The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1869-10-14
" Boarding Around"

To the Editor of the Chicago Tribune:
IT was cold November afternoon, SIX
years ago, when | allghted at the door
of Mr.. Philip Clarkson's farmhouse, and
the wagon and the friend who took me
there drove away. | was q young man,
aged 10, who was driven by circumstances,
and by want OF cash, to teach district
school. The directors in the town OF Su-
gar Loaf had hired me at $25 month and
INV board, in lieu of which l agreed to
continue teaching their school Tor four
months. That was what took me to Mr.:
ClarksOn's He was the director who had
hired me. | was to board at his house
| first, and then circumnavigate the district.
| / propose now to narrate my experience
while making this grand tour.
| Mr.. Clarkson owned n farm, Mr.. Clark
| sons wife owned her husband, ana MI
and Mrs. Clarkson's two children owned
| Mr.. and Mrs. ClarksOn. Mr.. and Mrs.
| ClarksOn's two children were, therefore,
| the owners OF the entire establishment.
| The first thing was asked to do after en-
| tering the house was To kiss the eldest,
an obstreperous little termagant aged 3. /
survived the operation, and thought had
performed my whole duty to Sally, Jr.-
She was called after her mother or her
mother after her, | don't know which
but discovered my mistake when Mrs
Clarkson gently insinuated that her first
born was handsome, and asked me if did
not think So OF course, l thought so,
pro tenn, for if / had any doubts upon the
subject, and | rather think l had, they
were hidden in the mysterious recesses of
my bosom. l wanted to be popular, and
was fully prepared to agree with every
body on everything Sally, Jr., was placed
10 lor lOf nnr
was getting supper and her father doing
| the chores. found l had my hands full.
| She may have been very handsome, but
| certainly she was equally troublesome, II
not more so.
| Her beauty did not compensate for her
| badness by any means. / was doing my
| best to preserve the peace of the family
| by handling Sally, Jr., on my knee, and
! making faces at her, when a cry from the
| cradle showed that the sleeping partner
| of the firm had awakened. At the request
| of Mrs ClarksOn l undertook to rock the
cradle with my feet, retaining the precious
! Sally, Jr., in my arms all C time. My
| hands and feet were both full. Sally, Jr.,
had thievish prOpensities wonderfully de-
velOped for one of her age, and in fit of
abstraction she stole cigar out of my
vest pocket, and, installing it for a stick
of candy, began 10 suck it with all her
might While my attention was engrOssed
| by little Tommy, who, by the way, accord
| ing to his mother, was the dead image of
| her husband, the beauty in my arms bit
| off the end of the cigar, and, as it was
never seen afterward, | have always been
under the impression that she swallowed
it. She was one of the youngest chewers
of tobacco / ever was acquainted with.
Whatever was the cause of it, the young
lady took sick forthwith. Then trouble
began. She grew pale with remarkable
rapidity. | timidly suggested to Mrs.
| ClarksOn that Sally looked as if she were
thirsty, and recommended the application
of water internally. By this time Sally
| looked very bad indeed. | got alarmed.
Tommy began to yell, for ceased rocking.
| thought Sally was fast approaching the
condition of corpse.
Believing that i, would be more salts
factory to both parties, and to myself, that
| she should die in her mothers arms, | told
Mrs. Clarkson that if she took Sally, j
would look after the ham she was frying
in the kitchen. She must have thought
up to this time that | was joking about the
water, and Sally being thirsty, for Sally
attrac1 cd no attention. She was weak
and sick, and awfully quiet. Poor little
thing, pitied her. Had she died L would
never have forgiven myscl Anyway
Mrs. ClarksOn responded to my second in
vitation and came into the parlor She took
one glance at Sally. Her maternal in
stincts were at once aroused. She snatched
her from my arms. In a tone of alarm
| she asked me what was the matter.
plead ignorance. She proceeded to make
| a diagnosis. One symptom which in my
confusion had escaped my eye attracted
her notice. Sally clenchcd the remains of
the cigar in her chubby fingers. Mrs
| Clarkson Immediately informed me that
| was villain. | almost began to believe
| it. She accused me of attempting to poi
son her darling. did not believe that. She
said was no nurse. | fully believed that.
| informed her that / understood L was em-
plOyed as a school teacher. Also, that my
| experience as hOusemaid and nurse was
very limited for one of my years. This
dialogue was over in far less time than ii
can be told All this time the ham sizzled
sizzled, sizzled, and Tommy bawled
bawled, bawlcd Mrs. Clarkson rushed tc
the door and yelled for Tom, which meant
her husband. She told him to come quick
that Sally was dying. lie rushed in ex
cited, with a hOrsewhip in his muscular
hand. / did not like that. There was
something Ominous i'll the appearance OF
| the whip. a whip in the hands of fond
father, under such circumstances, was, to
say the least, alarming. Not that had
any fear of f1agcllatiOn. Oh no, not q
bit | was brave, though little timid.
got as near the door as possible. / had 9
presentiment that it was the safest place
was not bit afraid though. Oh no, not
a morsel. My hand went mechanically
towards the dOor-knob and turned it.
Iil7dght little cool air would be good fol
Sally. All this while / was not bit afraid
The whip had no tcrrors for me. Thest
triiling occurrences took place in The
twinkling of star. My retreat open,
took up position by the stove in the kitch
en-. The sizzling of the ham was music t.
my ears. In the meantime Mrs. Clarkson be
gan to weep and intcrpolated between he
sobs words which when arranged closely
and consecutively informed Tom, Sr, thai
| had poisoned Sally, that had made he
chew tobacco and her pcroratiOn consisted
of a command to her husband to castigat
me, and he need not spare the whip, a
she was willing to sacrifice it to punisl
me. Her magnanimity and reckless ex
travagance astOnishcd me. However
Tom needed no encouragement or incite
ment to induce him to chastise me. III
was raging. / had no fear all this time
/, oh no, not a bit. was glad, though, TIN
door open. Tom raised the wifi
and ied towards me. Even at thi
dem tration | was not bit afraid.
pickcu UP the frying pan, because
thought the ham was nearly done, an,
made for the door The whip came afte
me and Tom hard after it. just Outsid
the door dropped the frying-pan. TIL
handle was too hot to hold any longer
This manGuvrc stopped Toms progress
for moment and gave me time to clea