Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1864-12-29
THE MYSTERIOUS QUARTER OF MUTTON

THE MYSTERIOUS QUARTER OF MUTTON.
The following incident, said to have oc-
CURED Out West" proves that 1t isnot
always safe to Judge from appearances. In
district adjoining large forest, wolves
were so plenty that it was Impossible to
! keep sheep and only now and then " cos
set was raised pet. A good Deacon
| had reared one with much trouble, and as it
| become rather troublesome, he killed it
| Mutton was great treat IN those parts, so
| he reserved one quarter for himself, one for
I the minister. and divided the remainder into
small portions and distributed it among his
neighbors The minist RS portion was
I placed in an out-building for safe keeping
until the next day, but in the morning 1t
was nowhere to be found some one had
stolen it, and the pelt in which it was
wrapped. Greatly disappointed, the Deacon
and his wife resolved to make some amends
/ for the loss to the minister, and therefore
selected their incest cheese, placed it III
covered basket and sent it with polite
note by their two boys 1t was berrylng
time, and the boys made frequent stops
both going and coming. When they re-
turned, great was the surprise OF the dea-
con to find note from the minister cordi-
ally thanking him for the present Of quar-
ter Of mutton, and asking him to accept the
gift contained in the basket as an express
sion of his regard Mutton? Mutton "
said the Deacon, g he was probably think
ing of the sheep killed yesterday, when
wrote the note ; but let us examine the bas-
ketn He opened it and there was fiat
stone The Deacon was good man, but
this aroused his indignation, and he could
not refrain from speaking harshly of such
treatment from one he had always cOnsid-
cred his friend By the advice Of his wife.
in the afternoon he called on the minister
for an explanation, taking with him small
cut of mutton for a peace Offering. The
minister and his wife had just gone out, and
as the deacon was talking with their little
girl, he happened to look into an open pan
try, and there spied the very quarter of NUT
ton stolen from him the night betore-he
knew it by the marks he had made in dress
ING it. Without another word he seized it,
and went home in great wrath convinced
that the minister was thief, and determn-
ed to have nothing more to do with him.
The minister on his return was equally III
dignant at the conduct of the Deacon, but
prudently resolved to say nothing Of the
matter For three weeks after, the deacon
and his family were absent from the church.
Everybody wondered why, but he would
make. no explanations, neither would the
minister Finally a meeting of the church
members was called, with the determine
ton of having the strange actions OF the
deacon explained, and he resolved to let the
whole story out He told the circumstan-
ces, and expressed great grief at what he
considered the shameful conduct of the mln-
lister The latter gentleman then made his
statement. He said that the deacon's boys
had prought him quarter Of mutton, III a
basket, and that in return he had placed
there Il neat Family Bible. Everybody now
looked at his HeighbOr wondering what it
could mean some thought them both era
", others thought of witchcraft All was
still as the grave for some minutes, when
there arose a man formerly known as
Wicked VIII, who had lately reformed and
Joined the church Brethern," said he III
a trembling voice, " | stole the quarter Of
mutton On my way home in the night, !
was chased by wolves, and climbed tree
for safety, where | had to stay until they
went away in the morning. Being afraid
to take the meat home by daylight. | hid
it in the woods, but to make sure of it, |
SldScu neal lLC pldItI i4lCLdll47 ~ Ndl4 y -
away early in the evening. While there,
the Deacon's boys came along, and from my
hiding place heard them speaking of what
had happened l also found that it was too
warm for the meat to keep through the day,
and so when they were busy gathering bcr
ries, l slipped the cheese out of the basket
and put in the meat When they returned,
they stopped again, and hearing them speak
of present for the deacon, | examined the
basket, and finding a nice package there,
thought it might be valuable, so | took it
out, and put in the stone. But that is mol
all. On reaching home safely, opened my
package to examine the prize.
While carelessly turning over the leaves,
my eye fell on the passage, Thou shalt
not steal" and from that moment | found
no peace until become a changed man"
Thus the whole mystery was solved, and
the Deacon and the Minister were not only
rcconciled, but they both heartily rejoiced
together that their temporary loss Of peace
had resulted i'll so great good as the retor-
nation of Wicked VIII.