The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1851-07-16
The Mysterious Guests.

ed such celebrity, but went to an obscure |
inn, kept by man Of the name Of Du Long. |
They desired to have his bes, apartments,
spent a great deal Of money, relished the |
produce Of his wretched kitchen, and |
thought his adulterated wine perfectly gem
ulne. From day to day Du Long suppos>
cd they would continue their journey, and
proceed to the capital for that they had
come merely 10 see Calais, was an idea loo
absurd to enter anybody's hend. But so
lar from continuing their journey, and pro-
ceedipg 10 the capital, they did not inspect
what was worth seeing in Calais; for, ex
cept going out now and then 10 shoot snipes,
they kept close at home eating, drinking,
and doing nothing.
"They may be spes," thought the host,
'or runaways, or Tools. No matter. What
is that to me They pay honestly"
When he was sitting fan evening, over
a pint, with his neighbor and relation the
grocer, they used to rack their brains about
the mysterious guests.
"They are spes,' said the grocer, I" one
of then, squints with his left eye"
"a man may squint without being
spy," rejoined The host; ! should take them
for runaways, for they read all my news
papers, probably for the sake Of ADVERTISE
ments."
His kinsman then assured him that all
Englishmen spet d at least a twelfth part of
their time in reading newspapers. The con-
clusion TO which they generally came was,
that as the SAID foreigners were apparently
neither spies nor runaways, they could moi
possibly be anything else than fools.
Here the matter rested. In this opinion
Du Long was still more confirmed, when,
at the end off few weeks, one Of his guests,
an elderly man, thus addressed him.
Landlord" said he, 4" we like your
house, and if you will acquiesce in cer>
tain whin, 1t is probable that we might
continue Tor long lime 10 spend our mons
ey with you"
"Your honors have only TO give your
commands nm inn-kesper is by profession
.he slave OF all the whims that throng TO
him from all the four quarters of the
globe"
"You have. to be sure" continued the
Englishman, " had prodigiously large
beast painted on you, sign but your house
is only fly among inns, it scarcely cons
tans three tolerabIe rooms. and unfortun-
atey they all look into the street. We are
fond of rest; we want 10 sleep.
"Your watchman has a very loud voice
and then coaches roll the whole light along
the street so as to make all the windows
rattle. We awake every quarter Of an
hour to curse them, and fall asleep again to
be walked in another quarter Of an hour.
You must admit, my dear fellow, thst this
is enough to destroy our health, and ex>
haust our patience"
The host shrugged his shoulders.
"How can it be helped ?"
Every easily" replied the stranger, If
you are not afraid of little expense in
which we will 60 halves, without requiring.
at our departure, the slightest compensation" /"
Du Long, whose barren field had, since
the arrival Of the Englishmen, been daily
fertilized with shower of guineas, promised
to do all that lay in his power to satisfy his
worthy guest but he could not help the rat
tling of the coaches and believing Of the
Waterman.
" Neither is it necessary" answered the
stranger. Behind your house you have o
little garden, though you are no lover Of
gardening; for, except little parsley for
your soups, observe nothing in 1t but net
ties. The old gardcn-wal, too, in spite Of
its thickness, is just ready to tumble. Sup>
pose you we're to make use of this space to
run up little building as a sort of a pleas
ure-house, even il i, were to contain no more
than couple of rooms. 1t might be sup
ported by the old wall, by which means a
: considerable part Of the expense might be
2 spared, and the wall itself propped up. As
just mentioned, for the sake of ouie,
9 lodging we would willingly defray half the
: costs, and when we are gone, the building
E shall be yours; You will then have an add.
tional couple Of convenient rooms to let. II
on the other hand you object to our propo-
, sal, we must leave you, immediately"
= The host, however, had not the least OBJ
f lection, though he thought within himself
) My kinsman and were right enough in
concluding that they were FOOLS"
He Immediately sent for brick layer, the
place was examined. and the Englishmen n
described what they should like to have
done. Joists and brick were quickly brought;
with these slight wall was built; three old
garden walls formed the fourth, from which
sloped roof, so that the whole looked more
like wood-house Than habitation; but the
strangers were satis6ed Du Long laughed
in bis sleeve. Two months thus passed in
natural content; the golden spring flowed a.
: bundantly, though the wine grew worse and
worse every day. The two Engshmen
very seldom quilted their lodgings, where
they ate. drank. and read The newspapers.
The only thing which surprised the land.
lord of the Golden Elephant was. tha. Tor
the sake of nocturnal repose. they had built
a house for themselves, snd that now ho often
perceived light the whole night through in
their apartment, lie at once eonisctured
that they were eoiners; but as all tho money
they spent passed through his hands, and
fhAlr Oainaaa aft a