Show x LITERARY 1 r vAnd v And the Wish-bone Wish Did It s I CAN hardly believe that it has happened but it has Nell wears a diamond on the third finger of her left lefthand lefthand hand and she says that I gave it to tor r her I dont don't buying it in fact r I dont don't remember anything but that V r bonny lonny brown head on my shoulder and f those two luminous loving eyes shining shining shining shin shin- ing into mine But the fact still remains re re- mains Nell mains Nell and I are engaged For months I had trembled like an aspen and longed for the usual knothole knothole knothole knot knot- hole to creep through whenever she came near I loved her madly but alas I also loved her dumbly Even my eyes refused to speak for me They did nothing but gaze in the most imbecile t manner at the patent tip of her dainty little little boot while my hands fumbled stupidly in my trousers pockets as if ift t they ey expected to find the necessary 01 words tucked snugly away among the keys and coin P N Nell ell sly little rogue pretended not to notice my embarrassment She chose to tor r think me e ill My head ached badly she knew because my face was so flushed Cayenne pepper was an excellent remedy Should she get me some I really must take better care of myself How sorry she felt and how she wished she she could do something for me Then you and can two such very simple y words would tread on each others other's toes z and bump heads in a truly remarkable style in their endeavors to be first outi out i f But because more haste makes less b r speed they always got so tangled up in my vocal chords that by the time they tit had loosened themselves Nell was out l' l 0 of f. f hearing But blessings on that day of all days Thanksgiving And eternal blessings on the turkey that first decided to wear weara weart t a wish-bone wish and caused the rest of his family amily to adopt the fashion permanently On this particular Thanksgiving day Aunt Sue had invited us all to dinner 1 You may be sure that no regrets were expressed unless it was after the meal 1 was finished We behaved fairly well I Ifor for a jolly crowd until Nell stood up and brandishing her prongs fork-prongs upward in her right hand and her knife blade blad I downward in her left according to etiquette etiquette etiquette eti eti- 1 quette rule num number ber three exclaimed II I I speak for the wish wish bone bone N No 0 age before beauty cried D Dil l Hampton who never said an original thing in her life II No no genius and learning before either to I interposed N No 0 no no three times laughed Hal Brown True worth before mere seeming always j y And so it went on Everybody wanted the wish I I dont don't care who gets it sai said Ma Maggie gie Hill contentedly if the lucky one will wish with me Why not draw lots she added Good idea It said aid Hal Here Ill I'll cut the jelly on this plate into eight pieces and cover this napkin over them Now ow each of you get a pin and push it through the napkin The one that finds the biggest piece of jelly shall fasten his laurel wreath on with the wish It Agreed It cried Nell Will somebody please whistle the slow music Goodness Goodness Goodness Good Good Good- ness the breathless silence has fallen over the multitude already Oh Mr Wilton Vilton that isn't fair It she continued looking at me with mock reproach for forI I had won the wish We might have known who would get it It said Hal II If If the lot is the biggest part of anything to eat it always falls to Bob His instinct in certain instances is marvelous It Now that the difficulty is settled lets let's go on with the meal suggested Richard Wall whose cha chart t i iwas was marked marke 7 at 4 t. t ors wt All in favor signify f y it b by Y raising t the h e right aright foot said Aunt Sue In obeying this command my number eight struck Jones who sat opposite just below the knee I say old fellow he exclaimed have all the fun you want but I seriously object to shin Ye gods cried Hal have I lived to see my dignified bosom friend resort to vulgar puns It is too much too much That last remark does not apply to my dinner he added daintily lifting his knife and fork Ladies and gentlemen gentlemen gentle gentle- men men in elegant language pitch in Now through all the ages it has been beena a well-known well fact that a man is never nevermore nevermore nevermore more thoroughly at home than when he heis heis heis is eating Perhaps that is the reason I had the courage courage to look triumphantly into Nells Nell's bright eyes when Aunt Sue cleverly extracting the wish wishbone wish bone placed it it astride of the nose-gay nose beside my plate For answer Nell thrust just the tiniest bit of tongue through her parted lips and then quickly snatching the wish-bone wish disappeared Not stopping to o excuse myself I ran after her Away she flew up the front stairs down the back sta stairs through the hall into the library o out t through the low window over the veranda through the I Is s side de door up the front stairs down the back stairs through the hall and into the library again Here flushed and breathless her eyes filled with ten thousand thousand thou thou- sand and dancing mischief she paused Placing her herself elf behind the loaded book-loaded table she saucily waved the bone of contention to and fro Give me that wish-bone wish I demanded de de- S Say y please I I wont It belongs to me me Possession is nine points of the law s she e quoted still waving it teasingly But Ill I'll compromise You may have your ur old bone if you will let et me wish too H f c A AI I accept the condition Come forth Atalanta A firm pull left a very small piece indeed between my fing finger r and thumb I eyed it woefully Nell was in complete ecstacy This is another proof that right conquers might she said You have p lost your wish Im afraid I have I J sighed t What did you wish for she asked saucily S 'S You The answer was short hort but but ut it was was expressive Nells Nell's eyes suddenly took the extreme extreme interest in the toe of her shoe that mine had previously done Evidently she hadnot had hadnot hadnot not observed it carefully before Then she raised her head and said slowly A very modest wish truly but you d dhave have lost it I dont don't know what can b be bedone bedone done now unless unless she sh she held the bro broken en wishbone wish out to me me- me unless we change chang f pieces Then it was that I found her head o on 1 my shoulder I dont don't know how it got got there but it was there We were engaged engaged en en- I Nell and I. I Nell and 1 I l' l were were engaged II And am am I ever frightened of IH lie her r now Why should I be What big strong fellow like me was ever afra afraid d o oa of ofa a dainty slip of a girl wi with h glossy hair and dimples Not I surely A pl plague gu on on n all cowards s say I. I Max x d 4 4 J i r J. J i |