Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-11-23
THE IDLEIs.
Notes and Gossip Picked Up on the
street

street.
commercial tourist-which is as much as
to say a gentleman who like g. Washington,
can not tel lie-told the ldler the Other
day, funny story about veteran hotel.
keeper who il9urishcd in the northern put of
the State. Mine host was clever old fellow,
but was not very well posted. Once upon n
time be got rs far away from home as the
seashorc, and there he was informed that the
proper thing to do was to go to the beach and
see the tide 30 ont. He went, accordingly,
but when lie reached the beach some one
told him that the tide had already gone out.
Has it I" he replied, greatly annoyed ;
who in the deuce let it out p =
The women, bless their little hearts, "
said Mr.. Drew of the Van Ness House,
"iping his intellectual brow with a silk
handkerchief presented TO him by the Amcri.
can Missionary Society for furnishing the
best subject for tract-"Th women can be
Just as sharp at trade as the men. One
Winter l went up TO Richford to buy
horse. found it all right but all
The time l was making a trade with
The man who owned it his wife kept rails
ing an awful fuss about selling it at the ir-
urc / offered. If the horse was sold, she
said how would the poor children get to
school, She would like to know; they
wouldn't have the horse IN carry them,
AID II was too far 10 walk. Finally, howev-
or, We made trade and hitchcd the horse
INTO sleigh to drive home. Jumped into
the sleigh, but tie horse wouldn't start. |
touched him with the whip. Int he "e.eiy
| imr"o.' ".ouuu ana nycd a sad, inquiring gaze
upon me. | touched him .agan, with the
sane results Then hit hun n little harder.
aud what do you think he did? lie iumpcd
Just thirty feet into the air. thought was
gong up in balloon. And when he struck
the ground he started up at regular Maud
). gait. The fact was. you see, that horse
hal never been hlchei single before in his
lie Aud there was That woman taking on
SO about selling him because the children
would have to walk TO school, Oh, she was
u sharp one"
Speaking of the search for hidden treas
rres now in progress at Brandon, that
case isn't the first of the kind in
he history Of the State and prob.
ahly won't lie the last. The most Ia
nous affair Of the kind, probably, was that
OF which Middle,owp, in Rutland county,
was Inc scene, in the opening years of the
present century. There lived down there
generate modern families, but good old
thirty-chiljren family such as Vermont tried
TO- create famines with century ago. The
WOODS were cranky crowd, and among
other things got up new religion, claiming
themselves 10 b; under the INN ediatc per
yonal direction OF the Almighty, as were the
lsraclites of old. One fine day chap came
along and exhibited to their astonishcd gaze
ine wonders Of the witch-hazc rod. The
woods, In modern rarlancc, caught on the
laea win great promptnCss and, armed with
lhc festive witch-hazel, proc, cdcd to exca.
vale the whole town. They dug one hole to
Tue depth OF seventy feet. aud This and other
excavations are pointed out to the curious
10 ms day. The nearest approach'to n sue
cess they made says the legend, was on one
occasion when they had faithful
" toilcd deep into the bowels Of
the earth, finally striking an immense
nat stone, under which lay a colossal treas
!re. Now ii IS well known by all who have
pecome rich in this manner tina, one of the
principal conditions Of success is absolute
silence. II word is spoken while the dig
gipg Is gong on, the treasure will disappear
LOT ever On this occasion SUCCESS had almost
been attained. The diggers were in the very
act OF removing the big flat stone and the
treasure was almost visible AT this auspic.
ious moment the foot Of one man fell with
dull thud on the Toes of fellow laborcr.
cit OIL my foot" yelled the infatuated dig
ger, with world OF anguish in his voice
and the spell was broken for ever. The
dlggers fled in wild fear of the Evil One
whose treasures they had so nearly despoiled.
and the e, o. reclaimed his own.