The mirror., 1923-06-14

dow across the yard.
"Merciful goodness! What's broke
loose now?" exclaimed Miss, True as she
thrust her head out of the open window,
and craned her neck to behold the source
of this avalanche of riotous sounds
cts that pesky nuisance up there" re-
piled Mrs. Oyen as she pointed to a win
dow across the yard where sat an old
German musician. With dilated eyeballs
and checks puffed out like balloons, he was
blowing ear splitting sounds of high and
low pitch from an old battered trombone.
His arm pumped the slide in and out as
though life 4. itself depended upon how
much racket he could produce, and it
seemed that the very bell of the horn
must soon fly into fragments.
Mamma says he's regular rip-snort-
err" commented Jimmie, and Mrs. Oyen
giggled at the boys quotation of her one
time remark.
"Whew! It's a jamboree-a regular
hurricane-sounds like tin roof being
ripped into shreds," ventured Justice.
'He's exercising the scale" announced
Jimmie, with an air of wisdom.
Sounds more as though he had taken
the scale out for SPREE" replied Miss
True as she poked her fingers into her
ears.
"He's given us all the known chroma-
tics, and inYented lot more just for a
starter-wish something would happen to
the blasted thing" vowed Mrs. Oyen
earnestly.
Miss True nodded her assent and
laughed, while Jimmie gazed quickly
from one to the other, grinned mischieve-
ously, then darted through the kitchen
and out into the yard.
The old musician had swung into the
strains of stirring military march, sug-
gestive of the screams of pair of eagles
engaged in mortal combat.
"Mercy neil wish;" but Mrs. Oyen
did not finish the sentence.
"Look!" cried Justice, as Jimmie, who
was standing beneath the window from
where the horn projected, took careful
aim and swung his arm upward.
Suddenly the music ceased, and the
player started with surprise. His cheeks
puffed out as though ready to BURST and
he shook his instrument violently, but it
would not respond. Jumping to his feet,
he yelped, and loosed varied assort-
ment of expfetives in German, while Jim
mie ran to his mother for shelter.
The pot-belied old German, whose
baggy trousers made him appear as though
about to jump from the window, shook
his shaggy head, and nodded as he
pounded his trombone upon the window
sill and prodded it with stick. A pota-
to rolled out! He whooped and yelled,
shook his fist at the vacant yard below,
and threatened dire disaster upon the cul-
prit who had plugged his horn and bro
ken up his serenade.
"What made you do that?" Mrs. Oyen
somewhat sternly demanded of the boy
"Well, you said you wished that some
thing would happen to it,-didnt you?"
pleaded little Jimmie.
His mother relapsed, and her eyes
twinkled with amusement as she replied
"Sure did-but had no idea that you
would 60 and plug his old horn with a
potato"
The women exchanged winks, and JUS
tice opening her purse, took out dime.
"Here Jimmie; run and buy yourself some
apples now, but please don't throw at the
neighbors any more, will you sonny?"
eyes mani mean no man," stam-
mered the boy as he accepted the dime,
and started on a run for the fruitstand
around the corner. He soon returned,
bringing with him a ragged little urchin
of about seven years of age. Both kids
were crammipp the;r mouths with prea+