The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-07-15
BROWNS RETREAT.

There was considerable mystery and cOufu-
sion attending the want Of knowledge whether
Browns Retreat meant that Brown had re-
treated. or if Dr. was a general invitation into
the retreat or if Brown was a practical
Joker and Browns Retreat merely a gentle
stimulant 10 that weakness.
Edgerly was such a prosperous town that it
was no misuOmer to call it a city. II had
fine harbOr and fine East India trade and it
had q charming collection Of Water-side char
acters. 1t had a fine State prison that was
kept on the most desirable plan. Five hundred
gentlemen were lodged there who had differ
ences with their COUntry's laws. Once in
while, curiOuslv enough, one OF these gentle
men would escape. There were other fine in
situations I'm Edgerly, Of which, it is, however,
unnecessary TO speak.
It was nearly At the foot Of Edgerly's down
hill street that Browns Retreat flashed out.
At a rough guess it was six by ten, and Occu-
pied One-half Of the ground floor of No. Z,
wooden house with dcpressed-lOOking win
dOws, at each Of which appeared vision OF
somebody's baby and some haby's mother, all
looking very irguzy and much in want Of soap
and water and fresh air.
Browns Retreat was, then, about six feet
by ten and left lockers on no doubt Of its
character, as it boldly proclaimed itself
Browns Retreat on a deal-board, painted
in amp-hlack by one whose right hand had
lost is cunning for the letters resembled Ed
gcrly streets being narrow and ZigZag i'm the
extreme. Nevertheless, they stared into the
Ill r,,..r,.E ag a s,,IiI 'f,r,,dotiop two
o,,arts 80 1is,,-.1 Iool-iro, oDplas eurr,or1u+cd
a., s,--r 7,rs ~ stirlT aT,corn baIIs y col
lection of combs and scCd-Cakes, a few paper
dolls q sprukIiug Of dead flies, clay-pipes and
SS,,.,;,-os q orr5,s foca yvo,,Id ,,eer ont
o.1r r., -,,,,-,, ~, s,,Tfs. rbiIl,s
face vet strangely uuchild-l like, with shrewd
~ Tf,f-,, r., n 7,,I,tf,i III, 1r.ss win
80. .,,-' 90 - -, y et, f1, tI,rce
a., 80 r ~ I,j iit,1o+a,1- and
: - l..;r No., nv, aTr1aci,teJ forefinoq.
NJ i.-s Ill "a, -, ms smell md
the c,,1I.ar ,,'5s ,arr small The SELECTION of
-, -. - ,,I ~, ,-,,a+,,,. ,,sr+ s-,al.5
d. -,s,..I.,-I
wv. .I, .a-, % pr,,-,,,s Patr,,+ 9, an
,oa,a5 - ,I-. v.;,,,l,,,- Tho ,lei,rIL,rrCd1
itaTcS V-batb., he fr,,i-iI,Ia Proven r--inrod
is u,iT,o,,. 1,,t +rIIa II Is tba+ he u,ys,crious
oIii5 ,.,,,,f,,-,.5 "a laer tba 1iftIs tbor ,-i.b
-, T,.+, O., Z, a MIA. yrI., ~.
sb, No., ar,,,t,- mich IIao,-or, Knows ,r,s
Tanlt If rha ti,ie far neither money nor fra lie
~, ,-o-,. Los. n, not ,,art 81 T-lo,rI, f,v-r
" ~ Ia I,I,iso. L1,or.lr . l.
