The Cecil Whig., 1884-02-09
Byah Green and the Parrot.
EY J. GRIFFIN HALL.
From the Baltimorian I

iOhi 'hC
There is a certain town in this State
which can be reached in 4 days jour
ney by rail, where used to spend my
summer vacations in my younger days.
1t was town or village, where, in fact,
| spent two pleasant months out of
every twelve, after ten long months of
hard study at school, and close con-
tlnement to the various duties at home,
| was permitted at the close of the
month Of June to so and spend the
two following months with my uncle,
who resided there.
The real name of the village | will
not give. because it is unnecessary be-
s'iles. the village is by no means a Sc
Cmded OF unknown one on the con-
tEary, 1t Is at present very popular
place as i summer resort. and were
TO give its real name, and the names of
the characters Of whom shall speak,
| fear that some might think ! was tax
ing liberties which had no right to do.
| will therefore, call the village, by way
OF designation, Rollingsford.
have said that the place could be
reached in a days journey by rail, but
did not intend to convey the impress
sion by that remark that Rollingsford
was railroad station. for it was not, or
at least it was not in the days of my
golden youth" but of late years it has
come to be one of the principal sta
tons on branch of one of the most
important railroads that crosses the
borders of our State.
-N the time of which l now write,
Rolllnsstord was small, quiet town,
situated fifteen miles from any railroad
or tclcsraphic connections. A quaint
old town it was. too, with many queer
and eccentric characters residing with
in its limits.
will not attempt description of
Rollngsford, other than to state it was
the average country village, where every
body knew every body else, and
knew. too, all your antecedents and
your pedigree - who your great
grandfather was. all that he ever
did or intended to do; but per-
haps, reader, you can recal! some
country town or village with which you
are familiar if SO, think Of that place,
and it is my opinion no other descrip-
ton of Rollingsford will be required.
have intimated that there resided
in RolllnSstord many queer and eccen-
tflc characters. 1t is my purpose now
10 relate some incidents connected
with these people. One of them was
Mrs. Mehltable Ann Dykes, who was
the wife of Hezekiah Dykes, well-to-
do farmer, and they were as kind
hearted and honest an old couple as
ever lived.
The writer was quite a favorite with
Aunt Hitty, as | called her, and as YOU
may well suppose, l was quite fire.
quent visitor at the farm house of the
Dykes whenever visited Rollingsford.
knew that Aunt IIitty always had
some little knick- k-knack or sweatmeat
| hid away for cher boy," as she would
at1ectionately call me. But | must
cease indulging in the recollections of
the past. and tell what | had intended
when | commenced.
called on one occasion, and was
greatly surprised to find large green
parrot perched upon the mantle Of the
good old-fashioned kitchen. This was
something new. |, of course, was per-
fectly delighted, and boy-like, desired
to know where it came from, and all
about it. While sitting upon the sofa
engaged in putting myself on the out
sine" of one of Aunt Hitty's famous
pies, she related the following incident
when Hezekiah KEN home from
the city last fall, he brought that ar
parrot with him friend of his'en wot
toIlers ther sea give it to him, and we
hcv had him here ever since. Heze-
kiah thinks powerful sight of him,
cause you see as how he kin talk SO
well but | tell you wot, he is jest full
of mischief, and sometimes he gives
me lots of trouble /; one time he caused
quite 4 rumpus here
aunt Hitty, tell me all about it," |
exclaimed, eager to hear all about that
wonderful parrot. She proceeded:
well, you know, ever since Bijah
Green's wife, Susan, died with the ty-
pus, he has been tying to spruce up
and run around with the girls about
Rollingsford, and they do say that he
was trying to spark Parson Brindle's
widder, while Susan was alying on her
bed of sickness, but laws sakes people
will talk, you know, even if a man hap
pens to get 4 parsons widder to darn
his socks. Now Bijah amt no spring
chicken, kin tell ye; and l kin tel
you something else, too, and that's jest
this ; his head is as bald as a door knob
and it's been SO for nigh onto thirty
years, but you see he has always worn
a wig, and the young gals about the
village don't know anything about it, Oh
how old he really is, as he alters goes
about slicked up with billed shirt on
J and one of them high collars, with a