 | Life and sayings of Mrs. Partington and others
of the family |  |
THE FIRST OF APRIL.
“I never see the like!” said Mrs. Partington, as
she slammed to the front door, with a noise and jar that
set everything to dancing in the house, and the timid
crockery stood with chattering teeth upon the little
“buffet” in the corner. It was wrong in her to say she
had never seen the like, for this was the fifth time that
she had been called to the door by a violent ringing,
within half an hour, and had found no one there.
Hence anger — so rarely an occupant of her mind, but
so justifiable now — prompted the slamming of the door
and the remark, “I never see the like!”
It was the first of April, and the occurrence was the
more annoying for this reason. She stood still by the
door and watched stealthily for the intruder; tapped her
box easily and regaled her olfactories with a dusty oblation,
and held still. The peal of the bell again startled
her by its vehemence. She opened the door and looked
out, but no one was to be seen. As she turned away,
a string attached to the bell-wire, extending from the
banister, met her gaze, and, sitting quietly upon the
stairs, with a grin on his face that had a world of meaning
in it and a world of fun in it, sat Ike! How the
spectacles sparkled in the rays of her indignation! She
went for the rod, which had long rested on the shelf,
but it had been manufactured three days before into an
her anger cooled like hot iron in the air, and the rogue
escaped.
| Life and sayings of Mrs. Partington and others
of the family | |