, 1908-03-11
THE BROKEN
PITCHER
MENDiN0 1T WAS QUITE AN
UNDERTAKING

tANtNd
"Oh, dear!" walled Mrs. Gormey, Il
pitcher like that! 1 know you've
broken it,"
Mr.. Gormey gave her a look that
said: Now, you shut up, will your
emptied the pitcher and held 1t up to
the light. AS he squinted into the jug
Mrs. Gormey tried to do the same,
They struggled in silence, each head
pushing against the other, but Mr..
Gormey stood his ground so well that
back to her chair.
WELL" she asked, impatiently, did
it knock a little hole in it,"
Mr.. Gormey's face was hidden by
the pitcher, but his ears took upon
themselves al expression which be-
tokened that here was a man looking
at something 80 interesting that 1t
was as good as a play.
"Ah!" said Mr.. Gormey, withdraw
ing his face from the mouth Of the
jug.
He put 1t down on the table (the
jug, not his face), but Just as Mrs.
Gormey reached over for 1t he picked
it up again and took another long, sat.
isfying look.
MY lovely pitcher!" walled Mrs.
Gormley. ITS always the way when
l have anything I like. You seem to
do it on purpose"
YES" whispered Mr.. Gormey to
himself, and speaking into the jug, 81
car mend it. Yes"
He replaced 1t on the table, kindly
allowed his wife to snatch it up and
apply 1t to her eye and listened to
her lamentation with the smile of
deepest self-satisfactio1.
YES" he repeated to himself, 81
can mend it. Now let me see. A
bit of putty would stop the hole, but
wait! Is putty poisonous? What is
putty made OFF"
Chalk and linseed OIL" sighed
Mrs. Gormey into the pitcher.
Giving her an appropriate look,
Mr.. Gormey went to his tool chest,
found a bit Of putty, and brought it to
the light.
He weighed 1t in his hand, saying
lead in it from the heft of it, that's
sure" He broke of a small piece
and s~crutinized 1t carefully, raising
his head at last to say: Get me the
magnifying glass" Mrs. Gormey
fetching him the instrument in ques,
ton, he made a lengthy microscopic
examination of the putty.
I'm sure it's chalk and" began
Mrs. Gormey.
Chalk and 1ddlesticks!" said Mr..
Gormey. IF 1t isn't half white lead
I'll eat it. Wait till l get the diction-
airy; that will tell"
He went to the dictionary and
turned triumphantly to putty.
"a plastic substance" he read, dry
ing hard on exposure to the air: much
used for holding glass in window
frames"
He looked up glass" GLACIERS"
windows" "panes" and plastic" and
then he put the putty under the mag
nifying glass again. Inspired by this
he looked up lead" white lead" red
lead" metals" "pulverized" and "ful.
lers earth"
where's that old book on chemis.
try?" he suddenly asked.
After half an hours search they
found 1t at the back Of one of the
book-shelves, and Mr.. Gormey pol
lshed his spectacles and began to
search the book.
First of all he turned to the chap
ter on lead, and with a proud look at
Mrs. Gormey he read aloud: Lead
compounds are poisonous, producing
s%aturnine collie or even paralysis"
Yes" said Mrs. Gormey, 81 know
it's poisonous, but is putty made of
lead?"
20, of course" said Mr.. Gormey.
You know it's poisonous. o, yes!
You know everything, don't you?" and
waiting not for her impassioned de-
Tense, he pored over acetate of lead,
oXyacetate of lead, nitrate of lead,
lodide of lead, oleate Of lead and other
kinds of lead more than a vigorous
man could shake a stick at.
Lead and tin make SOLDER" he read
aloud.
Yes, l know they do, but
Mr.. Gormey made a sibilant sound
Of rich derision and after exhausting
the chapter on lead he cried aloud:
What a fool l ami" and needing not
Mrs. Gormey's look of unfeigned ap-
prevail, he turned to the bookcase and
took down volume PHYPZO of the en-
~cyclopedia.
An hour later Mr.. Gormey had
every volume of the encyclopedia on
the table but one, n that one was
the maps, and his temper was so short
that Mrs. Gormey had long since
ceased her remarks.
"Ah, here it Isl" he cried at last.
Putty is made Of" He paused.
picked up the pitcher and the bit OF
putty and began stopping the hole.
well, what is it made of" insisted
Mrs. Gormey.
Chalk and linseed OIL" snapped
Mr.. Gormey. shut upi"