The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-03-06
Our New NsiGhh0rs at P0lkap0g.
BY T. B. ALDRIoH.

L0e Ol0 bay rOaQ, WOnueI6u VINO were
to be the tenants. The modest structure
was set well back from the road, among
the trees, as if the inmates were to care
nothing whatever for view of the
stylish equipsges which sweep by during
the summer season. For my part, l like
to see them passing, in town or country
but each has his own taste. The pro-
prietor, who seemed to be also the archi-
tect of the new house, superintended
the various details of the work with an
. assiduity that gave me high opinion
of his intelligence and executive ability,
and congratulated myself on the pros.
pect of having some very agreeable
neighbOrs.
1t was quite early In the spring, If L
remember, when they moved into the
cottages newly married couple, evil
IDENTIFY; the wife very young, pretty,
and with the air of lady; the husband
somewhat older, but still In the first
flush Of manhood. It was understood
in the village that they came from Bal
dmors; but no one knew them person.
ally. and they bnught no letters of
introduction. For obvious reasons /
refrain from mentioning names.) Itwas
clear that, for the present at least, their
own company was entirely sufficient for
them. They made no advances toward
the acquaintance of any of the families
IN the neighborhood, and consequently
were Left to themselves That, sppa-
rently. was what they desired, and why
they came to Ponkspog. For, after Its
black bass and wild duck and teal, soil.
tuds is the chief staple of Ponkapog.
Perhaps its perfect rural loveliness
should be included. Lying high up
under the wing of the Blue hills, and in
the odOrous breath Of pines and cedars,
chsaces to be the most enchanting bit
Of genuine country within fifty miles of
Boston, which, moreover, can be reached
in half an hours ride by railway. But
the nearest railway station Heaven be
praised o is two miles distant, and the
seclusiou is without q faw. Ponkapog
has ono mail q day; two mails day
would render the place uninhabitable.
The village-it looks like a compact
village at a distance. but unravels and
disappears the moment you drive into it
has quite large floating population.
1 do not sllude to the perca and pickerel.
Along the Old Bay road, a highway
even Tn the colonial days, there are a
nambes Of attractive cottages struggling
eff toward Milton, which were occupied
fox the summer by people from the city.
Tbep birds Of passage are distinct class
from dhs permanent inhsbitsnts, and the
two seddom closely sssimilate unless there
has been some previous connection. It
seemed TO me that our new neighbon
were to come under the head of per-
nansnt inhabitants; they had built their
own house, and had the air Of intending
to live In 1t all the year round.
Are you not going to call on themf
asked my wife one morning.
"Wben they call on us" she replied
lightly.
"But it Is our place to call first, they
being strangers"
This was said as seriously az the cir
eumstaDces demanded; but my wife
turned it off with 8 laugh, and said no
more, always trusting to her munitions
In these matters. She wss right. She
would not have been received, and
cool "not at home" would have been a
bitter social pill to us If we had gone out
of our way to be courteous.
l saw great deal of our neighbors,
nevertheless. Their cottage lay between
us and the postofice-where he was
never to be met by any chance-and l
caught frequent glImpses of the two
working in the garden. Horticulture
did not appear 20 much an object rs
exercise. Possibly it was neither may
be they were engaged in digging for
specimens of those arrowhead and flint
hstchets which are continually coming to
the surface heresbouts. There is scarcely
an acre in which the plowshare has rot
TUNED up some primitive stone weapons
or domestic utepsil, disdsinfully LETT to
US by the red men who once held the
domain--an ancient tribe called the
PUnkypOags, q forlorn descendant o.
which. one Polly Crowd, figures in the
annEsi Blue Book, down to the close OF
TIE southern war, as state pensi0ner.
/ quote from the local histricgrapher.
Whether they were developing
kitchen-garden or emulating Professor
Schliemann ct Mycene, the newcomers
were evidently persons Of refined musical
tsste; the lady had a voice of remarkable
sweetness, although of no great compass,
and l used often to linger Of morning
by the high gate and listen to her exc
cutting an operstic air, eonjecturally al
some window upstairs, for the house was
not visible from the public road. The
husband, somewhere about the grounds,
would occasionally respond with tive or
three bars. 1t was al quite an local,