IL ,,gst cIcar P,ner7',
Tho Tnv.fay;61s Child wou1d rccouuoffer
.+,itliII- l 80, yitI, much 7ifyirIIt, Zro,rId
wbisnar tIrouolb the kew hole of a small door
IN The bad, of fIa sbop. half lost in the gloom
81 +I,o 30, . W. Nunc'', Than a Tnsprs
head y-o,IJ oer ont c,ntionsIv from the siobt-
IyorrueI G6or-a mans head. with tumbIed
- IN M, ''l Il tbo ,o,, c,IiI
I gu ~. ~ ~o'''o''' 90 - NV
Tf - a. =. VIZ ,I,,7 ,,-o-,,i,l,, .. Shoe
s,, ~: ,,, n. ND enc lsl, ,tfIad
&C. All -. -, P,. y,Iff -,1 ,iTi s,l,
III, R,,,l,is i9.toat b,,t
r., D., ,,tr,+ 20 +Lot ILL, chinese
ILlSlT III d 1i'''' Inv "
- -, I,., N-,.,,,,y,,,r 1,,- ,1,ot pr,,,-,,'s
Ttt - 49, or, ,t,;sLi ,ri5.
80 - -, n -, - ,;tt e., r,..,,r,
law u'l, W. my In. u - 80,
- NJ, tb I'D ,Iabi",, 7dsIv
-. -, Iii "a - IA IT, bar5s IN
=. ,,,1-. ~ y -, 90 ~, IL IA .bair
- - -
r,. I,.;,,- iasI,oI o,,t olo,cr With tho
80 NC, - st,5 ~ 5,d T,,asti,,,ej.
49, !" a. f - az - - 4 - -
1uI lnG OILY MOI lil,i.G on nj vac Uli.iC
-, ! y. a. ii.I5 IL bal b,,b+ o,Tt
-, ,,,,, ~ + b f,,+I, toor5
- n - 80 fli,-i,,-.I- IA, g., 5Ilars
M Ii'u ilICu ~ "a iou'iS' "i'i' NV
90 !. az 80 ~. ,', ,,-+,+ +,, :, -s,,
i, - -, - 80, NJ \, a. -, - 80
ar, Iao1 +o,,b tIo ICoy b"io Of to
- &c ~ 20 ,,,l ~ ,iSS+ III
49, 80 ~. 1919 a. - ,,f1oEI; ~ MP
~ Cllo Ili0 "a .i'ti .1.9,, ,5 ~,
,-is;,,, ''7'
~. ,,-.,-, . i, liz ;, ,o;5 ro,,,-
I'll, -, CI''S o.l,,, &c I'M P'''
Win ii'u0N Iieseii0' % llllh"
II.
man may he q rascal and vet possess a fine
sense of bumor That was The matter with
PoDs,.'s rnrIa Not that he was sucb an awful
TascsI II yor iudoe nv any other standard
tbar tbis ,yorli.s His name yvas Rroyn and
befora he became rine for the nenitentiarv he
bo5 to.., mic , decent member of society
NJ ,.,- NJ, 20 ,,IT,,,cb ,,,,ce II, a ,rbiIa
Ono sunday Morning he Wandered into a
a,.ti, I,,,,IS. a,,d baa-J tho T,raocbor crow
aI,,Ie17+ n, f,rsiyiI1cr tho sins ~ oIIr fellow
mon bo,,- tbst he the nreacbar loved man
l-i,d ,,d tbara ,ras n,tbinc- bis erri,,or bratb-
rem could 40 to him which would turn him
AGAINST then. Brown had cone into the sacred
edifce more for warmth than for pietv. for it
was a bitter. biting winter dav. and his lucky
star was. lust then. very dim. Being there he
listened. and listening believed the eloquent
words. Confdinglv. and witha certain sense
of humor. too he took the reverend gentleman
al his word: that night the parsonage was en-
tered and large number Of valuables were
stolen Brown was not caught in the act.
exactly. but silver cream Jug was found in his
left coat-tail pocket for which he could not ac-
count: especially as it had a strange mono
gram engraved on one fat side. To his sur
prise and disappointment the minister appeared
against him; jury without bit OF humor
found him guilty. and prosalc Judge SEN
fenced him TO nye years Imprisonment.
Brown didnot belong TO that class noyeliSts
delight IN describing, the noble convict. lie
was human-that is all l have TO say Tor him;
human, with fine ignorance Of mine and
thine; but beyond that, he would DO no INJURY
TO man or child except, perhaps, In self
defense. when we are all either towards or wild