St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1870-11-25
From the Overland Monthly.
The Idy{ OT Ecd GHiCH
BI BHETE HARTE.

Sandy wa, very drunk. He was ly-
M under an azalra bush, in pretty much
the same attitude in which he had taIler
some hours before. How long hc had
been lying there he could not tell, and
didn't care how long he should lie there
was a matter equally indefinite and I'M
considered. Atrauquii philosophy, BON
of his physical condition, confused and
saturated lis rcrtal being.
The spectacle OF a drunken man-and
of this drunken man III particuIar-wa>
not sufficient novelty in Red Caleb 10
attract attention. Earlier in the day
some local ,atirist Lad erected tempo
rarv tombstone, bearing the .-cription,
Effect of NcCorhie'S whi>kcy-hiIls at
forty rods with Il hand pointing to Me
Corklc's saloon. Eut this, imagine,
was. like most local satire, personal ;
and was reflection upon the untairncs>
of the process. rather than Commcnta-
ry upon tho improuriety Ut the result.
With this tacetlOuS exception, sandy lad
been und;sturbcd. \ wandering mule.
released from his pack. had cropped The
scant heritage beside him, and shifted cur
iou>ly at the PROSTATE man: a yagabonc
do", with that deep sympathy winch IT,,
species have for drunken men, licked hl,
dusty boots, and curlcd himself up at hi
feet, and lay there, blinking one eye ii
sunlight. with Il stimulation of dissipation
that was ingenious and dog-likc i'll it:
implied fiattcry of the unconscious MAJ
/ beside him.
/ Meanwhile, the shadows OF the pin,
trees had slowly swung around until they
crossed the road, ard their trunk barroc
the open meadow with Gigantic parallels
of black and yellow. Little Pufis of red
dust lifted 10y the plunging hoots OF pas
sing teams, dispersed in a grimy shower
upon the rccumbcnt man. The sun sanE
lower and lower; and still Sandy stirrc,
not. And then the rcpooc of this philos
oph,r was disturbed, ~ other pliloso
pliers have been, hy the intrusion Of al
unphi'oSorhical sex.
Miss Mary as she was known tC
the little flock which she had just dis
missed from the log schoolhou-e bcyon'
the pines. was taking her afternoon walk
Ooscrvin" an unusually fine cluster "
blossoms on the azalca bush opposite
she crossed the road 10 pluck it, pickin;
her way through the red dust, not with
out certain fierce little -hivcrs OF disgust
and some fcli,c circum!ocutIon. An'
then she suddenly came upon Sandy.
h - |, -
cry of her sex. But when >hc had palt
that tribu,c to her physical weakness
she became overbold, and halted for
moment, at least six feet from this pros
trate monster. with her white skirts gath
.yr,d in her hand ready for flight. Blu
neither sound nor motion came from tn
bush. With one little foot she then over
turned the satlricai headGoard, and NUT
tered ''Rea,t :" an cpithet which proba
bly, at that moment, conveniently classl
fled in | er mind the entire male popula
ton of Red Gulch. For Miss Mary,
bein" possessed of certain rigid notions o
her own. had rot, perhaps, properly ap
preciated the demOnstrative gallantry TO
which the Californian has been SO justl.
celebrated by his brother Caliiornlans
and had, as new conner, perhaps, far
Iy earned the reputation OF being ''stuc
up"
AS she stood there, she noticed, also
that the slant sunbeams were heating
Sandy's head to what she Judged to b
an unhealthy temperature, and that hi
hat was lying uselessly at his side. Topic
: it up was a work requiring some courage
; particularly as his eyes were open. le
! She did it and made her retreat. But sh
was somewhat concerned, on lookln
back, to see that the hat was removed
and that Sandy was sitting up and say
ing something.
=, Tie truth was. in the calm depths {
. Sandv's mind he was satisfied that I'll
rays Of the sun were beneficial and healtl
tuI: that from childhood he bad cbIecte
living down in hat that no people b'
condemned fools, past redemption, eve
wore hats and that Lis right to dlspen;
with them when he pleased was inalieni
bic. This was the statement OF his II
pcr consciousness. Unfortunately /
ID outward expression was vague, beir
1t 1 limited to a repetition of the tollowir
formula: "Su'shine all II. Wass'
maar, eh? Wass up, su'shine %