The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1866-08-15
Boston Betsey's Brick, or Bricks Bet.
-'.' seY.

5I7,.... -, ser.
found her in Boston. Betsey Jeru-
sEa Jones-in three volumes illustrated.
thirSted for intellect. I huugered for
beauty. ! ached for charms. I re-
Quired gentle being with a mind like
horse billiards to guide me through this
rale steers. Iwent to Boston. to find
Dyloye. found her.-She was q school
teacher who drew seven dollars month
for spanking the rule Of three into the
vulgar fractions eonhded to her charge,
and for adding accomplishment as 'twere
Fignrative)y speaking. After school was
dis6anded for the day, we walked out to
the beach. Birch by day and beach by
night.
Nv love was beautiful. She was Of
the New England type. She. was pure
itanical Thus wor>hipped / her, the
most beautifuleSt ant in the sugar bowl.
And she made both ends meet by skin
ming eelS. She was "a most exalted and
triunphant eel skinniSt. The MasSachu-
sets gerls teach school and skin cells for
,narket. Said |, "BetSev, if its not a
skin too much, let NE go out with thee
and aid in thy tolls, and see thee divest
eel of cuticle.' She said yea. I went.
She had hooked nose, She had three
'hoops--at regular intervals She was
Massachusetts, School,ynarm. She under
stood all ofDaholl but the multiplication.
She had never been nthe multiply Oh
NO! And she could skin eels faster than
the devil could catch tddlerS. a. .
BY the beach we sat. She skinned
eels for the net proceeds We talked Of
love and sich. She listened TO my tale.
She felt the moving Of my plea; the
burning eloquence thereof, SO called.
Said !, >.s.~. .-..-.. 8
.0b, Betsey, seein' its ycou, I love
yeou sweow. I wouldst be. thine. /
would share thy cot, and T.. .
- .And dream sleep with thee, love ,"'
Wouldst be- minc2 7 an a stranger,
Betsey. I am not aged, but on the con
trarY am agile as those eel. / will offer
thee all have. Ivould be thus to thee
I would crawl out Of myselfas those eel
crawls out of bis undershirt in thy hands,
and be thy onlyeSt.'
She took up another eel. -. a..
oh Betsy'-Said ], aSI laid partly on
the grass, partly in the lap Of Betsey,
with the slickely tails other eels tickling
my ,nose-'were you ever careSsted by
mortal She said no, and looked side
wise. "
She took another eel, ..... ~.
/ then caressed her. Said she, praise
the Lord, but that is the first kiss ever
mortal man gave me- I asked if she
liked it? She said it war better nor
spanking young-un or skinnin> a big eel.
She said she liked school teaching. It.
was better than a gymnasium. She said
kissing was better than skinning eelS.
When Massachusetts, girl says that,
YOU may with the lambs on the hills,
gamble that she liketh it with vehement
lnlchnesS.
The pale moon slid along owe. the
head Just as easy! ltseemed to skln.it-
self from under the heecy clouds, as those
cells skinned themselves from the fingers
ofmy Betsey JeruSha. 1t sat me to
thinking she was something heavenly,
ike the moon.-Only s. was a little
piumper. 1t was new moon. Newer
than Retsey, and little simmer. con-
versed with betsey. She had little
= knife like shoe knife. would have
thought her shoemaker if she had car
ried 4 cobler,'s kitten and a waXed end.
But she didn't She skinned eels, chawed
spruce gum and talked love. Said she
tWhat is your nameg
s' Asked we, the reverberating cogno-
men TO which we respond?'
Said she, yes
Said we, Brick Pomeroy.'
Then she asked US of our western
home. She wanted to know what State
Illinois was in, and if Wisconsin was in
the First or Second ward of La Crosse.
AND she wanted to know if we had
young ones III the west. We told her
not many yet! Then she wanted to
know if the Mississippi had eels IN It,
We told her nay. And she wanted to
know if the people out in that barOarouS
region wore clothes every day or only
when they went sparkling. And she
wanted to know how far it was from
where we lived to house. And she
wanted to know If they spanked or fer
ruled youngsters in schools, and if we
had schools. And she wanted to know
if women dressed in bcarSkins or tilting