St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-02-21
FROM the Atlantic Monthly.
coz PON BONDS.
CoNuNrEp FROM LAST WEEK.

glance what had happened The fright
III. catastrophe he toreboded had betallen
Iaidy had ST the house attire
'Iucm bonds them bon Is = he ex-
claimed, di>tractcdly. He did not think
- much OF the house: house and furni-
ture Were insured; if they were burned.
the Inconvenience would be great indeed.
and at any other time the thought of such
an event would have been sufficient
cause Tor trepidation-but now his chief,
hi> only auNictv was the bonds They
were not insured. They would be Il
dead los. And what added sharpness
/" hI> pang>. they would be loss which
lie must keep u secret, as he had kept
;her existence 4 Seclet-l loss which he
could not confess. and OF which he could
not complain. Had he not just given
liz ncI-Abors to understand that he held
"o such property Aud his wite-w;,S
she not. II that very moment. ii not
~,rNinG up a lie on the subject. at leas;
pairing the truth very thin indeed
a man would think observed Fer
ring. that Dueklow had got some o
'l,m bonds on his hands and cot scaret,
lie took such Il sudden start He has.
a;sm't he. Nr>. Ducklow ,
Has what p said Ms Ducklow. pre-
lending ignorance,
Some o'thcm cowpon bonds | ru.l.er
guess he's cot some
You mean Gov'ment bonds? Duck
low got some ; 'Ta'n't at all likely he'd
speculate in them without sayin. some
thing To lae about it No. he couldn't
lave any without my known 1t, I'm
-urc =
How demurr. how innocent she look
/ ed, pIying her knitting needles. and stop
iin- 10 take up Il stitch , How little at
that moment She knew OF Ducklow'>
trouble, and itS terrible cause
DuckIow's first impulse was 10 drive
on and endcavor at all hazards TO snatch
the bonds rom the flames. His snext
wa> to return and alarm his neighbors,
and obtain their assistance. But u min
u,c'S delay might be fatal: 50 he drove
on. screaming Fire. fire at the top OF
his voice
But lie old mare was 4 slow-iootcd
animal: and Ducklow had no whip. He
reached forward and struck her with the
rcin>
Gil up. git up,-Firc fire = scream
od Ducklow. Oh. them bonds them
bonds, Why didn't give the money to
Reuben Fire, fire, fire :,
by dnt OF screaming and slappine, he
urged her from a trot into u gallop.
which WAS scarcely an improvement a>
to iced. and certainly not rs TO grace.
1t was like the gallop of an old COW.
Why don't We 20 long he cried des-
pairingly
Slap, slap, lie knocked his own hat
III with the loose ends OF the rcins. IL
tell under the wheels. He cast one look
behind to satisfy himself that it had been
very thoroughly run over and crushed i'll
to the dirt, and left it TO its fate.
Slap, slap, fire, fire. Canter, can
ter. cantcr Nrighbors looked out ot
t'cir windows. and, recognizing Duck-
lows wa.on and old mare i'll such III
astonishing plight, and Ducklow himself,
without hi> hat. rising +: :om his seat, and
o reaching forward in wild attitudes, bran
di>hing the rcins. at the same time rcnd-
ing the azure with yeIIS, thought he mus
. bc insane.
lie drove to the top of the hill, and
looking beyond, III expectation OF scein2
' ms house wrapped i'll flames, discovered
- that the smoke proceeded from brusi
heap which his neighbor Atkins wa:
burning in field near by.
The IcyuIsion of feeling that ensue,
- WAS almost too much for the excltabl'
Ducklow. His strength went out o
him. For a little while there seemed tC
he nothing left Of him but tremor an'
cold sweat. Difficult as it had beer
10 yet the old mare in motion, it was nov
even more difficult to stop her.
1 Why. what has got into Ducklow'
old mare ! Shes running away Will
him Who ever heard of such thin"
. tnd Atkins, watching the ludicrous spec
tac!c from his field. became almost 4
weak from laughter as Ducklow was trOr
the effects OF tear.
y; length Ducklow succeeded in check
, ing the cid mares speed and in turnin
her about. 1t was necessary TO drlv
q. back for his hat. BY this time he coui
d hear chorus OF shouts, Fire fire . fire
over the hill. He had aroused the neigh
\ horS as he passed, and now they wer
y focking TO exlinguish the flames.
y false alarm false alarm sal
Ducklow, looking marvelousiy sheepi>l
Il. he met them. Nothing but Atkin
brush hcap.'
Seems to me you ought to have toun
, that out fore you raised all creation wit
m your wells y said one hyperboIical fe
de- low. You looked like the flying Dutcl
l,. ma man. This your hat ! l thought 'tw;
a dead cat in the road. No fire, no fire
turning back to his comrades-'only OF
OF Ducklow's jokes
Nevertheless, two or three boys thel
were who would not be convinced, bl
continued TO leap up, swing their caI
and scream Fire against all reno,
G, STRANGE. Ducklow did not wait to emf,
into explanations, but, turning the o.
mare about again, drove him amid II
laughter of the bystanders and the scream
ct. OF the misguided youngsters. AS lie al
preached the house he met Taddy rus
ing wildly up the street.
'Thaddeus. Thaddeus where ye goil
. Thaddeus p
Coin to the fire. cried Taddy.
! There isn't any fire, boy.'
Yes, there is Didn't ye hear 'em
They've been yellin' like fury
Its nothing but Atkins's brush
l''p That all p and Taddy appeared We
L. !. Il .nnn,,rLt l..