The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1863-03-17

I husband, Abraham Siooks, is hard NJ
wo,k Ia lhe cosicn-miil. 10 Aagu,iy.
4 6eorgy. HID make iwo o. thv- o
thai slim saplin."
Who. onainh. are Yep tbent
THIS inserrogatory was- addressed
by ihe old woman to the : slim sap
In" aforesaid, and il must be confess.
FED that tie vegetable phenomenon
thus apossrophisrd Was hardly ina
condition to tell who be was. 50 be.
wildered and obluscatcd was he BY
what he had just seen and heard
Not that be felt offend d a. the epithes
which had been applied 10 hbm. Cor 1t
that particular moment hsmlHAt have
been called ehIncepin.bush wilhoa,
thought Of resentment.
The fact Is. some notion Of whal aF-
forwards proved to be the true state
OF the case began to dawn upon my
mental horizon. though how TO ex.
plain the apparent inconsistencies and
contradictions Of the affair was utterly
beyond my power. At length, how
ever, an explanation took place, and
the mystery was found TO be easily
unrayellcd
As you have doubtless anticipated.
had, TO use the words Of the young
lady from Augusta, cotched the
wrong SOW by the ear" II seems
that the landlord Of the Washington
Hotel had understood me to inquire
for Judson, the smith, meaning the
blacksmith to whose house he direct
ed me- This individual was natural-
ly suggested TO bis mind rather than
the Judson Smith | was seeking. who
lived several miles from Woodville,
and with whom he had very little &C.
quaintance while Judson Me smith
was a regular topper at his bar, and
therefore very Familiarity known to
him. You viii remember that when
asked, or rather began TO ask. the
blacksmiths wife If that was Judson
Smiths domicile, she did not wait 10
hear the whole Of my question, but
took it for granted that her husband
was the person inquired for. Perplex-
ed and annoyed as | was, | never
thought Of entertaining a doubt as to
tic identity Of these people with the
Judson Smith, and II ] had, the coin
cidence Of the daughter married In
Georgia would have dispelIcd il, par
ticolarly when I heard her called, as |
supposed, Paulie or Pauline. never
thinking that il might be Polly, which
was the fact. Polly Judsou, II ap-
peared, had gone to Augusta, Georgia,
to work in a cotton factory, and had
there married Abraham Slooks. a Mas
sachusetts man, who had also gone
South to seek his fourlune. The Jud-
son family, | afterwards learned, were
not only eminently vulgar but notori-
ously vicious, and about the very last
beings on earth that a decent man
would wish to be connected with.
You know how comfortable one feels
as be awakes from frightful dream
and sees vanishing into nonentity all
those hideous phantoms, which, but o
minute before, he had regarded as un.
questionable realities. Precisely elm
liar were my feelings as bade . joy
ful adieu to the Judsons, and resraced
my steps to the village. True, / had
yet TO undergo the ordeal Of visit 10
the real Judson Smiths; but, In any
event. felt sure that they would gain
in comparison with the blacksmith aud
his family.
That same evening procured q
horse and rode out TO the house Of my
faiher-in. law. | will not dwell upon
the particulars Of mp visit. Suffice Il
TO say, that l found the Simon Pure
Judson Smiths the antipodes In every
respect Of the Judsons Of WoodyiIle.
The old gentleman was a wlIite-hair-
ed patriarch, with well-ordefsd
household, seven well-behaved sons
and daughters, besides Pauline, and O
nice motherly little wife, who looked
almost as young as her grown-up and
married daughters. The farm en
which they lived was small bui ad-
mirabIy cultivated, and, with industry
and good management, yielded enough
for the maintenance and education OF
the young ones until they becane
old enough to take care Of them
selves.
Two slalwart sons, one little older
and the other little younger than
Pauline, being sill unmarried. did
most Of the work. They we're thorough
masters Of their business, and relieved
their father OF nearly all the care and
toll which had been the eompanions
Of his earlier years. In short, there
was mingled simplicity and ialeIli-
gence about the whole family which
could hardly fail to please one mseh
more particular than myself Since
my adventure at the bIacksmiihs, 1
had been in a mood 10 be thankful
fnr sr,afl fawors" After a sut,ci, lon9ef