Year: 1872

Lu!ilGN llOii AuI Iol'O ~ DAoNS''
with him from Geneva q minla
turc musical box, long and very
narrow, and altogether Of hardly
greater dimensions, say, than 4
large pocket-knife. The instru'
ment played four cheerful little
tunes for the benefit Of the Bangs
family, and they enjoyed it very
much. Young William Bangs ell
.joyed it to such an extent that,
one day just after the machine
had been wound up ready for ac-
ton, he got up sucking the end
of it, and in a moment Of inadver-
tence it slipped and he swallowed
the whole concern. The only i'm
mediate consequence Of the acci-
dent was that a harmonic stom-
ach-achc was Immediately organ
lied upon the interior Of William
Bangs, and he experienced a rest
lessncss which he we'll knew
would defy the soothing tenden-
cies Of peppermint and make a
mockery Of paregoric.


And William Banks kept his Sc
cret in his own soul, and in his
stomach also, determined to hide
his misery from his father and to
spare the rod to the spoiled child
spoiled at any rate as far as his
digestive apparatus was concerned.


But that evening at the supper
table W. Bangs had eaten but one
mouthful o. bread when strains Of
wild, mysterious music were sud
denly waited from under ;he Ia
bic. The entire family immedi-
ateIy CROPPED around upon the
floor, trying to discover whence
the sounds came, although Will
liam Bangs sat there filled with
agony and rcmorse, and bread
and tunes, and desperately assert
ed his belief that the music came
from Mary Ann, who might per-
haps be playing upon the harp or
the dulcimer in the cellar.


He we'll knew that Mary Ann
was unfamiliar with the harp, and
that to her- the dulcimer was as
much an insolvable problem as it
would have been to a fishing
worm and he was aware, that
Mary Ann would have scorned,
under any circumstances, to evoke
music while sitting upon the re-
frigcrator or reposing in the coal
bin. But he was frantic with
anxiety to hide his guilt. Thus
it is that one crime leads to an
other.


But he could not disguise the
truth forever, and that very night,
while the family was at prayers,
William Bangs all at once got the
hiccups, and the music box start
ed off without warning with "a
Life on the Ocean Wave and a
Home on the Rolling Deep: with
variations. Whercupon the pater-
nal Bangs arose from his knees
and grasped William kindly but
firmly by bis hair and shook him
up, and inquired what he meant
by such conduct. And William
threw out a kind Of a general idea
to the effect that he was practi-
cling something for a Sunday
school celebration, which old
Bangs intimatcd was a singularly
thin explanation.


Then they tried to get up that
music-box, and every time they
would seize young William by the
legs and shake him over the sofa
cushion, or would throw some
fresh variety Of emetic down his
throat, the harmonium within
would give q fresh squirt and joy
ously grind out "Listcn to the
Mocking Bird" or "Thou'lt Never
Ccase TO Love"


So they abandoned the attempt,
and were compelled to permit the
musical-box to remain within the
sepulchral reccsscs Of the epigas.
trium Of William Bangs. TO say
that the unfortunate victim Of the
disaster was made miserable by
his condition, would be to express
in the feeblcst manner the state
of his mind. The more music
there was in his stomach the
wilder and moro completely cha
otic became the discord in bis
soul.


Just as likely rs not it would
occur that while he lay asleep in
bed in the middle of the night the
melody works within would be-
gin to revolve, and would play
'Home, Sweet Home" for two OF
three h"urs, unless the peg hap
pened to slip, when the cylinder
would slip back agaiA to 'Llte or
the Ocean Wave and Home or
the Rolling Deep" and would rat
tie out that tune with variations
and fragments Of the scales unit
! William Bangs brother would
kick HIM out Of bed in wild de
spair, and sit on him in vain effort
to suhdue the serenade, which
however, invariably proceeded
with fresh vigor when subjected
to unusual pressure.


And when William Bangs wen
! to church it frequently occurred
It, L.