American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-05-04
UNCLE PAUL'S STORY.

UNCLE PAUL'S STORY.
"Hurrah for evening, and a story from
| Uncle Paul" cried little Ben, as drawing
down the curtains one cold winter even
! ing, he wheeled a large easy chair before
the blazing fire, and coaxed his uncle
into it.
ooh, yes" chimed in Bessie; "a true
story, too, uncle; something real big!"
"About fairies" suggested Mary.
"Poh! who believes in fairies? that's
| Just like girls" exclaimed Harry, the old
est of the group. mo! tell us something
about lions, or tigers, or elephants, Uncle
Paul"
"Their uncle smiled at being thus ap
| pealed to. GLOW can l suit you all?'
asked he. eCome, Paul." to the youngest,
''what shall it be abouts''
"'Bout bears, uncle, dreat bid bears, AT
eats naughty little boys all up" answered
his little namesake.
$50 be it," answered Uncle Paul, and
taking three year old Paul in his arms,
twin Bessie and Mary seated themselves
on footstools at his feet, while Ben and
Harry each occupied one of the broad
arms of his chair, and all silently awaited
the story.
about twelve years ago." commenced
Uncle Paul, ''Ben Russell and 1 got tired
worked in the cotton mill at Lowell then
and thought we would take tramp of
among the woods for a few weeks. so put
ting clean shirts and stockings in our
knapsacks, we filled them with crackers,
cheese and dried beef, strapped them on
our backs, and with thick shoes on our
feet, and stout canes in our hands, we
started
1--WE followed the Merrimac River,
nd
as possible, stopping at farmers houses
nights, where we replenished our stock
of provisions. The farmers were all very
kind, and glad to see any one from city,
to hear the news-railroads and newspa-
pers not being so common then as now.
1--WE got Il lift once in while, in n
farm wagon, and once we rode thirty
miles on the top of stage coach. You
see, we had heard people tell SO much
about the mountains, we thought we
would go and see for ourselves what they
looked like.
cat the end of a week, we found our
selves in small village, in the midst of a
beautiful valley. One long street, with
the river beside it, wound between the
hills which completely encircled it; on
either side were little houses, with two or
three stores, where all sorts of dry goods,
from dresses to needles and pins, were
other. Very nice little stores they were,
too. A coZy-loOking tavern, with broad
piazza in front, on which all the men of
the place sat evenings, smoking, and tell
ing the news, looked very inviting but
what attracted us most, over in the
north, looming up above everything else,
was a high mountain, just what we were
looking for, SO we concluded to stop.
I'VE asked the tavern-keeper about it,
Il INsac Il
up there, and there was stone house on
the top, but it was too late in the season
now, it was so cold, and there was no.
body at the house. But we did not like
to give up now that we were SO near, so
we concluded to go. The next morning,
the tavern keepers wife packed up our
knapsacks, full of goodies loaned us a
pair of heavy, cOlOred blankets, which we
strapped on our backs with our KNAPP
sacks. Her husband carried us few
miles in his wagon, as he was going that
way, and then we walked on. AS we
reached the foot of the mountain, man
told us tt follow the 'blaZes.' You know,
boys, what that means ?"
''Oh, yes, uncler' replied Harry,
"notches cut in the trees to mark the
way"
Fright, my boy! Well, the man said
if we followed those, there would be no
For half mile it was lovely, then we
struck into deep woods, where the trees
were SO thick and tall, we could hardly
see the sky. For two hours we trudged
on and up, stopping every little while to
take breath, the trees growing shorter and
more scanty, until nothing but low shrubs
surrounded us. Now we looked for Il
view, but storm was coming up rapid
", and heavy clouds rolled like curtain
I. .,,l 4 1lr 1,nln
1--WE had not noticed the gathering
darkness, owing to the gradual leaving of
the thick forest for the open ground, but
now we looked in dismay! But there was
no time to lose The house on the sum
nit was visible, and to that we ran with
all possible speed. The wind was blow
ing fearfully, and sharp flashes of light
ming surrounded us. After tripping and
falling several times on the sharp stones,
we reached the house just as the rain
poured in torrents.
1.-THE dsor was open, and we went in;
there was no latch, SO we rolled stone
against il to keep it closed, and looked
about us little.
can old cooking stove, with a tea ct-
tie, pile of old dead branches and IA
reminded us of fire, and
soon we lit one, filed the little kettle
from il barrel of water we found outside,
put some coffee in ii, lit candle, and felt
very comfortable. TO be sure, the coffee
was roilly, and we had no milk, but it
was hot, and we had plenty of sugar. !
Then there was nothing but Il potato to
stick the candle in but we cut off one |
end and scooped out the other, and there /
was candlcstick which served us as well |
as silver one.
after the novelty had worn oil, we he |
gan to feel lonesome. Tie wind roaIed |
and whislled around the house, and the |
rain beat fearfully. What if anything |
should happen To us, SO far away from |
any human being!
1--WE sat and talked of everything we |
could think of, until we grew sleepy, and !
talk died out, but suddenly we sprang |
from our seats, wide awake in an instant |
After II heavy blow, the door flew open, |
and in walked Il great, black bear and two |
cubs Quick as ii flash we were in the