 | Life and sayings of Mrs. Partington and others
of the family |  |
OLD ROGER AND THE BOARDERS.
Old Roger attempted the following upon the boarders
one morning. They were all sitting quietly at
breakfast, when, with a most provoking smile around the
corners of his mouth, as if he himself fully appreciated
what he was going to say, he asked if any of them could
tell him why a man deeply impressed with reverence was
like a very hungry one. The idea of hunger associated
with the bountiful board at which they were seated,
caused the blood to rush through every vein of the landlady's
body, to her face, for she felt hurt. The boarders
all said they did n't know, — they could n't see the least
resemblance.
“Why,” said he, chuckling, “it is because he inwardly
feels a gnaw.”
They could n't understand that he meant “an awe,”
and he said it was no use talking to men whose stomachs
were full of the bounties of life. This he said to propitiate
the landlady, who was all smiles again, as bright
and sparkling as the coffee in his cup, which, catching
the rays of the sun, danced and shimmered on the wall
overhead.
| Life and sayings of Mrs. Partington and others
of the family | |