Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1911-03-23
FORBIDDEN
$ FRUIT n,

........................-.
The apples has come" Hilda an
nounced, as she opened the front door
to Mrs. Nlckell's ring.
"Apples?" echoed Mrs. Nickel, paus-
Ing in the act of laying down her pack
ages. What apples?"
The apples" explained Hilda, COM
prehensively. "They are in the cell
lar already and he opened them and
they are very good. l ate one"
"Elilda,' said Mrs Nickel, sternly,
who is he and what apples did he
open and what on earth are you talk
ing about?"
Hilda bestowed upon her employer
plying look and checked off the
nouns on her red fingers. "The ex,
press wagon man, he brought bar
rel OF apples this afternoon and put
them downstairs and took the cover
OF because asked him. He was a
1t seemed that this was as complete
and detailed an account of the barrel
of apples as the Nickel family was
destined to obtain from any source
When Nickel came home from work
the family gathered around the mys-
FERROUS barrel and considered 1t.
There was on it no mark or tag
and the broken boards of the cover
Hilda had tidily thrown into the fur
mace when the expressman took them
off. She did not know what express
company the man worked for, bit she
explained in detail that the man had
black mustache and handsome cor
duroy trousers. Meanwhile the apples
stared them in the face
"Say, they are good!" said Nickel,
when he had bitten into one "They
remind me OF my boyhood days!"
Richard" demonstrated his wife,
I'VE shouldn't eat them. They aren't
ours!'
well, we've got EN-, haven't we?"
| demanded Nickel, taking another.
1--WE didn't knock down anyone and
take the barrel away from him by
main force, did we? These apples
were thrust upon us against our will
and intend to have revenge on some
body. Besides, they're taking up
storage room"
In day or SO Mrs. Nickel grew
used to the presence of the barrel of
apples and, the mystery remaining
unsolved, she deserted the paths of
rectitude and joined her husband and
| Hilda in their depredations. The
Nickel family had apples baked for
breakfast and stewed for lunch and
made into pies and buildings for din,
ner, and Toasted Off them at mid
night. They really were particularly
juicy, toothsome apples. Nickel had
gone over all the people he knew In
the country and had definitely de
cided that not one of them would loos
en- up sufficiently to present him with
barrel of fine fruit Besides most
of them grew potatoes instead of ap'
pies. 1t was very odd.
Nearly two weeks after the arrival
of the barrel the woman next door
called.
Isn't it funny how things get lost?'
she remarked to Mrs. Nickel as she
AoolCASo 4Sl LUIS W N0 CIuSTGu
barrel of apples from the farm near
our summer cottage and the farmer
insists that he shipped them nearly
three weeks ago and we haven't got
them yet! And he has our money!
I'd give good deal to know where
that barrel is! Have you got head
ache, Mrs. Nickel? Your face is sc
flushed!"
81 can tell you where that barre
is" her hostess said, when she got hel
breath. 1T is down in our cellar this
minute and nearly half the apples are
eaten up!"
1t took Mrs. Nickells some time tc
recover from the embarrassed gloon
into which this little episode plunged
them. Though the family converse
ton was tactfully steered away from
such topics as apples and orchards
and though everybody developed ;
sudden preference for oranges anc
dates and grapefruit, apples by shee
force of repression ruled in the minds
Of all of them. The woman next doc