Then Mrs. Bartholomew sent the boys into Partridge"s, next door, and she closed the shutters, locked all the doors and went into the yard to await further developments. When she got outside, she saw Bartholomew on the roof kneeling on the trap-door, which he kept down only by the most tremendous exertions. Then he screamed for somebody to come up and help him, and Mr. Partridge got a ladder and a hatchet and some nails, and ascended. Then they nailed down the trap-door, and Bartholomew and Partridge came down the ladder together. After he had greeted his family, Mrs. Bartholomew asked him what was the matter, and he said,
"Why, you know that little baby-bear I said I"d bring Charley? Well, I had him in a box until I got off the train up here at the depot, and then I thought I"d take him out and lead him around home by the chain.
But the first thing he did was to fly at my leg; and when I jumped back, I ran, and he after me. He would"ve eaten me up in about a minute. That infernal Indian must have fooled me. He said it was a cub only two months old and it had no teeth. I believe it"s a full-grown bear."
It then became a very interesting question how they should get the bear out of the house. Bartholomew thought they had better try to shoot him, and he asked a lot of the neighbors to come around to help with their shot-guns. When they would hear the bear scratching at one of the windows, they would pour in a volley at him, but after riddling every shutter on the first floor they could still hear the bear tearing around in there and growling. So Bartholomew and the others got into the cellar, and as the bear crossed the floor they would fire up through it at about the spot where they thought he was. But the bombardment only seemed to exasperate the animal, and after each shot they could hear him smashing something.
Then Partridge said maybe a couple of good dogs might whip him; and he borrowed a bulldog and a setter from Scott and pushed them through the front door. They listened, and for half an hour they could hear a most terrific contest raging; and Scott said he"d bet a million dollars that bull-dog would eat up any two bears in the Rocky Mountains. Then everything became still, and a few moments later they could hear the bear eating something and cracking bones with his teeth; and Bartholomew said that the Indian out in Colorado told him that the bear was particularly fond of dog-meat, and could relish a dog almost any time.
At last Bartholomew thought he would try strategy. He procured a huge iron hook with a sharp point to it, tied it to a rope and put three or four pounds of fresh beef on the hook. Then he went up the ladder, opened the trap-door in the roof and dropped in the bait. In a few moments he got a bite, and all hands manned the rope and pulled, when out came Scott"s bull-dog, which had been hiding in the garret.
Bartholomew was disgusted; but he put on fresh bait and threw in again, and in about an hour the bear took hold, and they hauled him out and knocked him on the head.
Then they entered the house. In the hall the carpet was covered with particles of dead setter, and in the parlor the carpet and the windows had been shot to pieces, while the furniture was full of bullet-holes.
The bear had smashed the mirror, torn up six or seven chairs, knocked over the lamp and demolished all the crockery in the pantry.
Bartholomew gritted his teeth as he surveyed the ruin, and Mrs.
Bartholomew said she wished to patience he had stayed in Colorado.
However, they fixed things up as well as they could, and then Mrs.
Bartholomew sent into Partridge"s for Charley and the youngest girl.
When Charley came, he rushed up to Bartholomew and said,
"Oh, pa! where"s my little baby-bear?"
Then Bartholomew gazed at him severely for a moment, looked around to see if Mrs. Bartholomew had left the room, and then gave Charley the most terrific spanking that he ever received.
The Bartholomew children have no pets at present but a Poland rooster which has moulted his tail.
CHAPTER XV.
_LOVE, SUFFERING AND SUICIDE_.
Peter Lamb, a young man who is employed in one of the village stores, some time ago conceived a very strong pa.s.sion for a neighbor of his, Miss Julia Brown, the doctor"s daughter. But the Fates seemed to be against the successful prosecution of his suit, for he managed to plunge into a series of catastrophes in the presence of the young lady, and to make himself so absurd that even his affection seemed ridiculous. One summer evening, when he was just beginning to make advances, Miss Brown came over to see Peter"s sister, and the two girls sat out upon the front porch together in the darkness, talking.
Peter plays a little upon the bugle, and it occurred to him that it would be a good thing to exhibit his skill to Julia. So he went into the dark parlor and felt over the top of the piano for the horn. It happened that his aunt from Penn"s Grove had been there that day and had left her bra.s.s ear-trumpet lying on the piano, and Peter got hold of this without perceiving the mistake, as the two were of similar shape. He took it in his hand and went out on the porch where Miss Brown was sitting. He asked Miss Brown if she was fond of music on the horn; and when she said she adored it, he asked her how she would like him to play "Ever of Thee;" and she said that was the only tune she cared anything for.
So Peter put the small end of the trumpet to his lips and blew. He blew and blew. Then he blew some more, and then he drew a fresh breath and blew again. The only sound that came was a hollow moan, which sounded so queerly in the darkness that Miss Brown asked him if he was not well. And when he said he was, she said that he went exactly like a second cousin of hers that had the asthma.
Then Peter remarked that somehow the horn was out of order for "Ever of Thee;" but if Miss Brown would like to hear "Sweetly I dreamed, Love," he would try to play it, and Miss Brown said that the fondest recollections cl.u.s.tered about the melody.
