The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1913-11-06
eAEE OF BORROWING
D ExlLY JOHNSON


Whrn Piztehett FIRST moVsd l-to the
PIessartrlle neig1b04hoCd TIE 13en
a. thoagh hin q re1arkabig hkatis
felioa As many 81 The Uouea zs
managed 70 gef q look a. the famiiy's
furnltBre decided thai fhe Platcbetts
dc rot possezs azy toe n-eh 6 this
sorlds goods. These furnishi1Es
we're plata ana sornsvhat scanty. ac-
cord % Pieaaanfriiie standards But
cue ana al voted the Flztchetts desir-
1ble ueiFhb0rs
PIstcbeft made friends readily He
vas usually smiling. was q great story
teller and never failed 20 laugh at any
story told by another. He was. 10
deed. a good iiztener-he wouid sii
ard listened a. II his life depended
upon IT, Mrs Piafcheft was IN these
things q fair match Tor her husband,
and the little Plafchetts seemed 10
pattern their behavior similarly
The first morning that Platcheff
ioined the other male members Ct the
suburban colony for the ride 10 town
in the smoker 0f the ss15 he searched
lis pockets ID full view o. everybody
IN fha car Then. with a frank smile.
be accepted a match from Penderby
He held the match IN his hand and
put The other hand into his breast
pocket with fun confidence-Oniy %
draw 4 out again empty.
j came away without single
smoket" he declared what DO you
think Of that"
Penderby was sympathetic He
pressed cigar upon his new neigh
Dor cigar Of that variety known as
the Penderby choice, three costing 50
cents. The borrower smiled again. III
the cigar. and seemed well pleased.
And ne did not bother to return the
smoke the next morning. nor on the
morning following.
Soon the Plafchetfs became ac-
Quainted with every family In Pleas
antville. and then the game began in
earnest.
TIE front door bell. OF maybe the
side door bell. or even the back door
ben OF some one OF the houses in
the suburb would ring persistently
A trip to the door would disclose one
Of the little Platchetts standing there
ready TO deliver his or her message
as soon as the door was opened
Please. ma'am.' was invariably fol-
lowed BY a request that the neighbor
lend mamma this or papa that or
both parents the other thing. II went
from bad 10 worse, and when the Plat
chetts hrd Isen Ia the house a month
lacking just one day-the neighbors
decided to rebel.
The men we're responsible for the
idea, even as they were responsible
for the meeting at which the plan
was formed
Next day, after the male population
Of Pleasantville had gone to its vari-
Gus Offices, It was discovered that
Platchett had not caught II s;15.
The women OF the suburb knew later
IN the that he had not gone to town
al all but before they knew this the
plan had been put in operation
Early IN the morning an ancient,
woolly headed servitor OF the Pen
derbys arrived at the Platchett resi-.
dence. He carried a portable vacuum
cleaner, and he made polite explana-
tion. "Marse Penderhy done say yo'
Is to use dis yah today he said, IAN
be sent 1t over SOS yo' wouldn't have
to come after it"
Before Uncle Eben was out of sight
the hall grown Turman boy came up
the steps with talking machine in
his arms. Ma said she'd save you
trip" he ponted. "and it's time you
was usln it again" He turned and
was gone
As the Turman boy went out Of lie
front gate little Bobby larson, from
the brick house down the street.
trudged up the front walk with a
basket filed with neatly tied and la
beled packages. These were marked
cup Of sugar" pinch OF tea" olive
oil for salad dressing" vinegar you
forgot to order" and flour to do till
the grocer's boy gets herep He set
the basket down, pointed to IT with a
gesture evidently rehearsed and went
away.
As Bobby larson vanished Mrs. Mar
ley, the next-door neighbor, called In
person. I'm going to my sisters to
spend the day" she began, and
thought I'd just come over before !
left and tell you that you can have the
surrey and old Dick this afternoon. So
you won't have 10 run out to a tele-
phone for them, you know" She
turned and marched down the steps,
looking back not at all
Mrs. Piatchett moved the various OBJ
jects inside the house and shut the
door. She was smiling and when she
called Platchett he smiled as usual.
When the men came from town that |
evening they ate suppers and made
their way to Penderbys for the meet
ing They wanted more news than
they had been able to get.
Marley, the next-door neighbor. had
gone TO his wife's sisters for dinner, I
and It was late when he arrived. /
"lNa11 y hn oofnt,,r-, end tfr ,71.,,tt -