Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1849-09-06
@t9cellaNeoNs.
Light " eight.
BY 7 S. ARTHUR.

Is 0veIleach others, OvtrrcuUh themselves in III
A end. Tnis vas the case Nuh Farmer Edmonds
lie was laying up money as last as any of III
!" nelghD"rs, Wh"se means TT accumulation wer
no greater than hts own, and ought to have beer
q satisfied and thankful Bat unfortunately, ,h
q desires Of Farmer Edmonds, like those Of
grcal many rlner people, were always Il llIit
E ahead of their Iucume. Once week he CAM
Regularly 10 HE Pntladephn market, distance
of hIIcen miles, with has produce; and he ne,
er went home entirely satisfied with The Gmuuu
received for his poultry, eggs, buuer, fruit nj
vegetables uuIe>s prices were at the highes
mark on the scale. Thc wry face Of II custom
er who paid thirty -cight cents for pound oi but
Ter, or twenty five cents for "A dozen of eggs
was ii pleasant, rather than dlsagteeaOle oh.
. Jcc' to his eyes, for, SO he won, he cared not Il
lnrlhng who lost.
One day Mr.. G-, well known citizen
VINO had frequently bought from EdmondS, stop.
ped al the sail where the farmer exhibited his
various articles tor sale, and taking hold Of a
pair oi fac looking chickens, asked the price.
Seventy fhe,' replied the farmer.
The chickens were large, and Mr.. c.
did not think !he price high.
Are they young and tender? ? he inquired.
is it possible, said Edmu1ds, smiling in a
peculiar way, that an old matkerer like you
can't tell pair Of young chickens 2
Now Mr.. G. could buy poultry with al.
most any one. it was not often that n tough
old rooster or gobber was passed off upon him,
but on the present occasion, the words OF the
farmer completely disarmed him. OF course
the chickens must be SO tender that the skin
would almost break from looking at them, and
| he felt little piQued that he had not been able
to perceive this Instantly; so lifting them from
the hooks and placing them in his basket, he
said guess I'll take them
Seventy five cents were handed over ard
pockeed by the farmer without any compunc-
tons notwithstanding the pair Of blpeds sold to
Mr.. C., might have belonged to Noahs
meuugerle, for All the teeth of those who hap
pened to be called TO eat them would he able to
tell to the contrary. AS c. walked home,
he recalled the particular expression aud tone
Of the farmer. aid suspicion at all WAS not
right hlted through his mnd but he had dealt
with Edmonds for years. and though he had al
ways found him close and well up to the market
in prices, he had never detected him in seeking
to gain an advantage over a customer. lie
wished, however, that he had used his own judy.
menl in making the purchase, instead OF hnyIng
en- so equiyocaI Il recommendation as that Of the
former
If these chickens should be tough, he nut,
tered to himself IN threatening way as he
walked along, he's had the last dollar Of my
money!
Dinner time came, and Mr.. c. went
home from h,, place Of business As he sat
4 I /,
ems we're before him beautifully Drowned and
their sav"ry "dor penetrated The oItac,orv sense
with grateful promise OF good things for the
palate. The incident of the morning had left
rs prominent place in the memory AND no sus-
lcinu Of tunghnPss was ~ The M, d Of MIR.
q, as he drew, with an active hand, the
great carving knife alhwarl The sharpening
steel.
"A fine, large pair oC chickens, said Mrs.
q. What did they COST
'Three-quarlrrs.
'Thlt was not dear
! mo; | thought it reasonable.
If they are only tender Hannah said she
didn't lhlnk they were very young
wen soon see all about that, remarked
Mr.. g. a recollection of what had occur
red al the line of their purchase crossing h,
mind at the moment. Driving his fork into the
breast bone of one OF them, he held it firm while
he cut around n wing aud endeavored to sever
that appendage from the body; but the wing
was too firmly held IN lis place by sundry liga-
menls well developed by long use, to permit
an easy accomplishment of ;hs task. Mr. G..
however, had strong hard and good resolution,
aud against these, aided by a sharp knife, even
the wing Of Il seven year old rooster could not
long maintain defensive. The member at
length came off, bn, IN doing so was driven over
the side of the dish upon the table cloth.
Mr.. G. looked at the edge Of his knife
for moment.
My knife must be very dull, said he, or
else this chicken is as old as Mehnselah.'
A vigorous application of the blade to steel
followed. aud then the other wing was taken in
hand 1t came off about as easy as the first.
The legs were dlslocated and detached more
quickly, and in due time, the fowl separated in
TO portions according to the most approved rules
of carving, lay spread forth upon The dish but
this task had not been accomplished by Mr.. G.
without considerable muscular exerlion, which
was apparent from the beads of perspira,on
collected on his forehead and about his lips,
well, that beats all = he exclaimed, as he
laid down his knife and fork and applied his
white handkerchief to his face. The teeth thai,
go through that will need filing
Try The other, said Mrs. Co.; per-
haps it is more tender
IL it isn't we shall be bad off for dinner,
returned MIR. O., as he resumed his carver
and wen, to work on the second bird. After
severing one of the wings he gave upin despair;
il ~ no avon touuher Than inc first
How in the world did you come to buy snch
pair of fowls 2 said Mrs G. You
certainly never could have tried them
If had. certainly wonld never have bought
them EImonds has cheated ne once iE his lle