West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-02-08
OUR NEW NEIGHBORS AT pom.
KAPOG.
IAtIsntic Monthly
BY THOMAS BArLY ALDRIcH.

iAtsntC Monthly.
When | saw the little house building
an eighth of a mile beyond my own. on
the Old Bay Road, wondered who 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 "A view of the
stylish equipages which sweep by during
the summer season. For my part, like
to see them passing in town or country
but each has his own taste. The pro
prletoT, who seemed to be also the archi-
icct of the new house. superintended
the various details of the work with an
assIdulty that gave me a high opinion
ot hiss intelligence and executive ability.
anG | congratulated myself on the pros
PecI Oh having some very agreeable
meighbors.
1t was quite early in the spring. if
remember, when they moved into the
cottage newly-married couple. evil
IDENTIFY; the wife very young, pretty and
with the air of lady; the husband
somewhat older, but still i'm the first
flush of manhood. II was understood i'm
the village that they came from Balti-
more; but no one knew them personally,
and they brought no letters of intro
ductlon. (FOr obvious reasons refrain
from mentioning namcs.) Ii was clear
that, for the present at least, their own
company wascutirely sufficient for them.
lhey made 40 advances toward the ac-
quaintancc of any of the families i'm the
nelghborhood, and consequently were
lett TO themselve. That, apparently
was what they desired, and why thew
came to Ponkapog. For after its black
bass and wild duck and teal, solitude is
the chief staple Of POnkapog. Perhaps
It's perfect rural loveliness should he in.
cluded. Lying high up under the wing
OF the Blue Hills, and i'm the odorous
breath OF pines and cedars il chances
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 lHeaven he
praised y is two miles distant. and the
seclusion is without flaw. Ponkapog
has one mail a day two mails daY
would render the place uninhabitable.
The viliage-it looks like compact
village at distance, but unravels and
disappears the moment you drive into
lt-has quite large floating population.
} do not allude to the perch and pickercl.
Along the Old Bay Road, highway
even IN the colonial days, there are a
number OF attractive cottages Struggling
of toward Milton, which are occupied
Tor the summer by people from the eitv
These birds Of passage are a distinct
class from the permanent inhabitants
and the two seldom closely assimilate
unless there has been some previous con
nectlon. II seemed to me that our near
neighbOrs were 20 come under the head
OF permanent inhabitants; they had
built their own house, and had the air Of
intending to live in it all the wear
round.
Are you not going to call on them ?''
asked my wife one morning.
When they call ON US, she replied
lightly.
But it is our place to call first, they
being strangers"
This was said a. seriously az the cir
cumstance demanded but my wife
turned IT of with laugh, and ! said no
more, always trusting TO her intuitions
in these matters.
She was light She would nOt have
been received, and cool not at home"
would have been n bitter social pill for
be courteous.
nevertheless Their cottage Law between
us and the pOstOflice-w where he was
never to be met by any chance-and I
caught frequent glimpses of the TWO
working in the garden Horticulture
did not appear 20 much an object AZ ex.
ercise. Possibly it was neither: mavbe
they were engaged in digging for speci.
mems OF those arrOwhcads and flint
hatchets which are continually coming
10 the surface hereabouts. There is
scarcely an acre in which the plowsbare
has not turned mp some primitive stone
weapon or domestic uteusil. disdainfullv
left 20 us by the red men who once held
this dOmain-an ancient tribe called tbe
Punkypoags forlorn descendant of
which, one Polly Crowd, figures i'm the
annual Blue Book, down to- the close of
the Southern war ms State pensioper.
quote from the local historiographer.
Whether they we're developing n
kitchen garden or cmulating Prof.
Schliemann at Mayence, the new comers
were evidently persons Of refined mu.
sical taste the lady had a voice Of re-