The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 16 November 1916, Page 61

The Family Circle

WEARYIN' FOR. YOU. Jes' a-weary in' for you—s. All the time a-feeling blue ; Wishin' for —wonderin' when You'll be comin' home agen, Restlessdon't know what to do— Jes' a-wearyin' for you ! > Room's so lonesome with your chair Empty by the fireplace there: Jes' can't stand the sight of it ! Go out doors an' roam a bit ; But the woods is lonesome, too— Jes' a-wearyin' for you ! Comes the wind, with soft caress, Like the rustlin' of your dress; Blossoms fallin' to the ground; Softly, like your footstep sound ; Violets like your eyes so blue- - Jes' a-wearyin' for you ! Mornin' comes: the birds awake; Use to sing so for your sake ! But there's sadness in the notes That come trillin' from their throats: Seem to feel your absence, too— Jes' a-wearyin' for you ! Evenin' comes ; I miss you more When the dark glooms in the door : Seems jes' like you orter be There to open it for me ! Latch goes tinklin'; thrills mo throughSets me wearvin' for you ! Jes' a-wearyin' for you All the time a-feelin' blue; Wishin' for you—wonderin' when You'll be comin' home agon ; Restless—don't know what to do— Jes' a-wearyin' for you ! PAULINE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY. Pauline waked up very cross and fretful. The day before had been her birthday and she had a party, and, truth to tell, had eaten too much. Then, each little girl—there were five—just as many as .she was years old, had brought her a present, and, looking at them all had been very exciting. Lucy's present was a little silver bracelet, and as she turned over in bed, she felt the unaccustomed band on her wrist, and for a moment could not remember what it was. Then she sat up in bed and took it off and put it on, enjoying the sensation very much. She thought of the pretty little silver mug that Mabel had given to her and the white crocheted bag to be carried to Sunday school that Martha had presented to her. Willie and Charlie had each of them brought her a book and these two were not boys, as their names would indicate, but girls. As she sat in bed she almost decided to name the two new girls her mother and grandmother had given her after these two little chums with the odd names. But Pauline did not feel well, and she wanted to cry about it, but tried not to. She lay back in bed, feeling of her little stomach with the pain in it, and as she lay there, close up to the window flew Tom Titmouse, who had a nest in the juniper tree, near the porch. She knew Tom and loved to hear his cheery little chirp. ' Hello, Tom Titmouse,' she said. ' Hello, yourself,' he said to her, much to her surprise. She knew that Polly, who lived in a big cage next door could talk, but never had she heard any .other bird say a word.

' I did not know you could talk,' she said. * Neither did I,' replied Tom Titmouse, ' but that wicked cat of yours pulled me down and caught hold of my tongue and slit it, and to my own surprise I found I could talk. Now the next thing is to know what to talk about. I thought maybe if I came to your window you might give me a hint as you always seem to have enough to say.' ' Wli you just talk about the things that happen,' said Pauline. ' You talk about toast at breakfast and going downstairs with father, and about your birthday and all kinds of things,' said Pauline, who gave a little gasp as she thought of all the things she had eaten yesterday. ' I don't see how you could get along at all if you did not say your prayers at night and in the morning when you don't forget to.' ' Well, there is something in that,' said Tom Titmouse, but for my part I should rather sing my prayer. But you really ought to do something with that yellow cat,' he said. ' I do not see what people want with an ugly old cat like that. . It is forever prowling around my juniper, and I have to keep on guard all the time lest it nab me.' ■' Would you rather talk about the cat than sing V said Pauline. ° / Ah, you have me there,' said Tom Titmouse. ' I am just like the rest of you, talking about my own silly affairs, when there is such a big, beautiful world to sinoin.' & Just at that moment Pauline screamed, for over the shoulder of Tom Titmouse she saw the ugly face of the yellow cat, and quick as a flash the cat had" grabbed the bird. Pauline screamed again and her mother came running into the room. ' What is it, darling?' she said. ' Oh, mother, that old yellow cat has caught Tom Titmouse and is going to kill him, and Tom has just learned to talk.' ' My little girl has been dreaming,' said mother, ' because the yellow cat is sitting right there in your own window and on this side of the screen, so could not have caught Tom Titmouse.' Pauline was still crying, but her mother took her in her arms and rocked her, and then the nurse came up and brought all her pretty birthday gifts and a pair of roller skates that had come in the postal delivery, and Pauline was as cheerful as could be in a short time, but she could not hear to look at the yellow cat for a long time afterwards. THE PLATELAYER'S STORY. Story-telling was in progress in the village pub., and the next in turn was a railway platelayer. Round him gathered an expectant audience. ' It was just such a night as this,' he began, 'bright and clear. I was going down the line, when I. saw before me, lying right across the rails, a great beam. For a moment my heart stood still. Then a distant rumble warned me that the midnight mail was approaching. With a great effort I flung myself between the obstruction and the line, and the train passed unharmed.' There was a thoughtful silence after he had finished speaking. Then somebody said : ' If you couldn't lift the beam, how did the tram get over it?' ' Yes,' another interposed, ' and if you flung yourself "between the obstruction and the express, why didn't you get killed V ' Both questions are easily answered,' said theplatelayer, sidling towards the door. ' The obstruction was a moonbeam, and I jumped forward so that my shadow took its place. Then ' He got outside just in time. IT MADE NO DIFFERENCE. # An army cook had been very busily engaged preparing a substantial meal for the troops at the front r

