A Slippery Affair.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 320, 28 November 1888, Page 3

A Slippery Affair.

Mrs Cublkujh had been f-eiubbing the oilcloth uodet the stove in the kitclien. Mr Cobleigh stood by the stove putting on a clean *hirt. At thi^ juncture, at the most painful junetuie possiole - a* Mr Cobieigh had his head entirely obscured in the sjarmeno— aneighbouiincj woman came upon the back stoop and kn >?ked at the door. It «as quite a start to Mr Cobieigh. He nulled away at the robe to relieve his eyes, and at the same time made a plunge for escape. It was a violent plunge. He put all the sfciengfch of his physical resources into ti? leap. He didn't strike against the stove or plunge ovcrachair. He simply landed with the tij'inq 1 foot upon the piece o F ?oap \vi»h which Mvs> Cobieigh had been cleaning* the cloth. For a single instant Mr Cobleigh's ipody paused— an in stantof terrific s-uspen^e, and then the soap started off, and Mi Cobieigh came down upon the floor wi*b a shock that knocked the neighbouring 1 woman from the stoop, and caused iVJis Cobieigh to sink unconscious wheio she stood—a shock that made every plate upon the pantry shelf dance and jing'e, and ?et the knives and forks wjthin their resting-place to" leaping over each other — a shock that caused the heavy kitchen (able to rear up on one leg as if in the delirium of a drunk, and made two vases sharing a, mantel on the upper iloor to nod threateningly > t each other acro-s the space that divided them. It was n terrible fall. Every timber in the building felt it, and f-hivered a? it came. T2\en the foundationstone? mo\ed. and the tremour pa&-?ed from them >-o adiiininj; shrub? and eet their tops to shaking us if a wind were passincr over them, while the aasli within the windows shook and rattled to such a degree as to threaten their complete dislodgment. It seemed as if esery flying bird and whispering- wmd and nodding: leaf knew Lhafc Mr Cobieigh had fallen, and was appalled thereby. In the meantime, the neighbouring woman recovered heivelt and sallied home straightway. Mr Cobieigh clawed his >vay out of the folds of the skirt and limped off to bed, and Mrs Cobieigh, coming back to consciousness, immediately proceeded to hunt up the soap.