Year: 1877

other day, and in the course of the con-
versaiion he said.


"I'm going to move. I cant stand
those Thompsons next door to me any
longer. They're the awfullest people to
borrow things that l ever saw. Coffee
and butter sugar and flour don't mind
SO much, although when woman bor-
rows high priced sugar and Java Coffee
and sends back sand and chickory,
man naturally feels billions and mad.
But they've borrowed pretty near every
thing in the house. First it's one thing
then it's another, from morning till
night, right straight along.


"Now there's the poker. A poker is
a piece of machinery that you would
think anybody might go around and
buy, or, if they couldn't afford it, they
might use fence paling to shake up
the fire. But Mrs, Thompson seems to
banker after our poker. She borrows it
fifteen or twenty times day, and last
Sunday she sent for it thirtyfour times.
She pays boy 81 week to run over
and borrow that poker, and she's used it
so much that its all bent up like cork
screw.


Now, take chai RS for instance. She
asks US to lend her our chairs three
times a day at every meal, and she bor-
rows the rocking chair whenever she
wants to put the baby to sleep.


"A couple of times she sent over for a
sofa, and when the boy came back with
it he said Mrs. Thompson was mad as
thunder, and kept growing around the
house all day because there were no cas-
tors on it. Last Monday she borrowed
our wash boiler and we had to put off
our washing till Tuesday. She did her
preserving in it, and the consequence
was all of our clothes we're full of peaches.
I've got on an under-shirt now that I'm
mighty doubtful if I'll ever get off, it's
stuck to me so tight.


"Every now and then she has company,
and then she borrows our hired girl and
all the parlor furniture once because l
would not carry the piano over for her
and take down the chandelier she told
our girl that there were rumors about
town that was reformed pirate.


"Perfectly scandalous! They think
nothing of sending over after couple Of
bedsteads or the entry carpet, and the
other day Thompson says to me


"Butterwick, does your pump log pull
up easy ?"


"And when I said I thought it did, he
said:


"Well, would like to borrow it for a
few days till l can get one, for mines
all rotted away"


"The only wonder to me is that he
didn't try to borrow the well along wit h
it.


sand then on Tuesday Mrs. Thomp-
son sent that boy over to know if Mrs.
Butterwick wouldn't lend her our front
door. She said theirs was away being
painted and she was afraid the baby
would catch cold. When | asked him
what he supposed we were going to do
to keep comfortable without any front
door, he said Mrs. Thompson said she
reckoued we might tack up bedquilt
or something. And when l refused, the
boy said Mrs. Thompson told him if |
wouldn't send over the front door to ask
Mrs. Butterwick to lend her a pair of
striped stockings and horsehair hustle
and to borrow the coal scuttle till Mon
day.


"What in the name of Moses she is
going to do with hustle and coal
sCutte cant conceive.


"But they're the most extraordinary
people, Last Fourth Of July the boy
came over and told Mrs, Butterwick that
Mrs, Thompson would be much obliged
if she'd lend her the twins for few min
utCs. Said Mrs Thompson wanted them
to suck of a new bottle top, because it