Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-03-19

AROUND my hu6eS before l started 10
the house. And that is all l do re
member.
l was awakened by a terrible ham
mering in the top Of my head. 1
reached out for the glass Of water
that I always put beside my bed at
night and I touched a door-knob in
stead. Then I realized that the knock
ing wasn't all in my head. There
was a sort of steady movement of feet
on the other side of the door, with
people talking and laughing. And
above it all rose the steady knock
knock Of somebody beating on tin.
Cant do it" It was the bishops
voice. 4 am convinced that nothing
but dynamite will open this tin of
lobster"
Just a moment, bishop" Mr. Tho
burns voice and the clink of bottles,
4 have a can opener somewhere.
You'll find the sauce a la Newburg-''
Here, somebody, a glass, quick! a
bottles broken!"
Did anybody remember to bring
| salt and pepper?"
Dear Mr.. Thoburn!" 1t sounded like
Miss Cobb. Think of thinking of all
this!"
The credit is not mine, dear lady, "
Mr.. Thoburn said. Where the deuce
is that corkscrew? No, dear lady,
man makes his own destiny, but his
birth date remains beyond his con
troll"
Ladies and gentlemen" somebody
said, ito Mr. Thoburn's birthday be-
! yond his CONTROL"
There was the clink of glasses, but
| I had remembered what it had been
| that l was to remember. And now it
was too late. I was trapped in the
] pantry of my springhouse and Mr..
| Pierce was probably asleep. /
| cIutched my aching head and tried to
| think I was reused by hearing some
! body say that Miss Jennings had no
glass, and by steps nearing the pantry.
| I had just time to slip the bolt.
"Pantry's locked" said voice.
"Drat that Minnie!" somebody said.
THE girls a nuisance"
! t1uSus MISS summers Sdlu. one )
probably in there now-taking down
what We say and what we eat. Con
victing US out of our own mouths"
| I held my breath and the knob rat
| tied. Then they found glass for Miss
Patty and forgot the pantry.
! Under cover of the next burst of
noises l tried the pantry window, but
! hr,+ hut n
! hammer would have Ioosened it. I be
gan to dig at it with a wire hairpin,
! but I hadn't much hope
The fun in the springhouse was get
| ting fast and furious. Miss Summers
was leaning against the pantry door
and I judged that most of the men in
! the room were around her, as usual
put my ear to the panel of the door,
and l could pretty nearly see what was
! going on. They were toasting Mr.. Tho
burn, and getting hungrier every min
ute as the supper was put out on the
! card tables.
ITO the bottIel" somebody said
In infancy, the milk bottle; in our
prime, the wine bottle; in our dotage
the pill bottle"
Mr.. Won invalid came over and stood
beside Miss Summers, and I could hear
every whisper.
Il have good news for you," she said
in an undertone.
oh! And WHAT"
Ssh! You may recall" she said, "the
series of notes, letters, epistles, with
which you have been honoring me
lately?"
How could I forget? They were
written in my hearts blood"
Indeed" Her voice lifted it's eye
brows, so to speak We'll, somebody
got in my room last night and stole
] / dare say a pint of your hearts blood
They're gone
He was pretty well upset, as he
might be, and she stood by and lis
tened to the things he said, which, il
they were as bad in English as they
sounded in German, l wouldn't like to
write down And when he cooled
down and condensed, as you may say
into English, he said Miss Jennings
must have seen the letters, for she
would hardly speak to him. And Miss
Summers said she hoped Miss Jen
nings had-she was too nice a girl tc
treat shamefulIy.
And after he had left her there
alone, I heard a sort of scratching on
the door behind Miss Summers back
and then something being showed I'M
der the door. l stopped down and
picked it up. 1t was key!
| l struck a match, and l saw by the
tag that it was the one to the ole
doctors rooms l knew right off what
it meant. Mr. Pierce had gone to bed
or pretended to throw them off the
track and Thoburn had locked hin
in! Thoburn hadn't taken any
chances. He knew the influence Mr.
Pierce had over them all, and he and
his champagne and tin cans had tc
get in their work before Mr.. Pierce
had another chance at them.
l had no time to wonder how Miss
Summers knew I was in the pantry
I tried the window again. but II
wouldn't work Somebody in the
spring-house was shouting, Hot but
ter blue beans, please come to sup
| perl" and I could hear them crowd
ing around the tables. I worked
sizes we're all that I had and so