Litchfield enquirer., 1873-04-03

Of q clear night, it winked.
 How did it happen? The dark, sup pose, or the blow and noise, or all togeth- CT; but I never saw nor heard it till it came thud against the boats shoulder, me setting over the gun ale there, and the sleet in my face and ears.
 I'd rather the thing would have gone to hell than to have touched It; I jumped and said so, screechin.
 Yet there's my arms up to the shoulder blades in water after it, next minute. Maybe you can explain that, sir. l can't.
 It slipped from me like an eel, sir it squirmed and screwed 1t wriggled in un- der the slimy boat. I never had hands on uglier thing. ...
 ''I hope to God it's puppy!" says I.
 We'll, sir, it wasn't; not to say that haven't wished it had been, since {; more than once I've wished 1t had been a stark dead puppy before ever went oyer the gun'a after it.
 ''I hope it may be a puppy p says I. And that living minute there squirms through my fingers a great swash of limpsy, long hair.
 With that I has it up on deck before you could say Jack Robinson, head fore most. It lies as stiff as bowsprit. The cat comes up, fore-paws on hatchway, and she puts up her back and splts at it.
 "Venus," says I, ''we've got dead woman aboard!' p
 And went as cold as frog, sir.
 Howsumever, l got the body below, best way could, by the fire.
 It lay very pretty for a dead woman. I really wish you could have seen it. Her hair was down her back, and her clothes -she wore a red calico dress-had frozen to her.
 I did the best I could, sir, being as there were no women folks but Venus aboard. I blowed out the light, and l got her ont of her soppy clothes and m; der blanket, and the dreadnaught, and and I rubbed her feet, and Venus she licked her about the face and arms, "and between us and Q sip of brandy and cam phire that1 put aboard i'll cholera times, we did it.
 Yes, we bIought her round. sir, sure as life.
 She set very pretty for live woman, too; she was all of a heap in my great coat; and her hair began to dry; I can remember to this day thinking how ex- actly it was the color of good middlin' sized goldfish, when I'd lighted up again, and see her setting there, in my dread naught, by the cabin fire.
 Sir, she set mp very. very pretty. She was a youngish woman. It seemed cu- rious thing to have me to woman in the cabin.
 I can't say accurate which began it, nor how we got to 1t. but in fifteen minutes or thereabouts it was as good as done.
 ''Where did you come from?" said I :; l remember of saying that. She had just drunk the last of the cholera mixter, and put the bottle down behind the stove.
 ''From the devil, " says she.
 ''What was you about in the water?' said I.
 ''Going to the devil," says she.
 ''You'd pretty nigh got there," said I, ''when you hit this boat"
 With that she sighs and lays her head agin her hand. "I've tried it three times, '' says she. ''Twice it was police, and once it was ferry-boat, and now it's you, ' says she. ''Im most discouraged" says she
 ''And where be you going mooO s' said I.
 ''To the deyil,' says she, just the same, with her head upon her hand. ''There's nowhere else to go" says she.
 Now, being lonesome man who hadn't had a woman in his oYster-boat for three years, that made7ne feel kind of bad. don't know why, neither.
 l remember getting up to walk the cab in, and stepping on the cat, to think how bad felt.
 As tell you, fifteen minutes, and it was all done. I'd been a rough man, and restless and solitary, and hadn't done useful thing by my kind before, l couldn't remember when; and so it came over me: Why not? Here was this pool young creetur, and here was me; could pay the parson, and she could broil the sarsingers; why not?
 Suppose, said I to the young woman, ''that you married me, instead ?"
 'Instead of what ?' says she, starting round.
 ''Instead of going where you was men tioning," said I. The young woman look ed at me, I can tell you, pretty shalp. Pretty soon she runs her hands through her long hair, and then she takes a lock of 1t, and draws 1t once or twice across her eyes.
 ''It would be chance" said she. ''I never had much chance" said she. And l tell you, she set up very pretty, drawing her hair across her eyes.
 "You'd ought to know," says she.
 "No, I'd oughtn't, says l. 'I don't want to know nothing about you. If so be that you're my true and honest wife, ] don't want to know. You've asked me nc questions, and I'll ask you no more. Ii ain't much can say for myseIf," said I, ''but reckon I con do 8 peg better by you than the other gentleman you was speaking of" said I.
 ''Well, then" said l.
 And SO, i'll fifteen minutes it was settled between us, aud how it happened, or why, or which of us did it, or if it was both, o1 neither; I never could say. All is, it hap pened; and I turned up on deck to think 1t over, and the young woman she went tc sleep by the cabin fire.
 The storm was blowing off, a fold or two to once, like tissue paper, rolling down the harbor. I always like to watch g storm blow off, kept the deck till dawn to see it, and not wishful to be disturb ance to the young woman, and for think Ing of the young woman, and of what I'd done.
 told you, sir, was of curious turr of mind. Now l had some curious thoughts that night, after the blow set in and the city lights cleared out before me winking all along the shore.
 It was the first useful thing I'd done, you see, sir, for many years. that took it strange and anxious; and wondered what would come of it; and I had { strange and lonesome feeling very sudden ly. It was about the oysters, sir. Il seemed to me as if the young woman and me was very like the oysters, shut of there all alone. And there was that look about the city like some tremendous dredging boat at anchor to drawr us in And so had it over to myself: What ii the sense i'll being oyster if you aUasn' dredged? ? And what $ the sense in being oyster anyhow? And so 1t went, til morning.
 The cat came mp on deck, and was ; deal of company. felt bad when that cat died. She Died of Medicine, too most appropriate, that very day week, th' day quit the dredging boat, on accoun