Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-11-30

men,"
"Aleck Freeman is worth the whole kit.
responded the Deacon, " and that youn,
pill-box, according to my way of thinking
runs too much to hair-dye and watch
chains, but Aleck has got good hard sens
and frst-rate learning. He can appea
with any of 'em. If you don't look out
Han, he'll be shining round that prett,
girl from Hillsdale"
:" 1t makes no difference to me who b,
shines round" returned Hannah, with
slight shade of offense but, nevertheless
there was a little pang at her heart, a!
she turned back toward the house. Han
nah's mind was not quite easy about j an,
Freeman's visitor. the pretty girl from
Hillsdale, but she thought if she could see
Aleck and Mary Lang together, she would
know in just what quarter the wind was
setting. -
The Deacon tucked the note into his
breast-pocket, took the molasses jug be-
tween his feet, and gave old Charley cut
with his lines preparatory to making him
begin to move an operation Of some8ssgtlss
as Charley believed the Deacon to be IN
der his orders. At last, however, the two
were trotting and rafting past the goose
pond, and the big barns, and tall cIms,
that cast some very cool shadows across
the brown dust of the road, until with
kind of mutual understanding and sympa-
thy, they came out against a stretch of
post and river fence, inclosing a field of
the biggest kind of clover. 1t looked
like good farming to the Deacon's eyes
He could calculate pretty closely the num-
Der of tons of sweet, juicy feed there
would be to the acre and yet this morn
ing, the fragrance and rosy bloom and the
hum of the insects among the thick heads,
brought him different kind of pleasure.
With the long sight of age, he could see
the cows grazing in the back pasture, and
he thought of the cattle on a thousand
hills and whose they were. His gaze
wandered back lovingly even to the old
stone walls, with mulleins growing beside
them, and the shadows of the birds fitting
over them, and everything seemed good,
even the May weed and daisies, and Canada
thistle, that farmers hate by instinct. He
felt gush of childlike thankfulness, be-
cause the earth is the Lords, and the
fullness thereof
Presently the Deacon and Charley came
across a group of school children-brown,
freckled-faced little urchins, in calico
shirts, tow trousers, and shilling hats
much the worse for wear. Then there was
a tall red-headed girl who had outgrown
all the tucks in her dress, and had torn her
apron in following the boys over the wall
after chipmunk, and one or two little
tots, with very foppy sun-bonnets, whose
short legs would not allow them to keep
up. They all carried dinner pals and
dogs cared spelling books, and at the very
end Of the string there was a ow-spirited
yellow dog.
Whoa :" cried the Deacon, setting his
two boot-soles, which resembled weather.
beaten scows, against the dashboard, and
rot at all relish, aI-uUugu uc : J-I~.,s-'
cd, with a shake of his homely head,
which intimated it was done by special ia
vor, and could not be repeated.
Jump in, children - cried the good
natured old man; I'll give you lift as
far as the school house. Beats all how little
shavers think of ketchin' ride There,
don't crowd, boys. Let the girls in first,
and mind your manners" and he lifted in
a roly-poly maid, with pincushion hands
and very suggestive stain of wild cher
ries, and seated her on the buffalo beside
him. The others all tumbled in in a trice.
Pears to me l wouldn't eat them
puckery things said the Deacon, in his
fashion, pointing to some
suggestive smears on the little maids high
apron. They'll give you the
collie"
Yes, SIR" replied the child, folding her
funny little hands contentedly in her lap.
:. Sissy had the measles and [ didn't and
my mother said might have the collie if
| wanted to"
The Deacon leaned back and laughed,
and Charlie shook his ears and turned up
at him an eye Of mild reproach.
What little goose you are ~ said a
bright-faced little boy, who had been very
much squeezed in the legs, and had just
administered several sharp punches III the
side of the squeczer, as he leaned over the
back of the seat to pinch the little girls
ear.
Bless me there's Andy Freeman, and
had liked to have forgot the what-d'ye
girls up at your house"
The Deacon veered half around, and
checked Charley, who by this time began
to consider the whole thing disgusting, es-
pccialy as the low spirited dog had mixed
himself up with his feet
This must be it." he went on, fumbling
in his pocket " You see I've left my best
eyes at home the old pair / carry in my
head don't amount to much"
Andy took the folded paper and prom
| ised to be careful of it; and by that time
Charley and his load had arrived at the
stone school-house, which looked very
much like juvenile penitentiary. The
school-mistress was standing in the. door
ringing the bell. and the children scram-
bled down the side of the wagon, and
scampered off to save their marks fol-
punctuality.
Jane Freeman had been busy all day
with her friend Mary Lang, the pretty cir
from Hillsdale. There is nothing at frs
SO engrossing to the mind of country CIR
as the stylish clothes of her city visitor
Mary had number of fashionably mad,
dresses; and, as old Mrs. Freeman re
marked, she had got the very latest quirk
in her pretty hair. She was good naturet
girl, and had let Jane cut the pattern 0
her visite and her tabled muslin cape, an'
had shown her just how to do the capt.
waiting twist. Now the two girls wer
bending out of the sitting-room window
which looked upon the orchard, with it
gnarled boughs and cool, green lights, an
white clover-heads dropped upon the gras
like unstrung pearls. Aleck had come u
from the garden, and was leaning on hi
, hoe handle, talking to them. He was
muscular, we'll made young fellow; an
the fact that he had once passed tire