Sharp County record., 1881-06-02

| sources. She therefore sad no Lly1O'
and like dutiful vile tired 10 believe
that her husband knew rioCe taAA >Ae
did about the matter. Ia tatt Is It.le
went on and no one came - t.A;su the
money and nothing wSS aeSN u any
loss she gradually torCo; Ae7 StT'',' &,
and began to feel SU The security ;aA'
comes from long possession -i''SS1>S''a
which is nine points Ot the .5w,
The poeket-book contained JUS; nve
! hundred dollars gooj,y sum % pto-
pie as poor as the ketchUn$ And Sy-
ery evening as Calvin -. smoking his
pipe. and Nancy sat knitting. or darn
ing, or patching, they fell into discus.
sion as to the most profitable mode OF
investment.
Tile plan which struck them most
favorabiy was to let the money lie at
interest two or three years, and then
build house in which they could take
comfort the rest of their lives.
"Of course it will be small" said
Calvin.
"AlI the better for that" said Nan
CIV. so much more cosy"
A small cottage, end to the road"
said Calvin.
my idea exactly" said Nancy.
"And perhaps, if the money holds
out, one O. them ere bay windows"
"A bay-window and kind O. porti-
rico, or whatever they call EN-, over the
door. 1 can see it all as plain as day."
said Nancy.
You see we can't spread quite so
much on the house, on account OF the
barn. Of course we shall want barn.
To be sure, nice snug barn with
a weather-cock on top"
"And the p'nts of the compass" said
Calvin.
Yes. the p'nts of the compass"
echoed Nancy. " Head west, tail east
that's fair weather; then it whisks
round, head east, tail west-that's foul
weather."
"Who whisks round?" asked Calvin.
Why, the roosterm
"What rooster?"
"Why, Calvin, how stupid! Haint
we Jest been talking about weather.
cock-and what's that but rooster?"
Sometimes it's fish," said Calvin.
q despise a fish," said Nancy; D." |
Jest despise it. Who ever see a fish
climb up to the top of barn? No, a
rooster for me-a splendid gilt rooster!
l wonder at you wanting tish?"
"Did | say | wanted a fsh?"
"You give me to understand you did,"
"No such thing! | said weather.
cock was fish sometimes, and so It's;
the one on the meetin' house is; but I'm
going to have one that'll beat that all
holler; see one like it down to Dan
bury; it's a man with sword in his
hand-don't know whether it's meant
for George Washington or Napoleon
Bonaparte-but every time the wind
whisks it round, up goes the sword, or
down goes the sword "
Now call that ridic' lous-simply
ridiculous; wuss than the fish if any
thing. Now a rooster belongs on a
barn"
mo, he don't; he belongs on the
dung-hill."
"Calvin Ketchum, l should be
ashamed You talk like fool"
Perhaps do. What is it the Bible
says about answering fool according
to his folly?"
But we will not pursue this war of
words further words which increased
in bitterness on both sides, and which
left an impression not soon forgotten.
The next day, as Nancy sat at the
window sewing, she saw Calvin come
out of the shop with his leather apron
full of refuse cuttings which he shook
out on the ground. He looked up and
met her gaze, then raising his arms,
tapped them like wings and gave
lustv crow After that he went back
into his shop, laughing The action
had been more exasperating than the
original quarrel had been.
"rll pay him for it! I'll come up
with him. said she to herself. She had
no definite purpose in view, but fate sup
piled her with one that very afternoon,
and with the means of carrying it out
Still nursing her wrath, she set about
building the fire preparatory TO putting
on the tea-kettle.
She picked up a newspaper which
Calvin had carelessly tossed into the
wood-bOx, to kindle with, but before
lighting it, she had the curiosity to look
it over. There might be death or
marriage of somebody she knew, or a
love-story, or an interesting "local
item,n and newspapers were rare in
this family-that one had come wrapped
round a pair of disabled shoes. She
spread it out on the table, and the first
thing that met her eyes was notice in
very large type-so large that it seemed
to be staring at her-headed thus:
"LosT-A POCKET-BooK."
The time and probable place of losing
and description of the lost article were
all there. 1t ended thus: "Whoever
shall restore the same, or give intorma-
ton leading to its recovery, will be
suitably rewarded. Apply to Julius
Sharp, Esq"
She could not restore it, because Cal
vim kept it locked up in the bureau
drawer; but she could give informa-
ton, and she would do it. 1t still
wanted an hour or two of sunset, and
Lawyer Sharp lived not more than a
mile away-not more than half mile
across lots, the way she should go;
I z