The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1851-05-22

A Yankee PedIer.

saw, for the first time, n regular-built Yankee
pedler equipnge. We had, indeed, previously
seen some specimens OF those travelling gU-oorto
containing combs, cigars, whips, mouseraps,
etc. which perambulate the regions OF down
east: but of the regular, scientific, itinerant
Yankee pedler, recently from the land OF blue
laws, this vas the first to meet our astomshed
and admiring eyes The vehicle itself might
pass for quite u respectable stage-coach, and
was, together with the horses, an article OF
traffic. 1t is principle with your genuine
Yankee to sell eUery thing, with the single ex-
ception of soul and body and there are not
wanting those who doubt even the validity OF
this exception Our pedler gentleman had con-
tracted to sell his coach at Pittsburg for three
hundred dollars, after the termination of his
adventure His horses he had sold at great
profits, to be delivered also when he had COM
pleted his voyage. We were sitting in small
tavern when our hero made his appearance, and
asked the landlady if she wished to buy any
knick-knacks, to which question he received an
immediate and decided-NO. An ordinary man
would have been discomftted by such recep
ton, but it fell on the Yankee as Intellectually
GAS lightning on an iceberg, when
On the impassive ice the lghtnings play"
With perfect GOODNESS, and deliberate step,
he marched to his locomotive shop, and reap
peared with u tin box about fourteen inches
square, and as many deep, which he placed on
the bar counter; the landlady all the while
protesting that she wanted none of his kick
shaws.
Without noticing in the slightest degree these
vehement EXPLANATIONS, our Connecticut philo-
sopher, who seemed mentally to reside at an
elevation absolutely inaccessible to the gusts
and blasts of petty emotions, proceeded to un-
pack his box, and spread its contents in orderly
array over the counter We there saw IN Illus
tration of the maxim that fact is stranger than
fiction" eIf we were in the habit of betting"
We would wager any reasonable sum that no
mortal man, seeing that innumerable variety of
articles, would believe that they all came out of
the tin box, could all be replaced i'll it. But
so it was. There were little cells for thimbles,
pins, bodkins, needles, jewelry, combs, tapes,
silks, threads, laces, bobbins, and an endless
variety of ct ceteras which have passed from
our recollection. That Connecticut gentleman
must have had great memory. He knew the
place for everything, and when he got hold of
article to repack it, it went by instinct to its
appropriate receptacle; and when they were all
repacked, and one could no longer doubt the
capability of the box, the spectators all felt as
the people of old did in regard TO Goldsmith's
echoolmaster, who wondered
"That one small head could carry all he knew
To resume our narrative. The glittering ar
ticles were all arrayed on the corner of the bar
The females of the household were speedily
congregated, and, charitable as We constitution
ally are, we must admit that they violated that
portion of the decalogue which forbids us to
"covet anything that is our neighbor's." The
landlady herself, strong as she felt herself to
be before being tempted, soon evinced her le-
gitimate descent from mother Eve and, hostess
though she was, she found that she had "count-
ed without her host" a.
ga change came DER her economic mind -
and she was soon among the busiest in negota-
ting the terms of bargain. In word, she
fell before the combined charms of a regular
assortment of Yankee notions.
To cap the climax, staid old bachelor, who
esteemed himself vanity-proof, and oft ex-
claimed, from the bottom of his heart,
'svain pomp and glory of the world, l hate ye,"
melted away before the meridian sun of temp
tation. He purchased a cashmere vest of fine
Quality-for the tin box contained but'a small
part of the stock in trade, and the coach itself
was complete shop, containing articles adapt
cd as well to masculine as to feminine occasions
We may as well say, in this place, that we there
first saw Webster's quarto dictionary in two
volumes
What queer event. to encounter the erudite
the recondite, the venerable and never enough
to-be-recommended Noah, at shdnty in the
woods-of the West
But, as we perceive we are spinning a long
yarn, We conclude by informing our readers
that it is fact and not ''fction," that the pro
prietor of the tin box did not yepaek until be
had received fifteen good dollars for goods
"sold and delivered"
So much for perseverance, and not being dis
couraged at o cool reception. We thought then,
and think now, that our pedler acted like man
Of talent, and one who knew the world, espe-
cially the fairest and best part of it-Boston
Journal
-OO-
There is but breath of air and q beat of the
heart hetwixt this world apd tbo nov+