The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1883-02-01
NUMBER 5.
Ohio Cider.
THE MISCHIEF THAT sLUMBERs IN THE IN
NOCENT RAISIN.

nuhliSb the fact if onybnd, rot tho hettddr of
him in a Trade
"But this wasn't =, trade was it,, ovl,nd ana
of thc trustees,
"No." rpsnondel tba nor.on with /, ohn.+ of
a twin l,Ie in his rioht nve INA If ,v.ts 1,reSnnt
the deacon p0t from relatives of hix ort ,ynsr j.
out in Central Ohio They semi him g, harrcI If
splendid new cider ;,
TELL US about the trick, Doctor,
'Well, [ don't know that If was \ trick = soid
the parson. dropping INTO \ warm rhair hv the
CRATE but it Wa, 4 very funny bif of eXncri-
ence the deacon had. Ia, hnl These folks of
bis sent him this cider ana sent him ! letter
saving that it made thc best hottlrd ridpr in tbn
world, telling him that all he had to do was TO
pour the cider into small bottles and drnn a
raiSn into each bottle iI.t before n faStene,I
in the cork Well, Uezekiah followed the d
rectionS very carpfiIIly ana piled the hnttIes in
that little cellar of his lust back of the furnace.
OF course the cider went very slowly. Y, thr
deacon'S family is quite small Besides. he hod
Il notion that this cider being extra fms 0u~ht
to be kept fer company or Christmas or miHre
pies, and what not 50 il was ly1ne in the eel
lar two or three months. One evening INV wife
and myself dropped III b spend tie evening
with the deacon. My wife said she hadn't been
there for five or siX months, and So Mrs. Chare
wouldn't be satisfied with mere formal can
Deacon was delighted to zee uS-dcar Ola feI-
loW--he lust beamed with hosuitulitv. Told his
wife to bring in some Of h,r special company
doughnuts. and said he was going IT, open a
bottle of that splendid Ohio elder Wen. | re-
monstrated with him: told lim he had better
keep the cider for real COMPANY u> W. felt
like members of the family YOU know. Fact
is | thought the cider must be pretty hard in
spite of the raisin>. and hard cider always
gives me a little fit of indigestion. But Deacon
wouldn't take any excuse. He was bound to
open some of that Ohio cider So he brought
out three bottles. My wife was talking with
Mrs. Chace about calling on the new folk,-thc
BroWnS-that had lust come into town from
Warren Her face was turned away from the
Deacon, who stood by the table chatting with
me and twisting he wire off one of the torl>
"'Oh, yes said the Deacon II knew the
Browns long before they went to Warren. The
old man used to DO business in Providence, and
Julius Cesar, what's that The cork flew
out Of the bottle is if it had been Shot out of "A
gun, Just >kinning Il. end of the Deacon, nose
on its way to the ceiling. Ny wife turned
quickly as she heard the Dcacon'S quick eXcla-
nation. and the. cider Cooking like rhurncd
Soap>ud>l caught her full IN the ewes Being 4
woman of great presence of mind She jumped
on her chair and began to scream Fire = The
rest of the cider was playing like fountain
over her new silk dress, for the Deacon was so
dazed that he stood holding the bottle out at
arms length. | suppose it was sinful under
the circumstances, but | fell back Oh the sofa
and laughed Till cried. even if that silk dress
was spoiled, There wasn't drop left in that
bottle when the fountain stopped playing. |
wish | could have photograph of the old Dc.-
con as he stood holding it out at arm. length.
Ila. lla' lia.N And the Par>On laughed hearth
ly at the recollection.
by this time, continued the Par>on, ''the
Dcacon'> blood was up. 80 Use to say we did
not care for the cider Just before going to bed.
Some OF that cider we must have That bottle.
Deacon said. was a trie lively. but he didn t
believe there was another one ike that iii the
whole lot. But he gra~ptd the other bottle a
little more firmly, pressed his thumb on the
cork and began TO pry off the Wire Mrs.
Cha@e was down on her knees trying with d
dry towel to make the silk dress look a tritle
more respectable, and | noticed that my Wife
began to edge over into the corner and wink
her eyes a> one does who expects to hear a
cannon go of Quick Is flash Deacon turned
the neck of the bottle into glass IL the cork
flew across the room and stirred up the cat, and
almost every drop of that cider danced ont of
the glass onto the parlor tahIeCloth. ABOUT
two tabe>poonfuls stayed in the tumblpr.
"'lladnt better gct the umbrella, Iiczckiuh
if YOU are going to open any more :" said Mrs.
ChHce, in that patient, meek way of hers. with
ont the slightest flavor Of fun in her Voice.
"'1e>. said Deacon. with little trilr Of IT.
ritation in His tone. Better have The Salvage
Corps come. hadn't you:
after | had >moothed down my Voice into
tolcrabe r0mpo>urr. >u@g, ~ted that ii the
Deacon was going to continue the experiment
he had better % into the GARDEN where the l-
reprt,>iblr cider might galltp arc und in n less
expensive fashion, Draron'S wife began 10
~ay that she thought the hired man had better
90 along in case Of accidents. but | quietly
uudgca her arm, and she hpIu her peace.
Strange thing isn't it. that the Best wife in the
world will often r;I>p a mans feeling, more
than his bittcrc>t enemy can do! W. heard h
loud report which my wife said she hoped
wouldn't raise the neghbor~, and when IL. can,
back he had the class nearly half fIlI of cider