American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1878-06-29

SumpSic. L wonder If he's one of en-
said Debby-
"Never mind that now,'' said John.
"Give the poor man his supper, and
you can get his family history after
ward.''
"Those Oils were sort of relations of
of 'em, wouldn't it?" persisted Debby,
as she heaped the old mans plate with
eatables, which he devoured ravenous-
ly, unembarrassed by the curious and
eager gaze of the five children, and the
| Investigations of Ponto, who from the
first had regarded the stranger with ev-
| ident distrust.
For this Ponto probably had no bet
ter reason than that the man was poor
ly clad; for the dog, as you know, is
natural aristocrat, and will drive away
the man who approaches your door in
rags and slouched hat, while he suf-
fers the man in broadcloth and a stove
pipe to pass unchallenged. It's that by
some subtle instinct he divines that rags
and filth are apt to be the reward of i'll
doing, and neatness and thrift the re-
ward of well-doing?
But good little Mrs. Ratchet did not
at all sympathize with this view of the
case, and rebuked Ponto for his want of
hospitality. AS rule, the more wretch
ed human being was, the more she
took him into her motherly heart. Ac-
cordingly she was greatly delighted
when she found that her present guest
had once had relatives in Pasumpsic,
and she and all the five children imme
diately took to calling him GRANDPA
Their DILL
"Only think, JOHN" said she, when
the old man had gone to bed, "he says
his folks came from Pasumpsic. No
doubt he is some relation to u.s."
| cit must be a great comfort to find
yourself fortieth cousin to a tramp"
said John.
The next morning Grandfather Dill
was so ill from the effects of his expo
sure that he was unable to rise, and
what with the hot herb-teas with which
Mrs. Ratchet scalded him inside, and
the mustard-plasters with which she
| fayed him outside, it was a wonder he
ever did rise, but in q few days he was
able to sit in the great armchair in the
corner, and began to talk about resum-
ing his wanderings again.
| For this, however, he was manifestly
too feeble, and John went to the town
authorities to get them to take him off
his hands. They all with one accord
declared that be was none of their pau
per, that they were already overrun
with tramps, and that the only thing
they felt justified in doing was to for
ward him to Littleton, where he stated
that he belonged.
But Mrs. Ratchet in her turn was
equally decided that he should not be
moved in his present condition, and
John quite agreed with her So Grand
father Dill stayed on and on, till it be-
came evident that he never would take
the journey to Littleton, or any other
journey but the last long journey which
awaits us all.
Meantime, Johns conduct elected
various comments from his towns-peo-
pie, some praised and some blamed.
Hans Schneider said, 81 always
thought John was a fool, and now l
know it, burdening himself with pau
per in these hard times. He'll come to
the poor-house himself yet, see if he
DON'T"
AS Grandfather Dill grew weaker he
had, or seemed to have, some strange
fancies. He often muttered the name
of Priscy," coupled with the words,
"She shan't have a cent of it," and at
last one day he asked John TO bring the
notary to make his will.
81 am going to make it in favor of
you and your wife," said he; "you've
both been good to me, and she was a
Dill, or her neither was; and as for
Priscy"-there he stopped.
"Who is Priscy!" asked John.
Nobody; l don't know any such
person. Bring the notary
At first John put him off, for he did
not wish to offend the notary by asking
him to come and make a pauper's will !;
but the old man was SO persistent that
for the sake of quieting him he finally
acceded to his request, and the will was
duly made, signed, sealed and delivered
elf there is any truth in this, you are
a rich man," said the notary to John
After this Grandfather Dill seemed
satisfied, though he failed rapidly; but
a few minutes before he died he MUIR
INJURED, "Poor Priscy! Perhaps she
wasn't so much to blame, after all"
That the property SO literally be-
queathed to him existed anywhere but in
Grandfather Dill's imagination, John
did not believe, and but for the notary
would scarcely have given the matter
another thought; but the notary said
the old man had given the items of the
will with great precision, which was
in itself an indication of its truthful
ness, and that it was very easy to find
out whether there was any thing in it or
not. For his part, he thought it worth
looking into.
John said it was his opinion that the
old man had nothing but the rags on
his back, but still, as Mr.. Armstrong
was about to send him away on bust
ness commission, he could easily take
Littleton on his route, thereby ''killing
two birds with one stone," as he jest
ingly observed.
To his unbounded surprise, and to the
| e al ..Al l.