Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1861-01-25


hay must be wet, and Mrs. Simpson would
return in bad humoro But two objects
powerfully arrested IGeordy'sl attention
one was the .broth1pot boiling on the fire,
and the other the silver spoons, scattered
on the table, Bending over the former
Geordy took a considerable sniff, .gaveIthe
ingredients stir with the pot-stick, and
muttered, every thin" His proceeding
with regard to the latter must remain
unmentioned: but half an hour afterwards
when be was safely ensconced in a farm.
house q mile off, The family were driven
within doors by the increasing storm :;
they found everything as it had been
left-the broth ON the fire the cat on the
table; but not spoon was there, a., !
g Whar's the ,spoons?' cried Mrs, ,Simp-i
SON to the entire family who stood by the
fire drying their wet garments. Nobody
could tell! Nancy had left them on the
! table when she RAJ, to the hay, No one
had been to the house, they were certain,
for nothing was disturbed. The drawer
was pulled out and exhibited. Every
shelf, every corner was searched, but to
no purpose; the spoons had disappeared,
|
and the state of the farm house may be
imagined. The widow ran through it like
one distracted, questioning, scolding and
searching. Robin, Nancy and the farm
men were despatched in differnt directions,
as soon as the rain abated, to advertise
the neighbors, under the supposition that
some strolling beggar or gypsy might have
carried of the treasure to dispose of it
to the parish. Nobody thought of Geordy
Wilson; he had not been spied from the
hay field; his circuits were, wide; his
visits to any house were not frequent;
and if he eschewed Widow Simpsons from
! the day of her loss, it was because Geordy
knew that neither her temper nor her
liberality would be improved by that
circumstance. Lost, the spoons WERE be-
yond a doubt and the widow bade fair
to loose her senses, The rich relation
came at the appointed time, and had such
tea that he vowed never again to trust
himself at the house of his entertainer
But the search went on; rabbit holes
were looked into for the missing silver,
and active boys were bribed to turn out
magpies nests. Wells and barns in the
neigh borhood were explored. The criers
of the nearest parishes we're employed to
proclaim the loss; it was regularly adver-
tised at kirkgate and the market places,
and Mrs. Simpson began to talk of getting
a search-warrant for theubeggar's meal
pouch. @ Bathgate was alarmed through
all its borders concerning the spoons !;
but when almost month wore away, and
nothing could be heard concerning the
spoons, the widows suspicion turned from
beggars, barns, and magpies, to poor
Nancy. She had been securing the spoons,
and left the house last; silver could not
leave the table without hands. 3 1t was
true that Nancy had always borne an un-
questioned character, but such spoons
were not to be met with every day, and
Mrs. Simpson was determined to have
them back in her stocking. lAfter sundry
hints to Robin, who could mot help, think
ing that his mother was loosing her judg-
ment, she, one day, pumped the charge
to the utter astonishment of the poor girl,
whose anxiety in the search had been in
ferior only to her own. Though poor and
an orphan, Nancy had some honest pride;
she Immediately turned out the whole
contents of her kist (box,) unstrung her
packet in Mrs. Simpsons presence, and
then ran with tears in her eyes to tell the
minister 4odV id harr9i r3dr ha
AS was common then in the county
parishes of Scotland, difficulties and dis
putes which might have employed the
writeriand puzzled the magistrates were
referred to his arbitration and thus law
suits and scandal prevented. The minis
tcr had heard, as who in Bathgate had
not, Of Mrs. Simpsons loss. Like the
rest of the parish he thought it very
strange; but Nancy Campbell was one Of
the most exemplary girls in his cohgregal
tion--he could not believe that the charge