Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1910-04-14
Talec For
q Winter
Evening
jonesy
From the "Old Home House"
By JOSEPH c. LINCOLN
Copyright. 1907. by A. S. Barnes q Co.

49, Know, twas Capn
that done the most Of the growing.
'They amt no sense in it, Peter"
says he. "Education's all right in its
place, but faint no good out Of it."
ooh, ring offw says Peter. "Twen-
t%y-threew
And so they had it back and forth.
I didn't say nothing. I knew how
'twould end. If Peter T. Brown
thought twas good judgment to hire
a mess Of college boys for walters, fell
lers who could order up the squad in
pigeon English and the ham in hog
Latin, I didn't care, so long as the
orders and boarders got filed and the
payroll didn't have growing pains. l
had considerable faith in Browns
ideas, and he was as set on this one
Is a Brahma hen on a plaster nest
egg.
"It'll give tone to the %shebang," says
he, referring to the hotel, "and we
want to keep the Old Home House as
high toned as a ten story organ facto-
~. And as for education, that's a
matter Of taste. Me, I'd just as soon
have a waiter that %bashfully admitted
wee my dam,' as l would one that
pushed 'Shur-r-e, Moike!' edgeways
out of M corner of his mouth and
served the lettuce on top Of the lob
ster from principle, to keep the green
above the red"
So it went his way finally, as I knew
it would, and when the Old Home
opened up on June 1 the college
walters vas on hand. And they was
as nice a lot of boys as ever handled
plates and wiped dishes for their board
and 81 a week. And they made a hit
with the boarders, especially the wom-
en- folks. Before June was over the
Old Home was full up, and we had to
annex a couple of next door houses for
the l%eftovers.
was skipper for one of them houses,
and Jonadab run the other. Each of
us had a cook and a waiter, q house
keeper and an upstairs girl. My house
keeper was the boss prize in the pack
age. Her name was Mabel Seabury,
and she was young and quiet and as
pretty as the first bunch of Mayfow-
ers in the spring. And a lady-whew!
The first time I set opposite to her at
table I made up my mind I wouldn't
drink out OF my sasser if l scalded
the lining off my throat.
She was city born and brought up,
but she WANT n of your common
"He, he; amt you turriblev' lunch
counter princesses, with a head like
a dandelion gone to seed and a fish
net waist. You bet she want! Her
dad had had money once, afore he
tried to beat out Jonah and swallow
the stock exchange whale.
The only trouble she made was first
along, and that want her fault. I
thought at Une time we'd have to put
walters away from her. They hung
around her like a passed. Of gulls
around a herring boat. She was nice
to 'em, too, bat when you're just so
nice to everybody and not nice enough
to any special n the prospect amt
encouraging. So they give it up, but
there want II male on the place,
" o1G Ill OlILI, ul1ACl VI b!dIL 3
Burdock Bitters and Blatt's Balm For
Beauty, down to the boy that emptied
the ashes, who wouldn't have bumped
himself on all tours and crawled eight
miles if she'd asked him to. And that
includes me ard Cap'n J%oradab, and
we're about as tough a couple Of wo-
men proof old hulks as you'll find
aloat.
One evenmg-along the second week
in July 'twas-I got up from the sup
per table and walked over toward the
hotel. By the gate I see g. Teller stand
ing, a Teller with a leather bag in his
hand, a stranger.
"Good evening"" says ]. "Looking
for the hotel, was you?"
He swung ruund kind of lazy-like
and looked at use. Then ! noticed how
big he was. Seemed to lie he was all
of seven foot high and broad accord
ing. And rugged up-my soul! He had
on a wide felt hat with a whirligig
top on to it and a light checked suit
and gloves and slung more style than
a barber on Sunday.
0oOu efcllluA, says Tue SeFeu 1OOC-
er, looking down and speaking to me
cheerful. "Is this the Old Ladies'
home-the Old Home House, I should
say?"
eyes, sir" says I. looking up rever-
Vent at that hat.
Right" be says. "Wil you be good
enough to tell me where I can find
the proprietor? I'm looking for a job"
"A jobw I sings out. "a job"
Eyes. I understand you employ col
lege men as walters. I'm from Har-
yard, and"-
"a waiterw I says, so astonished
that / could hardly swaller. "Be you
q waiterY-
IT don't know. I've been told so.
Our coach used to say I was the best
waiter on the team. At any rate, I'll
try the experiment"
"But what for? You amt short of
.cashY"
"You betr' he says. "strappedw
went Off and found Peter T.