The Cheerful Smugglers

In the bustling home of the Fenelbys, the newest addition—a plump baby named Bobberts—has sparked a familiar parental dilemma: how to fund his future education without sacrificing the family’s modest comforts. Mr. Fenelby, ever the practical thinker, proposes an inventive “domestic tariff,” a tiny, almost invisible charge on every household purchase that quietly pads the boy’s college fund. The idea is simple enough to sound brilliant, yet it quickly becomes a source of endless chatter between husband and wife as they try to reconcile thrift with daily life.

As the couple debates the merits of charging a cent for a cigar or a soda, their banter reveals a charming mix of optimism and penny‑wise scheming. Their attempts to implement the tariff set off a series of humorous misunderstandings and small‑scale adventures around the house, turning ordinary errands into covert “taxes” that promise to secure Bobberts’ academic dreams. Listeners will enjoy the witty domestic drama and the gentle satire of early‑20th‑century family economics.