The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1919-09-09
SET HIM THINKING
Squire's PIacard Caused In
pleasant Surmise.
Or Course Mr.. Carr Knew That Under
No Circumstances Could He Be
Considered a Bore, but, Well,
There 1t Was.

Isaac Pratt was making a friendly
call in Squire Marr's office Converse
ton Jagged. and he let his eyes roam
round the room.
'HelloI" he said. 81 see you've got
new placard on the wall This Is
my busy day. A gentle hint to bores.
l suppose"
"Well, it was meant to be-" said the
squire with a grim laugh. Il like to
have my friends drop in occasionally"
he explained, even if they have no
special business.~ But some Of them
come little too often and stay alto
gether too long. They may not have
anything more important to do at the
time than to talk politics or spin yarns.
But it often happens that have; and
in that case putting my time against
theirs isn't an even swap. The fact is,
the average man is so interesting to
himself that he can't imagine that he
may be bore to other people"
Puts me in mind of an experience
l once had trying to get rid Of bore"
fortably in his chair. Il was doing
quite little business one winter build
ing pleasure boats to order, and
neighbor of mine. an oldish man with
some means and nothing to do. used
to come to my shop every day and
toast himself by the fire and talk
talk talk from morning till night. II
was rather fussy work l was doing,
and he almost drove me wild telling
old stories and offering advice; but
remembered my manners and never
let on to him that / wasn't pleased
with his company. BY the time I'd get
home at night, though, my good ma
ture would be pretty much gone.
"'Why don't you try being little
cool to him and see if he won't take
the hint?' my wife would say; and
finally l thought I'd carry out that
idea. although. not exactly in the way
she meant
so the next day when l got to the
shop | went right to work on my boat,
without the usual preliminaries. 1t
Mr.. Judkins came in he made bee
line for the stove.
"'Why. says he, all shivering, you
haven't got mite of fireP
mo says l. my work is sort of
bothersome, and 4 thought mebbe my
head would be clearer in a cold room
HE tried to argue me out of that
notion. but l was kind of obstinate !;
and after shivering round spell he
went off, and l had the shop to myself
for the balance of the day. / didn't
get on 80 much faster with my work,
though, what with having to stop to
blow on my fingers every few min
utes; and as for my head being clear
err it didn't turn out that way In the
end When got home that night /
realized that had hard cold on me,
! and l didn't see the shop again for
three weeks
THAT would have been quite a price
to pay even If had got shed of Mr..
Judkins, but. you see, hadn't. When
he found / was laid up, he considered
it his duty to visit the sick, and he
would stay with me for hours. He even
sat up with me a couple of nights
when l was worst off, and / must own
that he was grand good hand in sick
ness. When l did get so that could
go to the shop. he went on ahead and
built up a rousing hot fire, so that we
could both be comfortable. He was
certainly a kind-hearted person.
guess bores generally are; and that is
one reason why we find 1t SO plaguy
hard to get rid of them. Isn't>that so.
squirrel"
"How's that? Oh. yes, suppose so r.
answered the squire, looking up from
his writing.
Some time later Isaac leisureIy took
his leave. When halfway home, he
halted abruptly. confronted by an en-.
tirely new thought
"By jingol" he said to himself. you
don't suppose the squire meant that
placard partly for me, do your
Youths Companion