M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1862-03-06
Of a building that looked ike an old
country school hoGse, | called ont
1Hallol the housep

| lleleucu phllSully, OUT uo EeepousS
came, on the contrary, my ears wele
saluted by one ofthe most unearth!y
noises | bad heard for q long time,
What it was | could't divine; it was
something between q grunt and @
groan and a yell, in shors ! couldn't
think of anything but that it must be
a very ugly man 10 mortal agony.
yelled again.
Halo ! tho house 2
Halo youiselfr came fromwithin.
The noise ceased, and the door was
carefully opened about one inch.
Who's tkerel' said q voice from
the interior.
'Its merely o traveller, who don't
know HE road exactly, and wants
advice t a'1e7
oh I that's all. You're 9 clever fsl
low, ain't you =
They call me so at home
Then come in. So saying, a long,
gaunt fellow, pbont forty years old,
opened the door, and | made my en-.
treo into what really was a country
school house. Three or fonr tallUw
candles were all the means OF illumi-
nation, aud the man who let me ia
was the sole occupant oi the ediiee.
slIow are you2 said he ~
How are youg said |. fars .s
you look cold, said he. a. 81.
Il am cold said III ils f'.e r.. I.n
You look tired, too.' '.ir'1 '..i e.
Il am tired r,,d ".e a, ..,.,s,,
You look dry, too.a v aa'rast
i am dry.'saI isIisRs o. 10 50. Hu1
well, said the queer customer,
leading tie way to tic desk, you're a
pretty decent sort cI a looking man;
come and take little old Monok,
gahsla,' and sure enough he produced
a bottle, to which did full justice I
promise you, and felt considerably re,
lieved after the operation. lthen said
to bim.' ffH
'Yon seem to be rather lonesome
here, this is not where yon live 2
Not precisely this is my school,
'otoi ytd keeP ,sOheol hora 2 ~.
Yes, singing schoOl-but the rain
has kept all the scholars away to night
and 1 have all the fun TO myself. I
didn't expect 'em much, but | though
I'd wait awhile, ana perhaps one or
two might drop in
u took quiet lock at the singing
master-there was nothing very Pc
culiar in his appearance, save that he
had evidently applied himself pretty
faithfully to his own whiskey bottle,
and was just about half seas over,
which rendered him tolerably loquaci.
hus.
Maybe you've heard of me- said
he, 4 am Byfeld, the great Bassoon
player a
'Y,s, Pm that very man--you have
heard Of me, ! expect
% yes, often, said /, but it would
have been difficult to tell where.
Did You ever hear me play q
y am afraid not
you ought to hear me accompany
nay scholars, but III give yon tune
or two anyhow r..
So moisteniDg his lips with another
drop from the bottle, he commenced
on his execrable instrument. And
such musicl After he had worked
away for while, | remarked that il
vas very fine. and thathe fully sus.
tained his reputation,
i guess | do said he 'for | never
intend to let that suffer. Do yon
know that / am the greatest Basson
playe. in the United States 2
80 have heard replied I, ,'aud
your performance fully justify all the
praises that have been bestowed up
on you.' aaea .s.t sa. H..
lam glad to hear yon Say So
shall / give you another tuneP
After liltle-but tell me, how can
| get 10 Rushville g r-es,..a .r.s 4.
You can't get there at all-the
branch is up higher than it has been
for twenty years, and the bridge is
carried away into the bargain-ycu
can't get across
What sm | to do--is there any tav-
ern here.about 2
No tavern within ten miles-take
sup Of whiskey, and I'll tell what
you can do. | complied.
Now the best thing to be done, said
he, ,'is' to go back to my house, the
other side of the woods
The other side oe tho woods ! why
that is al least three miles.' sa.as
1T is pretty nigh that, but | know
the road like book, and we'll make
arightpleasant walk Of it,
Pleasant but suppose it's about
the bestl can do any how sisGs
% yes, pleasant enough, saId tlfC
ainoipo master the. uraafest RaaaoAr