The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-06-03


rr tbe IittIe | saved, which dripped
,bro the floor, there wuz not drop
nv ANYTHING within reach. Parched,
bnrnt mn. | exclaimed one mornln
in agony. with the ancient mariner;
awatcr watcrcvcrywhore
But not a drop TO drink.
Three days passed, and peekin
Pogram staggered into Bascom
fai6tin and well-nigh exhausted.
"iIev the supplies come yitf" askt
the good old man. r..
"Naryr' sed Bascom, tear glltrin
in his left eve, and rollin pensivcly
down his face, washin out a furrow
for itself ez it rolled.
In one corner of the nail keg sat
Issaker Pogram with his face buried
in his hands, the piktur NV woe,
while kernel McPelter laid out on
the bench, breathin heavily.
Imagine men in the Crate Sahayra
Desert with the water all gone.
Imagine men on a raft in mid-os-
hen with no water.
Then VOC will sit faint ldee NV
the condishen we wuZ in.
At last one morning Cascom's Oh
dest son. Jehial, who he'd kept at the
Stashen at Seceshionville all the time
for two weeks, with a single wagon
wuz seen a riden down and uriin the
mule to its utmost speed.
.Hoorayr' sed Bascom, ''it hcz
come at last"
Immeiitly there was change.
Deekin Pogram riz, and fallin on his
knees sed devoutly, Thank Hevins!"
Issaker spraug to his feet, and elder
Pennibacker and McPelter shouted,
"Ha, Hal" with ez much power ez
they he'd left in EN-.
Thank the Lord the mule didn't
baulk. Ez eff impressed with the
Importance NV its mishen, it come up
gallantly to the door, and backed up
squarely, that the precious load mite
be easily and quickly taken out. 1t
wuz unloaded safely; the spigot was
draw in, bottle wuz filled, we drank
the revivin drift, and wuz saw
ed!
But how to perfect our treasure
wuz the question. Lucindy Gavitt
he'd swo re that she wood bust
every barrel Nv likker that wuz brot
to The Corners, and we knowed she
wood keep her oath ef j: wuz posi-
bic
Issaker seiested that she be pizen-
ed, bat that idee wuz yoonanimously
rejected.
"Iiev ] no fr;ends?" askt Issaker.
DO YOU all hate me?"
A good many other plans wuz dis
cusst to head off this terrible female
but none Nv en- seemed feesible.
At last | hit it. | sed that we
must guard it with our strong rite
arms. Let US arm ourselves with
axe-helyes and go ont on each nv
the four roads and stop by force every
woman who appears on the streets,
onlass it is certain she hez hostile
intenshuns. Let US go in twos-I
eight will suffice Let us be stern
and inneXible.
Bascom thought the seiestion wuz
a good one.
"Uv course" sed /, 'the pickets
will lie entitled to their sustenance,
gratis, while in active service
Certainly" said Bascom, at reg
ular intervals when no enemy is in
site, they may come in and get
refresher and git, back to their doc
tv v"
Then came trouble which | he'd
not anticipated. Every man in the
Corners volunteered to go on guard
duv. That free drink wuz bounty
which fetched EN-.
1t was finally announced that we
shood take turns at it. Myself, Dee
kin Pogram, Issaker Gavitt, Capt
McPelter, Absulum Pettus, Zach
Porgeous, Elder Pennibackar and
Sam McGrath, l selected for the first
days dooty. put myselfin the first
day, for / wanted the first pull at the
arrangement, hevin an idea how it
would come out.
The Deekin and | volunteered to
take the post nv dnager, which wuz
the south road onto which Lrcindy
Gavitt lived
We went out and took our stash-
uns and loked up the road and down
the road.
There is no wimmin in site, is
there?" sed the Deekin.
Mary" sed |, "the coast is
clear"
Parson, the coast bein clear isn't
it time that we go down to Bascom's
for the refresher he spoke NV? This is
feerfully tryin dooty."
agreed with the Deekin, that,
bein old men, we needed suthin bra
Gin. and down we went Ez we en-
tered the door we wuz astonishcd to
see the other, six, at the bar, all a
,akin their drinks
We got ours, and went back, and
again viewed the field. 1t was still
quiet. Lucinda wuz, it wuz evident,
not vet ready to move
"Dekin" said |, docs the foe ap-
pear"
Nary foe" said he, The enemy
is not in site" Z
England expex every man TO do
his dooty, Deekin, but hadn't we bet
ter amble gently to Bascom's and get
a sustainer? This is fearfullv exhaus-
tin"
Before the words wuZ out Nv my
mouth, the Deekin he'd made dozen
rods. wuz pleased to see the old
man so active, We reached Bas-
CONS in a very short time-very
short, indeed, and there, somewhat
TO my surprise, stood the other six,
crookin the pregnant hinges NV the
elbow. Bascom did not have a pleas
ed expression on his countenance.
Agin we departed for our posts,
and we peered up and down the
road. We saw suthen moving out
NV Issaker's house, 1t wuz female.
The second look reveeled the muskee-
Ter form Nv Lusindy, she he'd her
sunbonnet on and a axe in her
hand.