So Peter put the trumpet to his lips again and strained his lungs severely in an effort to make some music. It wouldn"t come, but he made a very singular noise, which induced Miss Brown to ask if the horse in the stable back of the house had heaves. Then Peter said he thought somebody must have plugged the bugle up with something, and he asked his sister to light the gas in the entry while he cleaned it out. When she did so, the ear-trumpet became painfully conspicuous, and both the girls laughed. When Miss Brown laughed, Peter looked up at her with pain in his face, put on his hat and went out into the street, where he could express his feelings in violent terms.
A few nights later the Browns had a tea-party, to which Mr. Lamb was invited. He went, determined to do his full share of entertaining the company. While supper was in progress, Mr. Lamb said in a loud voice,
"By the way, did you read that mighty good thing in the _Patriot_ the other day about the woman over in Bridgeport? It was one of the most amusing things that ever came under my observation. The woman"s name, you see, was Emma. Well, there were two young fellows paying attention to her, and after she"d accepted one of them the other also proposed to her and as she felt certain that the first one wasn"t in earnest, she accepted the second one too. So a few days later both of "em called at the same time, both claimed her hand, and both insisted on marrying her at once. Then, of course, she found herself face to face with a mighty unpleasant--unpleasant--Er--er--er--Less see; what"s the word I want? Unpleasant--Er--er--Blamed if I haven"t forgotten that word."
"Predicament," suggested Mr. Potts.
"No, that"s not it. What"s the name of that thing with two horns?
Unpleasant--Er--er--Hang it! it"s gone clear out of my mind."
"A cow," hinted Miss Mooney.
"No, not a cow."
"Maybe it"s a buffalo," remarked Dr. Dox.
"No, no kind of an animal. Something else with two horns. Mighty queer I can"t recall it."
"Perhaps it"s a bra.s.s band," observed b.u.t.terwick.
"Or a man who"s had a couple of drinks," suggested Dr. Brown.
"Of course not."
"You don"t mean a fire company?" asked Mrs. Banger.
"N--no. That"s the confounded queerest thing I ever heard of, that I can"t remember that word," said Mr. Lamb, getting warm and beginning to feel miserable.
"Well, give us the rest of the story without it," said Potts.
"That"s the mischief of it," said Mr. Lamb. "The whole joke turns on that infernal word."
"_Two_ horns did you say?" asked Dr. Dox. "Maybe it is a catfish."
"Or a snail," remarked Judge Twiddler.
"N--no; none of those."
"Is it an elephant or a walrus?" asked Mrs. Dox.
"I guess I"ll have to give it up," said Mr. Lamb, wiping the perspiration from his brow.
"Well, that"s the sickest old story I ever encountered," remarked b.u.t.terwick to Potts. Then everybody smiled, and Mr. Lamb, looking furtively at Julia, appeared to feel as if he would welcome death on the spot.
The mystery is yet unsolved; but it is believed that Peter was trying to build up the woman"s name, Emma, into a pun upon the word "dilemma." The secret, however, is buried in his bosom.
Peter professes to be an expert in legerdemain, and he came to Brown"s prepared to perform some of his best feats. When the company a.s.sembled in the drawing-room after tea, he determined to redeem the fearful blunder that he had made in the dining-room.
Several of the magicians who perform in public do what they call "the gold-fish trick." The juggler stands upon the stage, throws a handkerchief over his extended arm and produces in succession three or four shallow gla.s.s dishes filled to the brim with water in which live gold-fish are swimming. Of course the dishes are concealed somehow upon the person of the performer.
Peter had discovered how the trick was done, and he resolved to do it now. So the folks all gathered in one end of the parlor, and in a few moments Lamb entered the door at the other end. He said,
"Ladies and gentlemen, you will perceive that I have nothing about me except my ordinary clothing; and yet I shall produce presently two dishes filled with water and living fish. Please watch me narrowly."
Then Peter flung the handkerchief over his hand and arm, and we could see that he was working away vigorously at something beneath it. He continued for some moments, and still the gold-fish did not appear. Then he began to grow very red in the face, and we saw that something was the matter. Then the perspiration began to stand on Peter"s forehead, and Mrs. Brown asked him if anything serious was the matter. Then the company smiled, and the magician grew redder; but he kept on fumbling beneath that handkerchief, and apparently trying to reach around under his coat-tails. Then we heard something snap, and the next moment a quart of water ran down the wizard"s left leg and spread out over the carpet. By this time he looked as if joy had forsaken him for ever. But still he continued to feel around under the handkerchief. At last another snap was heard, and another quart of water plunged down his right leg and formed a pool about his shoe. Then the necromancer hurriedly said that the experiment had failed somehow, and he darted into the dining-room. We followed him, and found him sitting on the sofa trying to remove his pantaloons. He exclaimed,
"Oh, gracious! Come here quick, and pull these off! They"re soaking wet, and I"ve got fifteen live gold-fish inside my trousers flipping around, and rasping the skin with their fins enough to set a man crazy. Ouch! Hurry that shoe off, and catch that fish there at my left knee, or I"ll have to howl right out."