Show t BETZVIIXE TALES i Aunt KkinocoLura Betz and the Coachman + Coach-man I fir V 1 rJ2y Ellis Parker BLrLt 7J Author of PigS is Pigs Eic r I JLLU5TRATED By PETER NEWELL n Aunt I Ilhlnocolura Betz has long t bnen the leader of Bctzvllle society t k circles and Justly so having always t eight more kinds of bottles of face i < wash on her toilet table than any other o oth-er lady but the real reason she keeps a carriage and coachman Is because be-cause of her wooden leg and not for I style But If a lady has to havo the n accessories of a wooden leg sho might tf 1 an well got all the style out of them 1 that she can If my head was very bald I would keep It so highly polished pol-ished that It would be an ornament Five weeks ago last Tuesday Aunt t lihluocolura received a letter from f her cousins wife In Washington that i > was full of brag about her new coach I that was dark tan In the upholster upholster suit and sho said sho had got that i particular shade because It just matched her dark tan coachmans complexion and that the whole thing was therefore very stylish It doesnt take much of a hint to 1 Inform Aunt Rhlnocolura what is nnnn n Inharmonious and sho dyed his hair accordingly It was a proud moment for her and Jabcz when they took their first drive Aunt Ilhlnocolura had the blessed satisfaction sat-isfaction of knowing she was right In style and Jabez had tho satisfaction of knowing ho matched tho upholstery uphol-stery as well as possible It was affecting af-fecting to see him lay his hand on the cushion of his scat and gaze at It with honest pride and all would have been well if it hadnt como on to rain As soon as It began to rain Aunt Ilhlnocolura told Jaboz to drive home as fast as he could for sho had doubts about the dyo being a fast color seeing it had not been boiled Into his complexion and Jaboz whipped up but the rain poured down on a slant right Into his face and on his hands and when he reached the barn ho was a bright and beautiful blue with streak of green all through it Ho looked like a mar bellzed coachman or an Easter egg They went right to work and dyed b r f 1 < I j f jfi t t I 11 t rjj I I ni ii l I I r = OG 1 I I roams r r I V e I it It uli = = r > PeterN well So They Did the Best They Could and Gave Him Six Coats of Dye what and as soon as sho had finished I the letter she called Jabez Wicks Jabez is cqachman to Aunt Rhlnoco lura and has been ever since her leg got cut off and he Is a faithful follow fol-low So ho came in and stood respectfully re-spectfully and Aunt Rhlnoc lura read the latter to him but as sho went on Jabez turned mighty pale The trouble t1 trou-ble was that Aunt Rhlnocoluras coach was upholstered in dark green and Aunt Rhlnocolura had a dark green dress of tho same shade At first Jabez shuffled his feet on the floor I y and then he gasped once or twice like a fish but Aunt Rhlnocolura looked at him with a stern but kind eye and so ho just said Gosh like a man that Is so surprised he ISo I cant say any more So that afternoon Aunt Rhlnocolura and her hired girl went out Into the back yard and Jabez rolled the coach out Into the light and they went to work on him with tho package of Absolutely Ab-solutely Fast Persian Dye They had to have the coach so they could match r t the color exactly It was a pretty herd color to mutch Aunt Rhlnocolura admitted afterward after-ward that It was a mistake to try n dye that was meant for woolen goods on the human face and it was not until they had tried and tried to get tho right color that they thought of reading over the directions and noticed Y no-ticed that they said Boil tho goods i in the dye When Aunt Rhlnocolura read that a sort of spasm of fright passed over Jabez Wicks face Jaboz was a faithful coachman but he A < seemed to have a llngorlngdlsllko to being boiled In green dyo and Aunt Rhlnocolura after she had considered the matter seriously decided she would not boll Jabez it might get a better color but Jabez wouldnt bo much use as a coachman lifter ho had been boiled So they did tho best they could and Eave him six coats of dye rubbing it In well and ateach coat ho came a little nearer tho shade 1 of the coach upholstery and at last Aunt lUilnocohiru was satisfied and said ho matched It well enough lIe 1 was a rich dark green except his < i hair which was red and after Aunt 1 Rhlnocoliira had stood on and off and studied him she decided his hair was < him up again and tho only thing they could think of to protect him against the rain was to varnish him So they varnished him They gave him one coat of varnish that evening and said they would give him another coat in the morning and then rub him well with pumice stone to give him a high polish and after that they would have no more trouble all they would have to do would be to rub him over with furniture polish on a soft rag every Wednesday But the next morning when they went out tc give him the second coat he hadnt dried The varnish seemed Just as sticky as ever So as they didnt know what else to do they sent for Jiggers Duff our popular painter and whltewasher and as soon as he came he shook his head and said he dldnl see that he could do anything He said there should have been more dryer in the varnish but that accordIng accord-Ing to his idea they hadnt ought to have dyed Jabez at allIf they had wanted a real good job they should havo given him two or three coats of flat green paint But ho said he guessed Jabez would dry sometime He said maybe it would take n month and maybe a year and that Jabez would always be rather sticky and that if ho dhl dry up he would never bo able to smile again for as sure as he did he would crack the varnish Jabez said that was all right that ho felt right then as if ho would never smile again anyway But It turned out all right The sand and dust blow against Jabez and gave him a finish like a gravel roof i and letting her dress and upholstery get dusty too Aunt Rhlnocolura had a pretty good harmony And when Ja bez wants to sandpaper anything all he has to do is to rub It lovingly with I his cheek Copyright 1909 by W a Chapman |