The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1880-04-29
VOL. XIII--NO. %.

gan to be placid. It was on Friday
afternoon, about month after the rob,
berries. The day-wa wet and wild; and,
as nv work was the outdoor carrying
of stones which had been placed in posi-
tion in the rough / was enable to go on
with it, and SO had to return to my
quarters. had got my dinner, and had
Just called for pint, of ale with my
pipe, when an elderly. addressed man
came in, and, sitting down on bench
beside me, said, in broad Lancashire
accent. " Tll sup VII tina lad, if tha
doesn't care;'' on which he lifted my
mug to his lips and drank freely. / had
not got over my surprise when he, wip-
ing his mouth with his hand, gave me
the history of the past day or two. The
account was this: He had been gem
tleman's gardener, near Lancashire,
over twenty years, had a capital place,
but had not had sense enough to keep
it, for he had gone on the loose for a
fortnight, which was more than his mas
terwould put up with, so he was dis
sises, sesI. st Ib Day efore yesterday y
he said, {. an Pye drank for vary vexa-
ton ever sim, trampin' as I drank, an
SO here am, WI dry math an wi'out
a'0ppeny i my pocket. Doesta think, !"
he continued, aw n'raise penny or
Gppence amang the companyr
/ gave him a trihe; Others did the
same; having thus straised the wind" I"
he called for bread, cheese, and ale; ana
made good meal.
During the time the gardener had
been talking to me the landlord had
been within, hearing; 30. accosting the
old man while he was calling his dinner,
he said: .You are gardener, I.under-
"I am" was the reply.
H WelI," said the landlord, "I have a
garden which needs tilling. 1 have not
time to attend to it myself, and as it is
time the seed was in Pll employ you, if
you are willing. Pll find you plenty to
eat and drink; you scang have q bed as
we'll, and if y5u please me TN not see
you leave without a few shillings in
your pocket. What say your
=" say agreed" replied the gardener,
rising to his feet and graspiDg the land
lord s hand. aPll not begin tomorrow,
however; but I'll look round an get
riddysf for Monday morn.
This proposal was satisfactory, where
fore the gardener was made happy.
Shortly afterward we had an sddition
to our company by the incoming of the
old bird-stuffer, whom l shall hereafter
call the naturalist Gas this designation
was the one which pleased him), his
son, the butterfly feeder, and two other
Imen whom had not seen. These-the
strangers first looked hard at the COM
pany, but the naturalist giving them a
significant. nod, which seemed to say
I" all right, they settled down and
called for a glass Of rum apiece.
BY this time the gardener had finished
his dinner, when, putting his arms on
the'table, and his head on his arms, ne
fell, or seemed to fall, asleep, The rain,
which continued 20. come down, COM
PEELED me still to hide under cover; SO,
placing my chair in corner and put
ting my head against the wall, l tried
to get a nap also. The naturalist and
his eompanions,y were now the only per-
SONS in the room besides the gardener
and me. - - 4e 9,.-S,.~E4
6 1 can not tell half nor quarter of v hat
was said by first one and then another
of the four persons; nor did under
stand some of the phrases which they
used, "Bruce" and "Wonder," "fax''
and sstufing'' were twsrds often en-
ployed by them. I recollect that
i.Bruce" was the name Of the dog, and
"Wonder" that of the lamb, in the mu'
scum before spoken of; and the other
terms, I Judged, referred to the material
with which they were stuffed; but
could not see why they should speak in
80 low a tone as they did when they
spoke OF them. Once or twice they re.
ferred to bird by some slang phrase.
But aft ,r-events made this clear enough,
By-andby the weather cleared up.
when the men, draining their glasses
got up and went away. The moment
they were gone the gardener reused up.
took memorandum out of his pocket,
and began to write therein. He then
asked me if I knew who the men were,
and what was their occupation, and if
understood any of the words uttered in
the lower tone Of voice. l gave him
what information could. "But,"
said, 'sboth they and believed you were
asleep"
s1t is we'll to go into dreamland al
times, he said; and then added: "Did
you say that the Eold man keeps-a fnu
scum? Have you seen it? Do you
think I could get a look at it2
The questions were put one after the
other in quick succession, as though he
were eager and anxious about some.
thing. i said Eyes" to each, but ] was
surprised at the good English in which
he now spoke and the refinement which
marked his manners. Still could make
nokhipor of IL
pass over the next few. days, as they
brought forth no remarkable Incident
The gardener had stuck to his: :contract
with the landlord, and / had beer
enabled to get on with my work. The
four men did not again visit US; but al
Iwent on with my carving | saw frs
one and then another of them pass my
place. And once saw them all in earn
est converse in retired lane.
After supper one night ] took the
gardener 10 the bafn1ike habitation o.
the old naturalist. AS we went along ht
asked me to akeparticular notice of the
dog and the lamb. "For," said he, "l
was struck with the question one of til,
men put as to whether Bruce anc
Wonder could take in any more cot
tom or fax And it is Just possible,
he continued, "that he has a way o
taking out and putting in stufing afte
the skin has become set and hard-s
thing worth knowing, 1 should think"
When we got. to the house the ole
man came to thesdoor, closing it afte
Kim. Being asked if he would ALLOW
the gardener to see over his collection o
preserved animals, he at first seemed
perplexed, and saying, "PH ask my son,
he went in, leaving US outside. Shortl,
he returned, and said: at Is not cor
venient to enter the room tonight, as i
is being cleaned and the contents re
arranged; but if your friend will com
tomorrow night, and come alone, h
shall see over it"
We agreed and came away. was a
loss to account for the condition i'm
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