley has married a
Thompson:'
Are you talking about Mary Thomp-
| son, father?" asked James. '
lam. am seeing things great deal
| different from what did few weeks
ago. Where did the Thompsons spring
from? Who are they: Was the first
Thompson lord or duke or only a
"COPPER""
but, you know. I'm engaged to
Mary Thompson. and you know that
the family is respectable. No one can
say that there has been anything
against them. from grandfather down"
.Um, UNI! None Of them has been In
Jail that know Of. but | ask again.
i who are the Thompsons?' We know
who the Bromleys sprang from. and
cannot consent to any plebeian alliance.
Until | know who the first Thompson
was I shall feel justified 10 opposing
this match. 1t will be no use whatever
to argue the matter with me. am de-
termined to preserve the purity OF our
blood as it has come down to u.s."
lanes did not cease to call at the
widows. but it was not long before she
realized that he had something OH MS
mind. and he was finally prevailed up
IN tn state it. He held in direct oppo-
s,tion to his father. but that did not
satisfy the insulted mother or the high
spirited daughter. Strained relations
followed. Such was the situation when
Amt Salina arrived. She listened to
the story with grim look on her face.
ond when If was finished she said:
Ruth, you were never any good at
handling cases like this. and you must
leave things to me- ! know all about
the Thompsons and the Bromleys. too.
and I've heard a thing or two about
william the Conqueror since went to
Michigan to live You just keep out
Of the fuss and let me settle it my own
way"
"Rut YOU won't 60 to the deacon and
coll him an old IDIOT" protested the
widow.
81 can't tell what I'll do. Providence
generally takes hand in cases like
this and l shall depend good deal
IN Providence. We won't say word
to Mary about It,"
Providence didn't wait long before
taking a hand. December had come.
Instead of being married on Christmas
day. as the young couple had hoped
for, they were as good as estranged.
Between the house and the barn was
a goose pond of considerable depth,
and. though this had been frozen over