Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1851-11-10

'All right here, of course" said tht
clerk, pleasantly, as he looked in the face
OF Lee. ,-. y iii e
"lhe proof Of the pudding is the eating
Of it," returned the former, with affected
confidence, as he took a lump Of butter
from his tub His eyes, however, dropped
beneath the clerks gaze as he handed it to
him. The butter was placed in The scale,
and proved 10 be good weight. ..
"rry anotherl" said Lee.
The clerk reached out his hand and took
second lump, while Lee replaced the
first in the tub, This also proved 10 be up
to The standard. .....r ,--t..... ..-.s.
A third came out right also, and, but for
something in the manner Of Lee, who
could not entirely hide his uneasiness, the
clerk would have passed en-, satisfied that
all was right. ...-s... ssf.
The fourth lump was likewise full weight.
Up TO the point Lee had taken the butter
from the tub; but now the clerk Of the mar>
ket thrust in his own hand, and 10! the
the scale in which he placed the print flew
upwards. ..r .
sAha, my friend! What's the meaning
of this" he exclaimed, as he transferred
the lump Of butter to basket, and took
another from the farmers tub. f=f
The unhappy farmers whole manner
underwent q sudden change, and, spite Of
an effort at composure. every attitude and
expression betrayed his guilt. a..
The next print Of butter proved light al.
so; the next and the next; each in its turn
passing from the scale, forfeited, to the
clerks basket. E9z tssz @
"At your old tricks again, hap mu,tered
the clerk.
"Tricks!" exclaimed Lee, indignantly.
Blu, the clerk kept on transferring print
after print from the tub to his basket, until
half the contents Of the former had chang
ed places. By this time little crowd be.
gan to gather around Poor Laban Lee!-
He felt, as the saying is, as if he could sink
into the earth. - Il = ezesz 5s'- @ft-.ss sr
"What's the matter here?" would ask
one and another, as they peered, curiously,
at the imperturbable clerk. a, &"
'Caught in the very net, hal" said one.
"Why, friend Lee!" exclaimed another,
in whose familiar voice the farmer recog.
nized that of an old customer. "Who
would have thought ite' 't-' s-'s9
s'Yes; who would have thought it,"
chimed in another customer, whose table
had for months smiled with the cheering
presence of Laban Lees sweet new butter.
"My good sir," cried q waggish individu.
al, addressing Lee in grave voice, and
pointing, as he spoke, to pair Of ducks,
the property Of the farmer,-''as this man
takes so large lot Of your butter, you
ought TO throw in them ducks into the bar
galn..' = 80 ~+tH z''- 7--s..--. ..,'
: This was too much for poor Lee. With
an angry exclamation, he flung himself
away from the little curious crowd, and
retreating down the market house for the
distance of three or four stalls, kept out OF
the way until the clerk had finished his
work of confseation, which covered forty
prints Of butter. On his return, four pound
prints only remained in his tub. Lee did
not wait to sell these, but hastily collecting
his things together, withdrew in deep humil-
iation and chagrin. =..7s :.
The loss and gain of this butter specula-
ton was sadly on the wrong side. There
was not only loss of integrity, the heaviest
loss of all, but loss of money. He had
hoped to gam, by a sacrifice Of honesty,
the paltry sum OF three dollars; he had
made the fearful sacri6ce-fearful in the
eternal consequences it involved-and not
only lost his honor, but four times the
amount Of money he had hoped to gain
This was the loss Tor that day; but the
consequence of his sin and folly did not
stop with the going down of the sun =
When next market day came round, Lee
could not muster sufficient courage to face
his customers; so he entrusted fifty pounds
of butter-this time full weight, and a lit
tie over-to neighbor, not more honest
in heart than himself. This neighbor
found the temptation of some fifteen dol.
lars in his pocket more than belonged to
him, rather too strong, and on one pretence
or another, omitted to pay over. In fact,
ne had heard, while in market, the story OF
Lees adventure with the cerkhof the mar.
ket, as he turned it over in his mind came,
in the end to the conclusion, that he would
make it work to his own advantage. j,
Finding after repeated efforts to get his
money from this unscrupulous neighbor,
that he was really in danger of losing the
proceeds of fifty more pounds Of butter,
Lee said to him, rather sharply
aLook here! Pm not going to stand this.
Pay me my money at once, or I'll expose
you to the whole neighborhood.' a.
"You will; will you?" Coolly returned
the other. s,es.5 5.-. .f,,B.5
"Yes; will.'' s. s. 3.
"You'd better not.' .s....s5
There was . threat, as we'll in the words
as in the monner of the neighbor, that
communicated sensation Of uneasiness to
the feelings of Lee. 3s-t.sq ...
'2 "Why had better not? ha!' .....t
"Try it; you'll find out" was retorted.
81 will try it's .eaz
"Very we'll; and if, before three hours
pass over your head, the whole neighbor-
hood is not made acquainted with certain
butter speculation Of yours, Pm very much
mistaken. Hal What do you say to that?
So IF you're wise, you'H9just keep your
tongue between your teeth SO far Ms Pm