and at an awkward moment he missed a pudding from his stock of edibles. He made a diligent search without success. Then he inquired of a healthy-looking ' Tommy ' if he had seen the missing pudding. ' Ah,' said 'Tommy,' candidly, ' Aw've 'etten it!' ' Tha's 'etten it, 'as ta ? Well, what's ta dun w't' cloth?' ' Wha,' said ' Tommy,' laconically, ' wor there :>ne on?' A SYMPHONY IN PUNS. During the sermon one of the quartet fell asleep. ' Now's your chants,' said the organist to the soprano: 'see if you canticle the tenor.' ' You wouldn't dare duet,' said the contralto. ' You'll wake hymn up,' suggested the bass. ' I can make a better pun than that, as sure as my name's Psalm,' remarked the boy who pumped the organ : but he said it solo that no one quartet. POETRY AND MATHEMATICS. It is often the case that great mathematical minds are incapable of appreciating poetry. There was once a mathematical tutor in one of our great Universities who was in the habit of boasting that ho neither knew nor cared to know anything about poets or poetry, and considered it all 'a lot of unpractical rot.' A certain brother tutor was very anxious to convert him to the admiration of fine poetry, and by way of accomplishing this gave him the famous 'Charge of the Light Brigade' to read. The mathematician took it up and began to read aloud, thus: ' Half a league, half a league, half a league,' then he banged the book down, exclaiming, impatiently, ' Well, if the fool meant a league and a-half, why on earth didn't he say so?' WANTED THEM CHEAP. She sailed into the shop with such a haughty and dignified air that the head shop-walker advanced" with most obsequious politeness, and bowed her into the most comfortable chair in the shop. ' I want to try on some mantles, please,' she said. ./v large assortment was immediately brought forward for inspection. ' How much is this one?' she asked presently, after trying it on. 'Five guineas, madam.' ' That is much too dear,' she said, and, pointing to another, inquired the cost. ' That is two guineas, madam—wonderful value for the money.' 'The prices are outrageous!' she declared, after trying on one mantle after another and giving no end of trouble. 'l'm afraid you've come to the wrong shop, madam,' said the assistant, who had dealt with that sort of customer before. ' Oh, no; I don't think so.' 'But I do, madam. You had better try the gasfitter's next door. They are selling mantles from three pence halfpenny upwards!' DID NOT IMPROVE WITH AGE. Scribb and his wife were going to the theatre. . ' Will you please go upstairs and get my goats off the dressing-table ?' said Mrs. Scribb. 'Your goats?' queried the puzzled Scribb. 'What new-fangled idea have you women got now?' ' I'll show you !' snapped the wife. Then she sailed away, and soon returned putting on her gloves. ' Are those what you mean ? Why, I call those kids

'I used to,' replied Mrs. Scribb, ' but they are getting so old I am ashamed to call them by that name any longer.' • lie took the hint. NOT* A PATHETIC SUBJECT. The conversation turned on the effect produced on the emotions by pictorial art, when one man remarked : 1 I remember one picture that brought tears to my eyes.' A pathetic subject, I presume?' No, sir; it was a fruit painting. I was sitting close under it when it dropped on my head.' VERY THOUGHTFUL. Young wife: 'My dear, there is a gentleman waiting i n the other room. He wants-to speak to you.' He : ' Do you know him ?' She: ' You must forgive me, darling, but of late you have been troubled with a cough ; besides, you take so little care of yourself, andoh, if you only knew how anxious lam about you ! Suppose I were to lose you, love V She burst into sobbing and throws herself on his breast. He: 'Come, my dear, silly child, do be calm, do be calm. People don't die of a slight cold. Still, if it will pacify you, show the doctor in. Who is it? Dr Fallot, eh?' She : 'lt isn't a doctor, dear. It —it is—it is a life insurance agent !' WANTED A FAMILY TREE. John,' said Mrs. Atwood, thoughtfully, everybody in society appears to think an awful lot of genealogy these days.' ' Jenniewhat V exclaimed John, looking up from his evening paper. ' Genealogy,' repeated Mrs. Atwood. ' What's that?' ■ I don't exactly know,' replied Mrs. Atwood, ' but I think it's a tree of some kind. At least, I heard some ladies refer to it as a family tree.' 'Well, what of it?' ho asked. ' Why, it seems to be a sort of fad, you know, and everyone who is anyone has to have one, I suppose.' ' Buy one, then,' he said, irritably. ' Buy the best one in town and have the bill sent to me, but don't bother me with the details of that affair. Get one, and stick it up in the conservatory, if you want one. and if it isn't too large.' ' But I don't know anything about them.' ' Find out, and if it's too large for the conservatory, stick it up on the lawn, and if that ain't big enough, I'll buy the next garden in order to make room. There can't any of them fly any higher than we can, and if it comes to a question of trees, I'll buy a whole orchard for you.' Still she hesitated. ' The fact is, John,' she confessed at last, M don't just know where to go for anything in that line. Where do they keep the family trees and all such things?' ' What do you suppose I know about it V he exclaimed. ' You're running the fashion end of this establishment, and I don't want to be bothered with it. If the florist can't tell you anything about it, hunt up a first-class nurseryman and place your order with him.'