The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-02-20

.WOulQ 0Oo n40 0loQ Tor thee, !
o Absalom. my son!" -
.-Hsnsy W. LoaafslIor, IN Afiantie for March.
CAL CULVER AND THE ENEMY.
- ~, And pity tis, Ts true.
said Calvary Culver-sometimei
such rs believed in the old adage that 6re1itS
is the soul Of wit@"weI, my minds nigf
about made mp. Mothers kinder feeble; III
time there vas more folks to our house.
"Hawl Raw! hawp' burst from the audi
ence-a group of walters and loungers In the
country store. where Cal stood up with his
back agAinse The counter, whittlirG and spit
eoTain't no lar6n matter, boys" he went
on. aYou may think it's suthin smart to xii
married, but mebbe youm hnd 'tain't AL hon.
ey-sugar pie Look at Deacon Flint, nowi
tell We his wife's rs afeard o. him as Parsou
Robbins is Of the devil; and you can't say nc
20, say!" began another iounger, "you
hain't heerd, hev ye, about the Parsons last
tussel with the AdversaryP
Nobody had; he was unanimously urged to
"Wen, you know it hain't ben real fust-rate
s1gaxin' weather; It ha'n't thew days, though
it's frix considerable night-times; but it's
kinder late for tappin', anyway, 'cordin' to the
year; 90 Parson he reckoned he'd be amazin'
as
be ON hand, ye zee. Now them trees never
ddpped . drop Thursday, nor Friday, nor
. Saturday; three days the buckets hung right
there, and was empty; but Sabba'-day It come
and when he went to the bush Monday morn
In the np troughs and buckets was brimmin'
over full, - cure as you're bornl What does
Parson do bat take and tip 'em al up; and Jim
Reeha- ha ma hehind hir, ,cause his hush Il
over the fence, and he knowed sap bad run By
that time-Jim heerd him say, Il know thy
works, Satan-tempting me With Lords Dxy
sap. Get thee behind mel And he mp and
tipped over every drop onter the ground, and
aJeerus'lem ~ "Don't he beatI" "Goeh ~
"Daruatioul l' and one rustic expletive after
another chorussed this tale ,-Is
foot 70 the other; then he spoke, meditative-
y, - II he had considered the subject before
"Parson Robbins does take considerable COM
fort out o. the devil, don't hef'
.Co%fort r echoed the crowd
"Wen, mebbe you wouldn't call Il that
exackly; but the idee is, he gifts somethin'
to spend his grit on that way that's orthy-
dox. You see, natur's awful strong In Par
son Robbins, and by natur' he'd orter ha' ben
. nghtin' man; he's got It in him. I've seen
him when knowed he nigh about ached to
pitch In and knock . feller down. He'd ha'
At Injuns like all possessed ef they'd ben
around sence he rowed up. Now what's in
n.2 ons 70 -. any Or sss sash.rg got = Ss
good man, s'pose it's kinder made over, ssnc-
tided like, ef IT'S grit, or lynn, or brag, or any
"Kindef din,cult to sanctify lyin',n dryiy
, Wen, 'tis. that's . fact; but s'pose ef It
was billed over into 'cuteness, and sarcumven-
tions of the Evil One, and sech, -twouldn't do
no great o harmi Night come in useful in
wsterin' rum and sandin' sugar."
Mr.. Battle heard noise at the back door
Just then, and Cal winked deliberately at the
crowd, who wanted to grin, but dare not, for
most Of them were chalked mp on that dread
ful slate behind the door with many marks,
and al Of them liked rum, with or without
water. = irlnle = a.. Hssgro
"Parson does pay quite . sight Of 'tention
to the devil" sighed and squeaked . bent old
man-bent and worn with rheumatism, that
rack and thumbscrew Of the New England
climate. "Pears to me sometimes as though
he talked sight more bout him than bout
: !" 4 expect he has to, - answered Cal Culver.
- hes round here In Bassett good deal the
You look out,n called the speaker who
had told about the sap troughs; ."you'n git
ketched mp yet, a. Nat Lines did t'other day.
He said the south eend o. Bassett was as bad
him mp fort and hne himi''
fIWon't do to tell the Truth allers," re-
piled Culver. "But, boys, to go back to fust
principles, be ser'ously . mind to git mar
=. Who ye gotn' to marry, Cali" inquired
NV mwen, n.1, ! done ' as I know nysslf; some
Here vas . general shout, for Cal Culver
was the village do-nothing. The owner of q
small, red house and "home lot, (" which his
father had left him, the sole proceeds of .
long life spent at . cobbler's bench, Cal acted
- II work were as needless to his life as 1t
managed to raise enough potatoes and Indian
corn on the two acres TO keep his mother and
himeeh In meal and the great vegetable
stapae. II he felt Ike It in the time Of 1t,
and In aznoug the corn It was easy to drop
. few pampkin seeds. The apple trees In
the door-ysrd produced their crcps without
trouble, and "garden-sassn was left to his
mcther's care; = abe wanted II, she could
raise It. Poor cid woman; she had enough to
do with loom. sptnning-wheel and needle, be-
sides the simple housewifery of her time and
me.ns; 90 that the garden only bloomed with
such lowers a. were h.rdv and perennial =
hooks I'm stately spires, stin sweet-wflliams
and nGKod beds OF moes-pink, little BurHun-
dy roses no bigger than . copper cent and
trim - an old maid, and long wreaths Of cin-
OF farawsy Csshmere, hut stinted in leaf and
growth and blossom, ~ II they pined and half
d3ed In bitter Northern airs andcgrudging sum
shine. There wns sage, too, and summer "a
Of feeding Il bore hard On Cal; but Who could
live without porki-pork that meant pies,
doaghnuts, suet padding; sausages in winter;
cheeks smoked under barrel and hung In the
Bhed; alahs OF fat, salt and unctuous, adding
sayor and strength TO . billed dinner, or .
- ny" OF any sort No, indeed . pig was the
great nscessity Of Life, aud must be fed II they
Ewo vent hungy.
But Cal was . mighty hunter, 90 that food
was seldom wanting; he could snare par
ridges, kill woodcock and quail with his old
shotgun, bring homo squirrels by the dozen;
md set rabbit traps With unfailing success
trout leaped TO his hook. and - to perch and
.1nnsh, they were to oe had for the ssking at
ana ne pond: In nv wiessr ws5s fu
souaa use found their way to the store or the
'oqure., and resulted In rum, tea or maple
Of hfc. Yet Cal was a shfft-
-, tnnniess fellow; shrewd, witty, keen
stgnted endIlazy. He loved to roam over
ne .eoo witn y roo or gun, to lie on the ira
sultry moons, to hang about the big sfoye IN
the store In cold weather, and tske 4 hot
s NIP" Of rum toddy, while he told md heard
stories and cracked Jokes; but how he hated
10 plow, 70 hoe, TO chop, to break stone, to
nov, 10 tend mill Psrson Robbins sn2 he
we're always at odds, and NO wonder. The
parSou was hery, positive, set, energetic lit
lie man, with enough executive power In him
10 have been president of six railroads sf 4
time; . man who could not be idle moment:
Who rose early and read late; who was by ma,
turs belligerent, autocratic, eager, earnest
lsh. Cal was right; TO fight something was
he necessity Of The parson's nature, his very
'see vss aggressive. Modern elsrgymen,