Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-10-02
She Was Lovely Guest, but Her
Sister-in-Law Was Glad
she'd Gone,

Sister-in-Law Was Glad
she'd Gone,
well, my husbands sister Amelia has
gone home at last and I'm glad of it," re-
marked Mrs. Cumback as she took a wicker
chair on the Wagstaff porch.
She's a charming woman, isn't she?"
asked Mrs. Wagstaff
Yves, she's the most charming woman in
the world Everybody says she's a lovely
character, and although she's only been
visiting us three weeks, the whole town
was at the depot to see her off, and lot
of women cried when the train pulled out.
On, yes, Mrs. Wagstaff, she was a charm
ing woman, but I'm glad she's gone 1
don't want to be charmed any more"
What was the trouble?'
when you went to school didn't you
read about an old Greek who was called
Aristotles the Just. lie ran for some Of
flee, l think, and the voters were so tired
Of hearing him called the Just that they
defeated him shamefully. That's the way
l feel about Mr.. Cumback's sister. I've
been a nonentty in my own home for
three weeks and I'm tired Of 1t. People
were coming every afternoon and even
ing and they'd drink tea and eat cakes
and things, and IL they spoke to me 1t
was just to say how charming my sister
nl-law was.
Speaking for mvself, l don't like those
effuslve women who are as meddlesome
as they can be and try to disguise theiT
impudence by smiling and calling you pet
names Amelia was always finding fault
with everything l did, and she did 1t
in such way that 1t was impossible to
quarrel with her. Shed come into the
Kitchen where she had no business to be
and If she saw ME making apple dumplings,
she'd come up with three thicknesses Of
smiles on her face and say: My dear lit
tie precious sister! That's no way to
make apple dumpllngs! l learned how to
make apple dumpllngs under an old lady
who took the gold medal at the Chicago
worlds fair in 'a3, and If you will let
me, l viii show you how to do it the way
1t was done by the old masters at Rome.
Then she'd go ahead and make dumplings,
and they were as heavy as clockweights.
My husband sat down at the table one
day when we had some of Amelias dump
lings and. of course, he thought l made
them, ana ne looked at me sadly and said
he had often cautioned me against tryin :
to make dumplngs out Of Portland ce-
ment. When l told him who made them
he looked ashamed of himself and a few
tho finest dumplings he ever saw.
There seemed to be a conspiracy to
make Amelia's life one round of pleasure,
merely because she was charming. Every
thing she did was just right. lou know,
when I'm working around the house 1 Of
ten sing my favorite song, Lorena.'
have sung it SO much that my husband is
rather tired Of 1t. Well, one day he was
upstairs, reading, and Amelia, who was
bothering around in the parlor with a
feather duster, began singing that song.
She got as far as there, up there tbs
heart to heart when my husband came
to the head of the stairs.
"Of course he thought / was the singer,
and so he yelled: Matilda, If you have
a pain in your insides or an attack of neu-
ralgia take medicine for it, and don
| scream that way.
Il didn't know what he might say next
for he does think up some awful things
when he is annoyed, so l ran upstairs
and told him that Amelia was doing the
singing, and he looked as though he'd sell
himself for a nickel.
when he came down in the evening
he Immediately began trying to square
himself with his sister, saying that there
were no songs like the old songs and the
one that reached his heart most Of all
was Lorena, especially when he heard
II sung with tenderness and feeling, as he
had heard 1t that afternoon, when he
stood spellbound, listening to the entranc-
ing melody.
Amy other woman would have told
him he was a hopeless fraud, but Amelia
was too charming for that She was lust
naturally too charming for any good use,
and I'm glad she's gone."-Chicago News.