Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-11-22


were travelling by rail over a rough track and
in rickety car, going through the woods.
/ happened to be seated near the door. The
conductor came along, opened padlocked
boS took out three or four letters looked at
their directions, and strung them on point
cd stick, like perch strung by the gills. This
was au operation had never seen before. In
another minute lac gave the signal for whs-
tie, then, without stopping the train, opened
The window anl coolly threw the stick and
ia. letters just outside Of the track. There
was not q bit Of a bag nor a human being in
sight. But he said Il barelegged boy would
come along presently, out of the woods, aud
carry the stick and the letters to a small set
tlcment near by He often delivered letters
in this way, he said, at that particular station.
When | got to the camp | found one of my
own letters had gone there a week before with
a hole in it, having been strung on the mail
stick"
1T is not surprising that so many letters
are lost, remarked.
There are thousands of letters lost every
year by sheer caIelessness," observed the
traveller
But how about number three? Was that
in the same section Z" asked the old farmer.
mo. it was down South. My wife was
taken i'll with inflammation of the lungs, and
the doctors all agreed she must winter South
We went to Florida, where we had relatives
We staid ut a small plantation far up the St.
Johns II was wild, outlandish place
enough. But there was n small settlement a
mile beyond inland, and they got their let
ters from my cousins house he was post
master. The mail came up the river in a
small tub Of a steamboat At the mouth of
the creek on which we lived there was a sub
stantial post driven into the bank and on top
of the post a locked box with n wide slit in it.
The captain of the boat hove alongside the
post, dropped the mail into the slit, and of
again. | often went for the mail in canoe
there wasn't house in sight of that post
more than once ] had to work my way through
alligators to reach it, and once l found a large
female alligator lying Just in front of the post
as if on guard l shot her. She was an ugly
customer. Can your postmistress match
her.
well, she amt much like an alligator"
said the old man with laugh but you can
see for yourself Here we are :"
l looked out of the coach-window. There
was only quiet reach of road to be seen--uo
house, barn, or shed, near the highway But
% little girl wearing pink sun-bonnet sat by
the road side.
"IIow-de-do, postmistress: Any news Of
brother Bill:' cried the farmer, as the coach
stopped.
Tie little girl shook her head. The coach
had halted under the shade of inc sugar
maple, whose branches oyerhung the road.
Ii YOU want 10 see this ere post-oliice you
must step out and be introduced to the post
mistress, said the farmer as he lrsurely de-
sccnded from the coach The business man
jumped out. and curiosity led me to follow
his example. A rapid glance up and down
the road, along the fences, over the adjoining
fields, showed absolutely nothing. not even
box or barrel, that could assume the dignity
of post-ofiiee
There it is, in full sight dou't you see
tive might play game of hide-and-seek
with the mailbag, couldn't We, SunbonnetE =
cried the farmer, as lie watched our search.
The movement. Of the driver however, in
another moment, revealed the position Of the
mysterious bag Our rcd-headed friend
looked up into the shadows Of the heavily
l-af,d maple, directly above his seat. There,
on a branch which had been cut of, partially
stripped Of leaves, and Iotched for the pur-
pose, hung the mysterious mailbag. The
driver took il down. and huugup another i'll
It's place. Little Pink. .Sunbonnet, deputy
po,;wi,trcrs. then blew tin horn which she
held ia hor hand Her duty was to watch for
the pas sing zach, and sumuon her father III
this way. Her home WIS in sigEt-a long,
low. i.aSaut- looking rcd cottage on little
and vines. She wa, pretty little creature.
with very engaging coUntenance and mod
est manners We gathered about her under
the mail.trte, and had little chat, chiefly
about Brother Bill" while the horses were
resting. She confessed that She wanted
to see her big brother very bad :" said she
was 'iind o. sure he'd be coming YETI he
was the only brother she Lad, and he was
lawful good to her; Amanda, who had jilt-
1 4 . Il. / AA.
this in answer 10 the old farmer We were
still talking TO her, under the mail-trec, when
one Of the horses. tormented by the flies,
kicked an aXle-trec and broke il. The leader
in front of him became unmanageable, the
coach was drawn TO the road side and toppled
over. Happily, all the passengers but one had
ali GIFTED. for the relief of q change of posi-
ton, and, as the men were all close at hand,
the horses, exhausted by the heat and heavy
load, were soon brought under control. No
one was injured beyond few bruises, but
the creaky Old coach was Il wreck. \ very
brief examination proved clearly that it could
carry no more passengers that day. Mount
| ing one of the horses, the driver trotted of
to the next relay several miles distant, for
another coach The postmaster came hurry
ing 10 the scene of the disaster, gave his opin-
/ ion of the wreck, took down the mailbag
! from the maple-truc, using pole with hook
on it for the purpose, and invited us all to
! his house. which was not far from the road.
! Pink-Sunbounct and her old grandmother
made us welcome they We're, indeed, very
| hospitahle, offering us iced .buttermilk, cake,
| harvest apples and-pickles, Was there
| ever meal or lunch in a well-to-do American
farmhouse ,rith0U pickles Beyond all doubt
! the bride-eake at the wedding that same even
! ing would be fauked with pickles. While
we were doing justice to the buttermilk and
| cake, the postmaster was busy looking over
the mail in sort of little office.
Here's a letter from Bill" he cried,
| Jumping up much excited. The old grand
mother was thrown into great agitation,
trembling and oxclaiming Pink-Sunbonnets
brown eyes and young feet were jumping for
| joy, as the children say. Yes, Bills alive,
mother, on his way homo-all right, leg and
| all-hopes to do many days work yet on
| the farm. That's the best news I've heard in
| two years" exclaimed the father, with ener-
| gy, aud with moist eyes, too. Grandmother
was crying and laughing from agitation, and
the little sister was skipping about, with her
| pink-calco head-gear dangling down her
| back.
The family was still in the first stage of ex-
| element and we passengers full of sympa-
| thy, when a step was heard on the path.
stalwart, sunburned youth, shabby and dusty,
appeared at the uoor'
'Bn! Bill! Bill -" cried father, grand
mother, and the little sister, in joyful cho-
| rus.
| The Pink -Sunbonnet few into the young
mans arms the father held his boy by the
shoulders in strong grip, and the old lady
fell back into her rocking-chair stretching
out her feeble hands helplessly. Tears came
into most eyes in the room. Brother Bill
had come to the end Of his money, he said
at Albany, and tramped homeward across the
country, which explained his arrival on foot
| Here was little farmhouse drama, in which
our stage-coach party most unexpectedly
| played audience. But there was TO be an-
| other act.
A young girl and borefooted boy came
running through the fields toward the house ;
we saw them from the porch. They entered
breathless with haste. The first glance
showed that the young girl was Ida Belle,
| the bridesmaid, our travelling companion.