Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1877-08-15


fetal life. Fancy the luxury Of asking
Ty. to this place-Ty, who said
things behind his back after eating
Col. Dunkin's dinner because there
was only one kind of VINE.
"Well mend the floor, put in a
broken chair or two, get al old pine
table and some broken crockery," said
Scott.
"We'll point out the charms of rus
ITCHY to him." said Martin, making a
motion toward the ash heap by the
side of the door. "We'll swear that,
shut out from the rude world in such
cot as this, with the lakelet's smiling
bosom at our feet (here he directed
our attention to the green slough
where late the young pigs rolled,) we
are content to dream the happy hours
away"
"Well rouse him at four o'clock in
the morning, give him bacon for
breakfast, drag him through the ma
nure heaps, and vow, by all that's ho.
ly, that this sort Of thing fills our souls
with delight" said Scott.
"The inexpressible and superhuman
humor of it," remarked Martin, "will
consist in making them come with
swallow.tail coats
"No," said Scott, ''it will consist ir
Angeline sitting by the side of that
old door in a rocker, talking about the
freedom from conventional restraint
there is in the country"
"Good heavens !" said, "you
don't suppose, gentlemen, that Ange'
line could be-that l would permit
that she can! Why, woman cannot
understand a practical joke y
But they insisted upon it. Scott
said they could have a rafting dinner
ready down at the cottage. and, when
the joke was all over, we could treat
them to a genuine surprise and trans
formation scene, all the brighter and
more beautiful from the contrast.
Now, ] put it to you, did you ever
hear of anything so diabolically, in
sanely wicked as this scheme
DO you know what l did? Con-
slider my outraged feelings, and think,
if you can, what / said to Scott and
Martin.
III tell you agreed with them.
As | remarked before, all my hu
NOR was exercised at one time. 1t
overcame me just then. was idiotle
enough to tumble neck and heels into
this plot. l owed Ty. one, and
found myself burning with an insati
able desire to lavish my humor upon
somebody. And then the conspira
tors were so casuistical. They con-
vinced me that all this, would only
throw into high reliet the matcbless
charms of my genuine home when
they all got to it. And l was proud
of my box, tell you.
Well, to be brief, we hatched oul
wickedness there at nigh, On our We
randall, Scott swinging i'll the ham
mock, and Martin, with his grin, made
green and ghostly by the moonlight
smiling like the arch fend himself
among the roses.
1t was all deliberately planned, to
the smallest detail, Scott now ard then
going down to the lawn to roll and
laugh.
What is more, it was all carried
out to the letter. Only, instead oi
two, the invited guests grew to tour
One bright morning IN August,
there might have been seen-to put it
traditionally-getting off the Hudson
River train, four princely-looking fel'
lows, unexcepticnally attired. One
of them wore mutton.chop whiskers,
and carried shotgun and rod in q
silver-mounted case. IT was Ty. Two
or three of the freight men around the
depot got the notion that it was the
Duke Alexis. As soon as heard, l
encouraged the idea. Glover, who, as
you know, is a valetudiuarian, asked
the first man he met if there was any
miasmata in the vicinity, and l heard
the man say that it might be got up
on the hill, but the stores on the river
didn't keep much Of anything but
hardware and Fish. Fred Granger
looked as if he'd been taken softly
out of an open box Or band-box, and
Liston gave the heather around the
door few dimes to propltate the
town. Then they all lit cigarettes
and were presently met by Scott and
Martin.
| Nou, - ;su't mora than n milo from