Litchfield enquirer., 1878-05-16

when one began to vituperate the other, and openly evaded the subject.
 q spose old Nance Vance takes half pint e milk on ye, don't she ? inquired Mrs. Pyne with a sniff.
 'sLand O glory what splendid. red apples them be !" ejaculated Jim, his ears shut to the question, but his eyes very wide open to an Astrachan apple-tree in the corner of the yard.
 Now this apple-tree was widow Pyne's glo- ry nobody in Sawyer had such a tree and she petted it like baby, dug about it with her own hands, manured it every fall, and gave It copious libatlons of dish-water all through the summer. No tent worm ever ever found lodg ment in its thrifty branches and in May 1t was always pink with blossoms, for tree so coddled had no ''of year, but bloomed and bore in every returning season
 Ii was "a sight te behold" as it gratIfied owner remarked, and Jim's admiration was 90 fervent, Mrs. Pyne could not do less than re- ward him with apocket full of the glowing fruit Jim was duly gratiied, and logged on his way, revolving ascheme in his mind which fructiGed, literally, as he found himself at Miss Vance's door. Miss Nancy came out for her pint of milk looking unusually benign; some of the small items that make up wo- mans life had been gracious that moruing; perhaps her bread had risen just right, or her hens had done their duty in the matter of eggs but however that might be, she had . kindly word for Jim and he poured her full pint with beaming smile. ''Stop minnit, won't ye jest set down that are milk, an, hold up your apern here's some O Miss Pync's amazin apples"
 ''Widder Pyne's apples Y ejaculated the amazed spinster, as she received the crimson spheres into her check apron.
 'sYes them's the fellers she sent em along O me. Good-day !" With which ambiguous statement, Jim whipped up the old horse and logged along before Miss Nancy had time to | think.
 "Well here's nigh onto merracle!" she exclaimed to herself. "Widder Pyne's ap- ples I've heered she sot by 'em dreadfully, and now she's been and sent em to me. Well, well. we'll I'd orter be ashamed of myself, that's fact 'tis shameful for church-mem- | bers to keep up quarrel the way we, we did ; | but she's got the start of me- that's fact. l must kinder show my feelings now, surely So the next day Jim was invited to stop on | the way back, and carry Widow Pyne has-
 ket of fresh eggs; for eggs were Miss Nancy's specialtS Imagine Jim's secret joy and Mrs. | Pyne's noisy surprise.
 sSent me them eggs {? Land O Goshen | she ain't weak in her mind. is she, Jim. Must
 be a leetle touched or else be guess she's | a good cIetur, after all. I dono what on earth hes ailed us two to be alters fghtin, and
 now she's begun it, guess 1 kin be as neigh borly as other folks Don't ye go by here to morrow without getting pocket-ful O apples for Nancy Vance, Jim. Let's see. I'll put lem in the basket" But the second supply of apples never reached Miss Nancy. Jim had a queer sense of justice, and squirrels love for nuts and fruits He had done a good work | with the other apples, and lost them so far as his own delectaton was concerned these others he would keep for his own eating and | his very simpleness made up for wisdom, Tor | a second supply of fruit would certainly have | led to awkward explanations, while as 1t was, when the two ladies met on the church steps next Sunday, smiling and beaming to make their mutual acknowledgements, there were no questions to ask or answer, and they parted in | friendliest fashion to remain firm allies there after.
 Not far from the Ellery farm there lived a | bad tempered, cross grained old fellow, Johu Dekin by name, who had driven his boys away from home long ago by dint of being everything father ought not to be and whose wife staid with him simply because she was his wife fact which IS of some virtue to good woman. Now this man was great sticEler for his rights he had a right to do as he liked in his own house, no doubt and the neighborS agreed that they had an equal right to keep away from it All but Mrs. Ellery. whose great kind heart could not see d woman suffer as she knew Mrs. Dekin mus, ans. .noi try to alleviate her sufferings. She would go there consistently, though she trembled before the big dog, and quivered at the sound of his masters voice, for it was one of John Dekin's 'rights' to keep the fercest dog and the cross est bull anywhere about Sawyer. Jericho Jim volunteered to go with Mrs. Ellery when she paid her visits to the Dekin farm, and as there never was a dog who could withstand Jims way with the brute creation, he and Tige soon became the best of friends.
 'HullO !" said the farmer one day as hc came suddenly round the corner of the house, and found Jim, who had just escorted Mrs. Ellery to the door, sitting on the step and fondling the great bulldog, who with watery eyes and slobbering jaws, rested his muZzle on Jin's knee, and looked up into the thin, kind face above him. "Hullo you feller look out for that critter; he'll be into ye nd chaw ye up fore you can wink"
 'I guess not" said Jim, with one of his half silly gentle smiles. "He knows real we'll Idon't want to hurt him none so he don't kcer to hurt me no more he will, will ye Tige"
 The dogs stump of a tail wagged affection ate answers.
 Well mebbe it'll do with dogs you seem to kinder get round that one but it ain't folks's ways" growled the farmer.
 "Aint it" said Jim, looking up innocently, ''why thought folks knew more'n dogs"
 There was no answer to this; John Dekin walked away; and there ran through hismind, oddly enough, scrap of a text he had heard somewhere perhaps his motherread it to him, maybe he had heard it at meeting, though he generally went to sleep there:-''ls thy ser want dog, that he should do this thing ?" It clung to him with that curious persistence pc. culiar to texts, which defies philosophical ex- planation and more than once thereafter modified some currish act, or silenced some growl, before he fully recognized the invisible restraint upon him. Not long after, that vio- lent bull of Mir. Dekin's broke into Deacon .Ellerys lot of winter wheat, just about two inches high, and made general mess of tine whole field, already soaked by wet autumn. Jim discovered the creature in full tide of de- vastation, browsing on the talest spires, and tramplng down the rest into undistingulsha- ble mud. He sat down moment and con sidered; then filled his pockets with potatoes, left in the next lot after digging as to small to save, and carefully tossed one over the fcuce just before the old bulls nose; the bait was too tempting the creature nipped it up at once, another fell about a foot in front of him, then another still further of, and following the fence, which tended toward the barn-yard, Master Taurus before he really understood the snare was beguied into his own quarters, and the gate shut fast behind him. When Jim hunted up the farmer.
 stSay, Mir. Dekin, he'd you just as lives keep that splendid ole bull O your'n in the barn spell, till git our folkes fence sot up?"
 ''Why, what harms he ben doin! Hain't I right to keep bull in my own lot, l want to know ?"
 ''Sartinly sartinly! but ye see the poor ere tur wanted fresh bite, an he kinder pushed down the fence like, and got into some win. ter wheat; so l guessed I'd get him out ont fust-"
 ''How in thunder did ye get him out that's the pint'
 ''Well I coaxed him leetle sorter tolled him along with mess O raw potatoes t'other side the stun wall. I sec he hankered after fresh victuals, so to speak 'n l dono's blame him."
 John Dekin could not helpa laugh; but Jim went on quietly:
 ''So eff you'd jest as liveskeephim in aspell. I'll hurry up an fix the fence, and then he can go out to pastur agin, .leastways while there is pastur; 'twent last no great now, that's fact.'