Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1856-12-12

! dreadful oaths and have horr d secrets
and there's no knowing how many ther
are of EN-. and what they will do if yo,
offend any one of en-
You don't think Mr.. Pamboodl
would hurt us do you think 2 sale
Miss Starch, nervously.
But he saved my life y nterposct
Miss Mottlc.
But perhaps he did it a-purposc :.
said Miss Starch.
There's no knowing what these Odd
Fellows arc up to- said Widow Liver
growing suspicious. What should they
keep secrets for. don't think much O
people who keep secrets
No more do l. SAID Miss Starch sit'.
abominable.'
1t does seem as if it was wicked.
agreed Miss Mottlc but then he saved
my life.
In fact the three sat up till two o'clock
IN the morning, cogitating upon the
events of the day. The more they sur
missed the more suspicious they became
They slept soundly. They dreamed OF
crowds of friends, dressed in blue, like
Pamboger. stopping runaway horses,
driving away Bounccs, and numbering
elderly females, three in a house. Dor
othca was aroused several times to wake
them from nightmares, and they all
looked unusually pale at breakfast, and
told their dreams and indnlged in
fearful comments upon the Odd Fellows
tlll Mr.. Pambogcr arrived, at Just eleven
o'clock, bag and baggage, and saying he
was thirsty, called ior a drink the first
thing 4!
4 suppose you don't mean sperrits =
said Miss Mottle, opening her eyes with
surprise.
4 suppose do, hostess replied the
odd fellow, tossing his hat upon the So
ia and walking hastily up and down the
parlor, his thumbs in his vest holes.
Ill walk till it comes, and don't make
( it too sweet!
He gave her a look as he said this,
which convinced her that the spcrrits'
must come and aitera moments hesita-
tion. she went quickly to get the article.
Nv hat piercing look she said in
an undcr-tonc to her friends i was a.
going to say we hadn't a drop in the
house, but dassnt. He looked as if
he knew we had little, for our private
use, b instinct, l s'posc.' And she
stirred and tremblcl.
There's no knowing what these Odd
| Fellows know = they all exclaimed, and
thea took drink themselves, to steady
their nerves. 1t warmed them up so,
that they began to look upon the odd
customer with more favorable eyes and
after all thought they, Mr.. Bounce
knows him : and they had a long chat
with him till dinnertimc,- keeping a
bright look out for him, nevertheless.
/; is astonishing how much less dan
ger appsars, when we look it in the face
and measure our strength with it. Fa-
miliarity with peril robs it of half its
power.
Though the two elderly maidens and
the widow found Mr.. Pambugcr the most
extraordinarily queer man they had ever
seen. the most uniformly inconsistent,
they saw that death did not shoot from
his eyes, and that the earth did not
tremble beneath his feet; and gradually
they grew calm and confident, and he be-
came quite an interesting study. He
was equal to museum, menageric, or
whole readingroom of newspapers,
and was constantly in their thoughts
and on their tongues. He was evident
ly man of property and leisure, though
he kept his whole history to himself.
1t was not long before he made anoth-
I CT sensation in that household. Doro-
thea came every morning to the sister ;
three, with new and strange reports
about the oddities of his bed-chamber'
Sometimes she would find his wash
bowl hanging on the bed-post. his tow
ell tied in a knot. and the pictures turn.
ed. face to the wall sometimes the bed
s.ead would be in the middle of the
room, the bureau astride of it, and the
bed underneath, while the drawers were
laid together, bottom up. on the floor,
with the bed-clothes smoothly spread
over them, a couch for an ascetic the
mirror and the fire board would change
places; an everlasting parrot would be
complaining of her lot, under an inver-
ted basin with handle, while her cage
was occupied by rat, which he insisted
was q Chinese squirrel and presiding
over the whole crazy scene, suits loi
clothes were hung against the walls, as
to look like thin sentnels without feet
or heads. Encountering such odd but
harmless spectaeles, Dorothea had new
panic every morning.
Had this odd fellow been any body
other than Hodijah Pamboger, or had
his friend been anybody but the admir-
ed Borlcy Bounce, the charm which
spell bound that household would have
been broken, and such a state of things
would not have been tolerated for day,
but mysterious influence, acknowledg.
cd by themselves, prevailed over the
wondering trio; Hodijah appeared to be
harmless in his tendencies, and compass
sion mingled with their fears; three
leading questions being the subject Of
their daily thoughts: Who is he, why
is he so, and what is to come next?
Something soon did come. of a very