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Show I 4 5" Edward Riddle Padgett I' Snow-Bound J jrr M HEN Mr. Townbrcd climbed i gingerly out of bed the other j" ILyV H morning, on schedule, llicr-! llicr-! J ally to break the ico In the water-pitcher, he glanced out tho win- dow and stopped suddenly, amazed, i Out of doors It looked as though ' somo giant hand had collected all the snow thcro Is In the world and dumped ! 1 1 It down on tho Townbred's country n place, Five Oaks and vicinity. Great P drifts of It wero piled up everywhere, j, Tho driveway was as though it had I j never been, and tho front fence and . L gato woro Just barely visible. 8 "Geo whiz!" ho exclaimed. And ' j' then, as though that wero not sufll-K, sufll-K, ciently forcible, he added, "For tho " lovo of Mlko!" f Mrs. Townbrcd hoard him and called from her room. "What is tho matter, j Ruthvln?" I J "Look out your window, Frieda," he i ! called back. Mrs. Townbrcd did. And Instantly ; her thought was for tho stock. "Oh, Ruthvln," she exclaimed, "Uwonder if i tho chickens are all right poor Old ! Bob he's been suffering dreadfully i with rheumatism, as it is." Forthwith she was up and dressing and hurrying downstairs to And out 1 from John, the hired man, how her j chickens and pigs and horses and the cow had fared during tho bitter cold I night. I After a hasty breakfast, Mr. Town-bred Town-bred hastened to tho station to catch I his usual "Sovcft-thlrty" to tho city. ( Had tho snow been water, ono might , truthfully say that ho swam from his I front porch to tho cheese-box station half-buried by tho sldo of well, of tho placo whero the stretch of track was usually visible. Withal, it was good sport, for despite , tho cold and the pllod-up snow, and ' tho early hour, tho spirit of boyhood 1 which delights in wading through ncw- fallen snow, tho deeper tho bettor, welled up within Mr. Townbred and brought a sparklo to his eyes and a healthy glow to his wholo body. I' A half-hour wait at tho station , in tho cheerful company of the re-j re-j mainder or the dally commuters from ! Five Oaks and It waa definitely as-fi) as-fi) certalned that "the lino" was tled-up, j snow-bound. Not a car had got J: through that morning, It seemed, and it was doubtful if tho right of way rmrnn would be cleared before afternoon. So Mr. Townbrcd waded back home again Joyfully, and spread the glad tidings. "I'll call-up the ofllce," he said, 'and explain. Fortunately there isn't much work for mo today, so It won't mako any real difference. A day ofT, with nothing to do but loll around, won't go so bad after all. will It, Frieda?" And ho smiled broadly. It took him nearly a half-hour to get tho ofllce, since ho had to take his turn on the one wire which was not "down" as tho result of tho storm. And, with Mrs. Townbred standing by listening, he explained tho situation to "Old Dobbins," tho head of tho firm, winking comically at his wife now and then as ho bemoaned his fate. The voice at tho other end of the wlro was cheerfully censorious, and seemed to relish "rubbing in" tho fact Lhat any city man who was fool enough to llvo in tho country in the winter deserved Just such a calamity is this and many more of them. Indeed, "Old Dobbins" seemed to consider It a "Joko" and Inquired anxiously anx-iously whether or not ho could send out a relief expedition from town bearing food and a physician. So, it was' all settled pleasantly and Mr. Townbred turned from tho 'phono to revel In an unexpected holiday. Ho missed his morning paper, for not oven Ralph, the energetic lad who served It to tho countryaldo for miles around each morning and evening, even-ing, could get through the snow. And Mr. Townbrcd, comfortably ensconced In an easy chair before tho Are, was Just In tho midBt of an after-breakfast cigar and a magazine when Mrs. Townbrcd camo hurrying Into the room. "Ruthvln," she asked, "would you mind helping John a little? Ho Is literally lit-erally digging tho pig-sty out of tho anow and and ho has so many things to do in a hurry that that if- you don't mind " "Certainly! Ccr-taln-ly!" agreed Mr. Townbrcd instantly. "A little cx-erciso cx-erciso will be flno. I guess I can bo farm-hand on my own placo when necessary, ovon If I don't do it every day! I'll put on my boots, Frieda, and an old suit and is my sweater hanging hang-ing In the closet? You tell John I'll bo with him in a Jiffy!" For tho first half-hour Mr. Town-bred Town-bred enjoyed it. Tho rescued pigs ' s&&te498L greeted their rescuers with squeals of delight. Mr. Townbrcd himself poured their hot milk and middllngs lnto the trough: ho, too. plied fresh straw into their sleeping pen and, as additional luxury, tramped up to the houso and returned with a big basketful bas-ketful of chestnuts, gathered In the fall from their own trees, of course. Then then Mr. Townbred came to an Ill-fated decision. Ho should have returned to his flro and his cigar and his magazine. But, feeling good, he decided to help John with the rest of tho chores. So ho assumed an active part in watorlng and feeding Old duu, mo Jiorso or au work, and Lady Flirt, his boloved aaddlo-marc, and Sukey, tho cow, all threo of which pampered pets wero loudly voicing their disapproval at being a full hour bohlnd their regular morning feeding time. Though John had already fed the chickens, of course, tho boards and nests woro still to bo cleaned. And Mr. Townbred assumed that task quite as a matter of course. It looked easy but before long ho bogan to havo r77n rim . j a really healthy respect for tho amount of work necessary to the care of chickens. Besides, his muscles began to ache; and he was feeling tho cold. Yot he wouldn't give In, though Mrs. Townbrcd Town-brcd called to him repeatedly and urged him to do so. Not until lunch-timo did he. "knock off," as John expressed It. And what an appetite! He boasted all through the meal, too, of the great amount of work ho had dono that morning, and even ventured the assertion that, supposing John should suddenly be-como be-como 111. ho had no doubt but what ho himself could do the chores regularly reg-ularly just as though ho had been born and bred to it. That afternoon, beforo tho Are, Mr. Townbred began to have twitches in his back. Also, ho sneezed and sneezed and sneezed. By four o'clock lie was asking for hot whiskey and quinine: and by nine o'clock that night ho was certain ho was going to die. At that latter stage, with a man, It is always the wife's cue to send for the Doctor, despito all pro- i-Z' STTTi tests. Mrs. Townbrcd did so. Dr. Campbell came, lantern alight on the dashboard and his faithful mare Nelly, veteran of many sueli "calls," trudging bravely along through the snow. Being a country doctor, ho dispensed with the frills. In fact, he hadn't the slightest hesitation hesi-tation in ordering such old-fashioned remedies as a hot mustard foot-bath, plenty of blankets and a little medicine. med-icine. Tho next morning not evon tho spirit of Mr. Townbred, much less his flesh, was willing to get up and go to tho ofllco, though the cars were running run-ning almost on schedule. So Mrs. Townbrcd informed "Old Dobbins" of that fact, narrating the circumstances. Whereupon "Old Dobbins" tried to conceal his chuckles under an expression expres-sion of sympathy and concern. But he couldn't resist one "dig." "Tell that husband of yours, my dear Mrs. Townbred," he chuckled, "that If half the boys in tho ofllco are Winking comically at his wife, now and then, as he bemoaned Ills fate I on tho sick-list toaay because they I (orgot their rubbers or because tho Janitor let tho flro go out In their apartments, ho ought to know beforehand before-hand that a city man can't bo valet to pigs, chickens and a cow without a como-back. And ask him for mo If a steam-heated apartment with a few friends in for Auction wouldn't look good to him right now country place or no country place!" (Copyright, 1916, by Edward Riddle Tadgott). |