Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-12-06
The Doctors Melons.

TIa nnatAr's Malone
If there was ANYTHING Dir. Oglethorpe liked
better than his profession. it was his garden,
and next on the catalogue came his wife,
should saw. though of this | am not certain.
But one thing everybody knew, and that
was. that both garden and patients would
have Jared very i'll if he had had no wife to
look after him.
In order to thrive. a man must sleep and
dine. and the good doctor frequently forgot
whether he had dined or not, until he was
dragged TO the table bv his better half !;
and it is not probable he would have ever
thought of going TO bed at all, if she had not
been there to remind him of it.
And who would want a physician at his
bedside. with dressng.gown wrong side
ont, and collar hind side before q? Yet
in such ruise had he more than once started
from his own door. TO be captured. led back
into the house. aud properly clothed by his
wife.
But the Iron people liked DIR. Oglethorpe,
notwithstanding his NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
all the better for them for were they not
Oglethorpe peculiarities-the same that his
father and grandfather had possessed before
him .?
His garden was al the rear of his house.
and occupied an acre or two of land pre-.
cisely how much | will not state. as an acre
CONVEYS no definite idea to the feminine
mind but il is safe to saw that it was large
enough to contain many vegetables and
much frnit. and was a very beautiful spot.
There the doctor was wont to stroll in the
cool of the day, in his green flannel dressing
gown and broad-brimmed straw hat, almost
as happy as the primeval man when he
strolled in his garden without any dressing
gown and hat.
lie noted the puttinp forth of every ten.
drill on his grapevines, the growth of each
individual peach and melon, and could tell
TO a day when this cucumber. or squash, or
epr-plant. would be ready for the table.
Aud the doctor was not selfish in the en-
iovment of his garden. Quantities of his
fruit found its way to the homes of the poor,
and the bedsides of the sick and every year
he invited his neighbors TO a feast, which
was popularv called the doctors melon
party" and came to be anticipated as conf
! IDENTITY as the changes of the moon. or the
rise and fall of the tide.
Not that melons constituted the sole en-.
tertainment, or the main part of it, but,
then, they were large and constitutions. and
quite overshadowed the smaller fruits--the
nectarines and pluns and grapes-which.
however, were greatly preferred by many.
Just so there are individuals who make a
great noise in the world aud become great
party leaders. aud carry off all the fat offices.
while some little man, whom nobody hears
of, does all the work.
Now would YOU suppose that this lovely
and bounteous garden could have an enemy
| II had
| do not refer to SQUASH bugs, nor currant
worms, nor potato rot for. though these all
'fcame" il was the doctor who "saw" and
"eonouered."
refer TO a worse enemy than these. II
was hons.
The doctor had an aversion to bows. Con
sidering how he was always trvinS to cnre
them of something or other and how many
of them. in a manner. owed their very exist.
ence 10 him. | may say that he had "A re.
martable aversion TO bows.
And it did not seem TO be in the least de.
gree lessened by the fact that he had fonr or
! five AS riotous little urchins of his own as
ever kicked out twelve pairs of boots apece
annually.
lie had protected his garden by all the
means known In fruit-owners lint altbough
he had succeeded in catching his wife in one
of the springs, and ia hanging each of his
boys successiyelv ON the c6er9yr.de. fr;,e nj
nails atop of the board fence, he had neitber
saved his frnit nor come any nearer discov.
ering who were the depredators.
Finally his wife became so tired of sitting
up till midnight mending her sons trousers
for them To mt ON in the morning. that she
begged the eieraur.,ie fiise might he removed
and it was
Often the doctor hearing noise. had
reached the garden in season TO see foot Oh
a leo disappearing over the fence hut n
whom the member belonged he was AWAY,
inst too late 10 ascertain.
There was one wear when the doctor re
solved TO put an end 10 these incursions. OF
perish in the attempt. II was the yeal
when Prince Yazoo. of Central Africa. wa,
expected to visit America, taking Iron in
his route.
The doctor had no preiudice of color. fo,
his medical knowledge convinced him thai
A man is not responsible for the skin he /,
born with, and it was his intention 10 enter
tain this wandering son of Erebus at his
own house.
1t happened that this very season he had
growing in his garden the largest. finest
muskmelon he had ever vet raised, and thi,
prince of melons he very properly destined
Tor Prince Yazoo.
II ANYBODY steals that melon. ri find
out who it is" said he, as he loaded his gun
and SET IL mn in the corner ready for use
"You don't really mean to shoot the bows -
said his Mortified wife.
"Don't |, though ?" said he.
nvu nVa't ""ulu ps 80 cruel salu sue