Plymouth banner. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1852-1855, 1854-05-04
CHAPTER II.


Jim had been cleaning out The pig pen
and al the operation was rather lisa
} greeaSle one. he had fortified his oifacto
; ries. ty drinking an ino,dinate guam
thy Of New England rum.
The filthy stuff happily did not tax,
effect ON his brain till the job was done
The pig-pen was cleaned out, but jim
was in condition better fitted to &C
cupy i, than the neat while hoored Mitch
en- Of his cottage. But jim did not re
alize the unpleasant truth, and leaving
his shovel aud hoe in The sty. stsggerel
to The house.
He was sight TO behold" as Mrs
Scrcgeins told the minister. The job hs
had Iust completed was essentially dir
iy one, and jim. as we have remarked,
being prudent. had prepared himself to
do it without any detriinent 10 The neat
garments he ordinarily wore. He was
dressed in ragged sui, Of clothes. and
on his head res,ed n SHOCKING bad hat,
with the crown stove in and th~ arinl
half torn OFF. As the liquor began 10
fuidle him. he moved il over its pcrpen-
dicu.r position. SO that il rested quite
| iauntly on one side Of his head.
/ Jim settled himself heavily in chair
By the cooking stove. looked silly and
seemed disposed TO address himself to
slumser, his usual resort when inebtia.
! ted
Mrs Scroggins was mad at first. for
it wes only ;he day before. that Jim for
tie hundreth time. had promised never
to drink another tsop. not even in case
of sickness.
But what was the use of getting mad
with suci. poor. silly inbecile thing es
he was q. that moment. He was not in
CONDITION 80 appreciate a regular mat
rimoniai blow up. and she wisely resolv-
I'd 10 reserve the vials Of her wrath 10
Ae poured OF. at more convenient sea-
son.
She looked a, him and thought of los
ing TIE li:tie p!ace-of penurr. deCra
daiion and the peorAouse. A lucky tbo'l
arose. like the Phoenix from flames. out
Of the ?la,ion Of the dark pic
lure; and after few moments deliberu-
lion. she pu, on her bonnet and cloak,
and hurried over 70 The vllpge net half
mile distant.
Fo: week previous a young daguer-
reotypest. wish portable ss!lon--a kind
Of overgrown omnibas-had been de-
lighting TIE villagers by giving them the
seUbiance Of their faces. at prices vary
ing from nine shillings TO three dollars
per head, depending CT TIE value of the
case.
All the people in The town had been
daguerreosyped. and the omnibus man
was the most popular person in the vii
lage. All the GsmeG and maidens had
been taken and every Jonathan and Jehial
who could boast Of Susan. Ruth o.
Sally. was taken. with her by his side in
the picture. his arm thrown lovingly
around her neck. and locking anu,,eyably
affectionate.
But Mrs. Scroggins was not sentimen-
tai; she had gotten over that long before
Jim took 20 drinking. She proposed to
put the skill of the daguerreotyp:st TO q
more practical use than winning the
good will of q lover.
She entered the saloon. and though ne-
heart did beat little at the degrade
ton of exposing the condition of her do
nestle relations to an entire stranger,
she demeaned herself with all the firm
ness becoming The trying occasion.
Fortunately for her, all the people in
the town had been taken and it was
dry time with the artist. In as few
words as possible she stated the case to
him. and the young gentleman readily
promised cooperation.
Taking his apparatus under his crm.
he accompanied Mrs. Scroegins to the
cottage where Jim was sleeping off the
effects of the vilainous New England.
The inc ebriate sat in precisely the same
position in which his wife had left him.
He was asleep in high backed chair.
which kept his head up, so that every
thing was favorable to the sitting.
In trce Jim Scroggins' old hat. rag
ged cloths. long beard. dozing drunken
expression and oil was transferred TO the
plate.
But the picture did not suit the artist;
he thought one taken when the sitter was
awake would be more correct represen-
ta'ion. Mrs. Scroggins thuoghs SO too.
and when the srtis, had put in a new
p ate. she walked him up
What dye want" asked Jim with |
yawn.
wake up and the lady geve him
smart pinch which opened his eyes Civ
ing out the true expression Of the
drunkard.
The artist was prompt. and in an in
slant edition second of Jim Seroggins
was on the plate.
The original not being required for
further use. was suffered 10 sink away
and complete his nap. The pictures
were put into frame. and Mrs. Scrog-
gins produced her money.
"Nothin. mann, shall not charge
you anything" !