The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-12-15
GOVERNORS FARM.
AetnoE at srs AND EA,

ife.e was a 0DnGOtu WaSDUlGt oI us, home ard bound. to engage oat muscle. our capacities and our digestion upon Nox ein Der turkey and i,s kindred pala tables. For couple of hours vocal eros,-:ring had been briskly kept up, au, e.. II once there came ! depressing ,ull n he conversation. looked al my companions in mute surprise. IL was neaf.y ave minutes since anybody had uttered syllable. The extra-loquacious tIave.er was irtently studying the frozen hndscaIe and for miracle. seemed to have TO immediate notion of talk. He had oeen everywhere. and had seen every thins :. and out of the geographies and history books, .and yet none of Us re- mem1ered to have ever seen or heard of him. This wasn't exactly what the dle- nonary terms coincidence.
 He sage ra,tled smartiy over the sfaea ,. and the roadside feYces ran ne ,-aain with the mingled shadows ot n rses and coach X shot, curve. and an q: omfor,abie roll of the ,ehfle, re- opeae the low of words
 ! :" exclaimed the strange man of eo.aH...y. 1 though, we were near l. thes-s the Governor Farm. gentle men
 @e severally turned our tros;-,lntcd .sa,es n the direction tha; hls finger po;n;ee. and saw 4 very ordinary old lash aed, yet apparently snug mansion m ate slln:::i, of hill at the distance of hal ;aile. What Il had been orsln- .l.3 aoEid pul.ie the brain of an archi- C ,=.,a. exper; The main building. two ,;oH-, q helsht. was ot stone, with ,aps. els wooden poriieo. and rambling. une .3 oGthou>es \ frame barn. twice me ot the dwelling and is belong ;a- ., ef recent and improved con stt3 |. stood aboG, two hundred yards C ;ar ear The adl acent fields were n iua. de, and the.e was me grove of ni:y .,ees stretching from upland tres, to mea9aw marge. Another sharp bend in the ,o.t, and this delightful picture was sweH' .nay.
 Nes." con.laued the eX,ra.loQuacious :rtsc.e- as he leaned back and settled h.a!,et for ;he final seven miles oi our '1Grne,. 7" that's place with blood &a5re chronlcle e And thereupon he .os1i.e .s mys,erous as ! Coanecticu; narde.
 t: ,arse he was aching ;o ,el. tae ,tot, ..ad our mods ot encouragement, And .c,. llesccnce promptly brought Ii, h,,,n
 leu sec he began. was bonn and ra.sed Tn this ere neighborhood. al .hoasa haven't laid eyes on |. unt,l to- day tuI nearly forty-one years. and that's dea. more than generation. My father and uncle. who were carpenters and p~llders, put up tha, house before ~as even thought of among human pos- soiilies. and I'm httyeight next month. Ina. s. they raised and finished the diessee stone portion. and erected that ,weil p.azia. with i,s futed columns. Reoc,e came miles and miles 10 see-;he 1~eliing. and when the husband of its girl owner was elected governor of the state, :; was the abode of much gayety and hospitality. have heard !, said tha; the governor was jus, about as clever as they made em in those days. and iaeIe. 10 denying his popularity now. because he was twice reelected ,o the ottce Aud afterwards went 10 the national sena;e Bu, this ism, wha, you care to know The farm was a marriage dover of the governors wife. She was the only chld of the wealthies, man in this sec ton ot New England. The governor 1ltnSC.i Was q ilNH HlAH oCn, Dut Old H--. his tather-n-law, heid frs, mort gage or every second plantation in the Acoun,ry. Folks around here wondered iha, he consented to Bessie wedding a harum-scarum young lawyer. Not tha, Dick M wasn't good enough icg her and ,el you his family was top-no,ch m lineage and ptidel. but R-- was tee totally opposed to the political party o, which his pretty daughter sui,or was an acknowledged leader. This opposition gathered strength al each autumn eiee- non, and somehow or other los, gr,p after ;he bitterness of defeat had spen; it's force As for Dick M. he was neither tool. knave nor demagogue. His aeighbors admired his great natural gifts, and winked a, his personal indiscretions and vagaries. Thus rapidly pushed to- wards the goal of an honorable ambition when he finally became a candidate for she highest of,ice in his native state a-- forgot old partisan sores. and openly used his influence to elect his daughters lover. The coveted magis- ,er:al prize and Bessie were both won ., a single dash The farm, which VIC ius, passed, was the choicest bit of property hereabouts. Old R-- not only deeded utc his daughter, but contracted for the erection of as elegant dwelling as could be bulk for ten thousand dollars, and that amount was a considerable pile ol money then. Labor and material was cheap, and inside and outside. that house with its furbelows and ornaments. and imported French and English furniture. vas fully equal to any city mansion.
 "Well, the time slipped along, and be fore was lad ot fourteen, Hon. Richard M had been out of office and in his grave nearly three years and now comes he gore and thunder of my narrative.
 ~After their marriage. Bessie M- accompanied her husband almos, every ~here Fl af his du.ieS and ineiin a,ion led