Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1865-11-18

cool parlor overlooking the Day, sup
nIied with rum and pipe OF tobacco,
while i confined myself to remarka-
bly unpleasant compound which the
siSn-post proclaimed as ''home-brewed
after few preliminary draws and pui1s'
he commenced his story.
"You see, mate said he, becoming
more familiar in his convivlality, TINS
isn't altogether astory of the press-gang
as von'u find before I've done, and 1t
made n God deal of talk at the time, as
| 7 remember. though / was only lad;
INT Won see the GROWERS quest set all
tb;ngs RIGHT. and after that it was no
nse asking further questions. 1t now
he nigh fifty years !" he repeated,as he
half closed his eyes, and pauslng, as
his mind travelled over the space which
had brought somay and great changes
even to that quiet little village-"that
| an old seafaring man they called Cap
tain Meredith lived-at least, that is to
say lodged, in the house of widow
named Penbrn. You might see the
spot from the brow of the hill, for the
house itself has been pulled down since
then. Well he might have been a cap
tain or not. don't pretend to say, it is
certain he had bit of money put by,
and lived comfortably enough. Some
said he had been in the smuggling trade
and made money that way. However
it don't much matter, lie was well re-
snectcd, and though he had no wife liv-
ing, he had daughter as was called
Ellen. and the prettiest lass In CawsaDd
and for miles around. Well now, this
old widow had son named Paul, and
strange article he was! L remember
him, little bandy-legged chap with red
hair, and the people used to call him
''dOctOr. ~
"Was he surgeon, then ?" I inter
rupted.
I'm going to tell you. He had been
'prenticed to a chemist III Davenport
I've used to call it Dock in those days.,
and after his time was out, he had been
stopping with his mother to take care of
her, or perhaps because he couldn't fLd
a situation readily for himself. The old
widow had put something by, 1 sup
pose, and Paul had been at home about
a year, when the Captain came to lodge
there with his daughter. This Paul's
room was at the top of the house, where
his light would be seen burning at a
time of night when all honest folks were
in bed and asleep. Sometimes he would
be met in the morning returning with
his arms full of weeds and plants, which
he used to take up stairs to the doctors
shop as they called it."
'sAh a bOtanist 2" l remarked.
81 don't know about that" replied
my friend. slightly puzzled, ''but the
hn 10 of f1x,,
ANY way, once when Paui was passing
by the blacksmith's, the dog ran ont
and bit him, and the next day Paul was
seen to give him a piece of bread, and
the dog was dead within an hour. Tile
neighbors blamed him for it, and L rec
ollect, when a youngster, calling after
him, There goes DR.. Nightshade %
and his stopping and saying, IF had
10 doctor you, my lad, you wouldn't
shont so loud Well, very shortly af-
ter Ellen and her father had been lodg-
ing at the widows house, it was clear to
see that Paul wished to court her :;
wherever she went, sure enough, Paul
wasn't far behind, and things went on
In this way for about six months, when,
one dark and wintry night, the wind
blowing great guns, and the sea running
high, we saw signals of distress from
some vessel off the point there. There
was no life-boat IN the place, and our
small craft couldn't have lived an hour
in such weather. In the morning we
saw no signs Of the vessel, and we had
supposed she had gone down, and all
aboard lost however, we heard In the
day, that one of the poor fellows had es-
nd IL, 70, h,r,.a ha1
contrived to crawl up the point there,
where he had been found by Captain
Meredith, who brought him home to
his own lodging and nursed him. He
was a fine young fellow, an orphan, as
he said, by name William Randall and
had been working his way to Liverpool
in hopes to obtain employment. The
clergyman of the place-you may see
the church on the right as you go to-
wards Edgecumb Ferry-heard of this,
and becoming a good deal interested in
the young man, offered him place as
gardener or general servant, or some
thing or other. Bill was handy chap,
aud soon made friends with people, and
they persuaded him to stop here instead
of going to Liverpool as he intended.
He didn't want much pressing, for any
one could see that there was girl in the
case, and that girl was Ellen Meredith,
and it didn't want more than. two eyes
TO see that she liked him.
THE folks used to jeer Panl about
his nose being ont of joint, and Tom
Trevellian the blacksmith. as owed him
a grudge for the dog, used to say, well,
doctor, how Is yOur nose by this timer
But they say the doctor only used to
turn white and rub his hands; it was a
way he had, and he did the same when
he gave the dog the bread. Well, things
prospered so well with young Randall,
that at last he made up his mind to ask
the captain for his consent; and as the
old fellow was a jolly, easy-going custo-
mer, and liked Bill very much besides,
it wasn't long before he gave it. Just
about this time the folks in the village
were frightened by the report that the
press-gang were out; that they had
been as far as Plymton, four or five
miles from the town there, and had
pressed one or two men. The captain
and Ellen wanted to put the marriage
of, but Bill would not hear of it, and,
strange to say, Paul, as was his worst
rival as you may say, sided with him.
Well, on the very day afore the wedding
a strange man as hadn't been seen in
the village afore called at the house to
speak to Paul, and neighbor as hap
pened to be present at the time, said af
that she had seen them talking
together on the road to Plymouth.
Now mind mo I'm thn eyv,aniuor and inst