Litchfield enquirer., 1870-08-04
From the Atlantic Monthly. OLDTOWN PRESIDE STORIES.
MS ELDERKIN's PITCHER. :"


 'Ye see. boys.' said Sam Lawson, as We were gathering young wintergreen on a sunny hillside ln Jnne,-'ye see folks don't alters know what their marcies is l when they sees 'em. Folks is kind O blind ed, and when a providence comes along, they don't seem to know how to take 1t, and they growl and grumble about what turns out the best things that ever hap pened to 'em in their lives. It's like Mis' Eiderkin's pitcher
 What about Mis- Elderkin's pitcher?' said both of us in one breath
 Didn't I never tell ye, now?' said Sam; i; why, wanter know .... No, we were sure he never had told us, and Sam, as usual, began clearing the ground by thorough introduction, with statistical expositions.
 Wal, ye see Mis- Ederkin, she lives now over to Sherburne, in the handsomest house in Sherbnrne.-a high white house with green blinds and white pillars in front,-and she rides out in her own ker- ridge, and MT. Elderkin, he's deacon in the church and a colonel in the malitia, and s'lectman, and pretty much atop ev- cry thing there is goin' in Sherburne, and it all come of that are pitcher.
 What pitcher?' we shouted in chorus.
 'Lordy massy! that are's jest what I'm goin' to tell ye about; but ye see fellers jest got to make beginnin' to all things. Mis- Elderkin she thinks she's 8 gret lady nowadays, I s'pose, but I member when she Miry Brown over here n Old town, and I used to be waitin' on her to singing school.
 'Miry and I was putty good friends along in them days,-we was putty consid- erable kind O intimate. Fact is, boys, there was times in them days when I thought whether or no wouldn't take Mi " myself, said Sam, his face growing lu- minous with the pleasing idea of his for 'Yis, he continued, there was time when folks said could a had Miry eff I'd asked her, and putty much think so my self, but did n't say nothin' marriage is alters kind O ventursome; an Miry had such up-and. down kind O ways. was sort O fraid on t.
 But Lordy massy, boys, you must n t never tell Hepsy said so, cause she'd be mad enough to bite shingle nail in two. Not that she sets so very gret by me nei- ther, but then women's backs is alters up eff they think any body else could had you, whether they want you themselves or not.
 Ye see, Miry she was old Black Hoss John Browns da'ter, and lived up there in that are big brown house by the meetin'- house that hes the red holiyhock in the front yard. Miry was the handomest gal that went into the singers seat Sunday.
 T tell you she wa'n't none of your milk and-sugar gals neither-she's 'mazin' strong built. She was the strongest gal in her arm that ever see. Why, we seen Miry take up barrel O four and lift it right into the kitchen, and it would jest make the pink come into her cheeks like two roses, but she never seemed to mind it a grain. She had good strong back of her own, and she was straight as a poplar, with snapping black eyes, and tell you there was snap to her tongue, too. Nobody never got ahead of Miry; she'd give every fellow as good as he sent, but for all that she was gret favorite.
 Miry was one of your briery, scratchy gals, that seems to catch fellers in thorns. She alters fit and fouted her beaux, and the more she fit and fouted lem the more they'd be arter her. There want gal in all Oldtown that had such string of fel- lers arter her, cause you see she'd now and then throw lem good word over her shoul- der, and then they'd all fight to see who should get it, and she'd jest laugh to see 'em do 1t. -.-...' ......o
 Why, there was Tom Sawin, he was one of her beaux, and Jim Moss, and Ike Ba- con; and there was Boston boy, Tom Ba- COD, he come up from Cambridge to rusti- cate with Parson Lothrop, he thought he must have hls say with Miry, but he got pretty we'll come up with. You see he thought cause he was Boston born that he was kind O aristocracy, and had right to pick and choose 'mong country gals, but the way he got come up with by Miry was too funny for anything .t Do tell us about it, we said, as Sam made an artful pause. designed to draw forth solicitation.
 Wal, ye see. Tom Beacon he told Ike Bacon about it, and Ike told me-. 1T was this way. Ye see, there was quiltin' up to Mis- Cap'n Broad's, and Tom Bacon he was there, and come to goin' home with the gals, Tom be cut Ike out, and got Mi ry all to himself, and t was a putty long piece of walk from Mis- Cap'n Broad s up past the swamp and the stone pastur' clear up to old Black Hoss Johns. Wal, Tom he was in high feather cause Miry took him, so that he did n't really KQQW HOW tO UcuaN0s 8uU SO us tuOy were walkin' along past Parson Lothrop's apple orchard, Tom thought he'd try bein' famil- jar, and he undertook to put his arm round Miry. We'll, if she did n't jest take that little fellow by his two shoulders and l whirl him over the fence into the orchard quicker n no time. Why, says Tom. 'the fust knew I was lyin' on my back under the apple. trees lookin' up at the stars Miry, she jest walked off home and said nothin' to nobody,--it want her way to talk much about things,-and if it had n't been for Tom Beacon himself no. body need a known nothin' about it. Tom was little fellow, you see, and ma. zin' good-natured, and one of the sort that could nit keep nothin' to himself, and so he let the cat out of the bag himself. Wal, there did n't nobody think the worse of Miry. When fellers find gal won't take sauce from no man, they kind O respect her; and then fellers alters think eff it had ben them, now, things d a ben different. That's jest what Jim Moss and Ike Bacon said; they said why Tom Beacon was a fool not to know better how to get along with Miry,-ttey never had no trouble. The fun of it was that Tom Beacon him. self was more crazy after her than he was afote, and they say he made Miry a right up-and-down offer, and Miry she jest would mt have him. @
 Wal, you see that went agin old Black Hoss Johns idees,-old Black Hoss was