The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-02-25
AshIey's Feas ln melon steaIlngg

Ab Ashley was real I've Hoosier, noto.
fious for everything In general, and stealing
nelvns In particular. o In melon time, be
was the dread Of the whole neighbOrhOOd,
fot when he visited patch. he made Il q
rule never 10 leave until il was entirely deS.
ifoyed. This was a Singular trait Of his
character -rsomethiHg unsccoGEsabie-iOr,
asids from that. he was considered one Of
The, best fellows 10 the world. Stealing
melons, and plundering patches, seemed to
De partof his nsthrs. for itWas evident 'ha,
i did not arise from any niggefiy disposition
or selfish motives. He was real open
hearted kind OF an individual, always grow
ing more melons than anybody else, and
giving them away more freely than anybody
else. They were no Sbject to him, yet be
could not resist the Temptation to steal from
bic neiehbors, just for The fun OF the thing.
But 40 some one said, 'sIt isa long lane that
has no turn;" and likewise had Ab followed
the practice Of stealing melons ell his life
he would have Got TO be \ melon, thief Of
long standine.l1 But such state Of things
was not destined 10 iast aiwaya--"A change
came ovsr the spirit ofshis dream" re.
collect once,a in a melon season, some
youngsters called at Abs house, and after
telling him Of the finey patca that Deacon
Aikers had, proposed to visit it. Alb was on
hand without momenrs hesitanee, and SO
the company set out as Il was fairly dark
Before proceeding further, 1 may say Of Ab,
in the language of the poet. "He loved
whiskey;;" as we'll as he did melons, and the
boys in whose company he was, having look
ed to the future and brought alonQ boun.
tiful supply Of tho "good csitter," he was
soon enjoying himself hugely. Round and
round went the bott'e. They soon got to
be very merry--so much 60 that apparently
they paid no attention to road or path, but
went right through the woods and brush. the
same as il they had been walking on barn
floor. '''' a..........., F,
AT length, after winding about In various
ways, and overcoming many obstacles, such
as fallen trees and worm fences, that lay in
their route, they arrived at the patch and
pitched over the inclosure. Ye Code, what
a sight! There lay the huge melons, SO
thick that our adven,uren could scarcely
walk for them. There lay great meafy
"red cores" apparently calling out in their
own language, "'Arise, slash and ent!'--
They were none Of your little, long. "wiz'
zed up" things, such as find their way 10
the market stands, and which one would
suppose had fallen from the vine in fit Of
the "blue devils," but they were plump
Jolly, good natured fellows, many Of which
were already showing their red interior,
having apparen.ly burst their sides. with
laughter. Abwss right in his glory, and
30, hsuling out his j'ck KNIFE. he fell to
.Iashihg around with . vengeance The
others followed his example, and very soon
there was sad havoc in the melon patch.
Having satisfied his appetite, Alb set to
stamping and crushing all tnat came IN his
wsy. 1 - -.,. ,r.
heother boys hesitated TO participate Al
hrst, urging that 1t was really too b q tc
treat the old deacon in euch manner; bu
Alb swore that II was really good enough io'
the old hypocrit0, and he woGld not leave a
long q there was a melon with awao'e h'ds
Elna'ne 'ne'e was "o s'0pp'"s "''" '"e'
lent "ano 10 t"e Per'o'"0"ec, 1'' l''' '"u ''.'
soon, every melon was destroyed; no' oni'
.ns'' o"' Inc vine. were Pu''eo anu HssP''
IN one corner o. sne pstca'
NOW sa'o AO. mourning tue pre- w"..'
wD soms nv OF 'n 'set "s", ,s, s ~
o'ack Oo'!le' ano icy ms 0''nk 'hs o'u DsA
cons hea''n-7'nat so'0 man ~ "o"o' .
Ewhom we hese just e'ec'e0 'n" ,.''O''' "'0"o
"sn" s.5s4 aal +, tfye.,,, ..
Ane 0os''e was PASSED. '.'f az ssE'"'
IL deacon Alker'--msy he.s'Ne " P''"
many.a pa'en llks 'n's' A"a nv ASn'ey ,n
n'' i'o"ss 10'',, "s'o ' '"' "o'' -. = = 80
'ur 'm' a5.ayyB. i ~! s. -.
HAS went rou"u tntes '"ss. s''eF ""''
the bottle 'safseo' ana maoe IKE "u"O'
OF revolutions y . VIZ. ...., g. q,
''N0"' iOten me tna' Po'e yonoer' ',''
erect : '''andaFo' 'o snow he' man mas Oee
q 'he summ't' ana the WORK VIII w. o0"''
said Ab' a "