The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-11-07

| ~, MIS- Bemls, L S'pOse | be gOin' to
have himw said Miranda, dejectedly
HE thinks he's consumDted, and thought
l could doctor him up, and 'twould be
| use for the money. And he was minis
ter once, though it was some queer kind
of a denomination that | never heard of,
and that seemed kind of edifyin'; and his
arm was cut off, away off in PhiladeIphy
ten years ago, and yet he can feel it
a-twingein' And he's kind of slim and
retirin', and not so unhandy to have round
| as some men would be- And, anyhow,
| I've give him my promise"
"Mirandy, l didn't think you was so
| foolish as that-and him an imposertor, as
| like as not"
Everything that I've tried to do since
| Uncle Phineas left me that money folks
have called me foolish or crazy, and | al
| ways was reckoned sensible before, if |
was homely. Abiiah's folks warn me
| against lettin' Johns folks have it, and
| Johns folks against Abijah's, and they
| say that banks burst up and railroad
stocks are risky, and I'll end by ben' on
the town. | never heard anything about
| my bein' in danger of comm on to the
| town before. l put my savin's in an old
stockin' between my beds, and want be-
| holden to anybody for advice nor any,
| thing. | tell you, Mis- Bemis, there amt
mite of comfort in riches to them that's
| got nobody but themselves to do for. Now,
| I've been wantin' a good black silk for
| long spell, and I've been layin' by little
| here and little there, and 'lOttin' on get
| tim it before long, and I've enjoyed think
| ms about it jest as much as if | had it;
| and now that comfort is all took away.
| l can go and buy one right out and [ don't
want it. And only see what trouble Ive
| got into about marryin.' | can't eat my
| vlctuals and l don't enjoy my meet'n'
| privileges, and l don't even care much
about KNOWN what's goin' on. The Bible
says rich folks have got to go through the
| eye of a needle before they can get into the
KINGDOM of Heave-,. 80 r~~---e7 -i--' =
"a, saL.. seems jest as II
that was what l was a-doin.'"
81 don't think that's jest the way it
reads, Mlrandy; but if it's a consolin' idee
to you"
II hain't any too much consolation, and
that's fact. But it does seem real good
to be here; and if you'll jest send one of
the boys after my things I'll stay. Hooked
| up and left my bag on the back door STEP"
| Inc poor-mlstress cOnfded to old lady
| Peaseley that there wasn't as much salts.
| faction in havin' Mirandy as if she hadn't
| got proputty, even if she didn't seem to
| feel it none; she couldn't help feelin' as if
| the minister m his wife had come to tea"
| and she opened the best room, with all its
| glOries of hair cloth furniture preserved
| funeral wreaths, and shell Bunker Hill
| Monument, and had the spare chamber
| swept and garnished. The poor-h house was
| certainly good place in which to get
| ''chippered up" There were few happier
| households in the country; there was not
| one where jollity reigned as it did there.
From Captain Hezekiah Butterffeld,
| generally known as Cap'n 'Kiah, an
| octogenarian who was regarded as an
| oracle, down to Treadv Morgan, half
| wltted orphan, the inmates of the poor
| house had an enjoyment of living astonish-
| ing to behold. 1t had been limited at town
meeting that the keeper of the poor farm
| was "leetle mite too generous and easy
| gong" especially as he insisted upon
furnishing the paupers with "Store" tea
| and coffee, whereas his predecessor, Hiram
Judkins, had made them drink bavberrv
tea, retreshment which old Mrs. Gerald,
pauper whose wits were wandering, and
who was Familiarity known as Charm
Bony," because she cherished a conviction
mat she was the empress Josephine, de-
hay"
Seth Bemis and his wife made the farm
pay; so the town voted to wink at the
store-tea. And they suited the paupers
which was even more difficult than to suit
the town officers.
Miranda's arrival had created quite an
excitement among the inmates of the DOOR
house They had all heard that she had
fallen heir to almost ten thousand dollars,
and there was curiosity to see how she |
would comport herself under this great
accession Of fortune,
Miranda stoutly resisted the charms of |
the best. room, and sat down with the |
paupers in the great kitchen after supper. |
For the spare chamber she showed some |
weakness, for the little back chamber |
which she usually occupied during her |
visits to the poor-farm was next the Oily |
Cowden's room, and Oily had a way of |
wrapping on her wall in the dead of the |
night for somebody to bring her a roasted |
onion to avert peculiarly bad dream to
which she was subject, and the next room |
on the other side was occupied by 10 |
Briscoe, who had a habit of playing on his |
violin at most unseemly hours, and, as poor |
Joe had come through terrible shpwreck, |
in which he had lost, by freezing, both |
his feet and several of his fingers, which |
latter loss made it wonderful that he could |
play at all, nobody had the heart to inter- |
fere with the consolation which "Fisher's |
Hornpipe" and "The Girl l left behind |
me" afforded him at three O'Clock in the |
morning, -nobody, that is except "Marm |
Bony," whose room was on the other side |
of the corridor, and who took Joe's per- |
tormances as a serenade, and gently |
insinuated to him that, as Napoleon was |
still living, she might be compromised by |
such tributes to her charms. Although |
she was anxious not to accept any privi- |
leges on account of her wealth, Miranda |
thought she would occupy the spare
chamber.
The paupers were all disposed to keep |
holiday in Miranda's honor. Old Cap'n !
Kiah had donned a collar so high that it |
sawed agonizlngly upon his ears, little DR.. |
Pingree, a peddler of roots and herbs, who |
was occasionally obliged to seek winter
quarters at the pOor-hOuse, wore black |
satin vest brocaded with huge blue roses,
which had appeared at his wedding forty |
years before, and "Marm Bony" had |
adorned herself with skinny satin skirt
and three peacock feathers standing up
right in her little knob of back hair. And
10 Briscoe was tuning his violin, evidently
in preparation for an unusual effort
A vague idea that Miranda had arr we'd
at great honor had penetrated poor Marin
Bony's" bewildered brain, and a fancy
suddenly seized her that Miranda was the
INSCRIPTIONS Marie Louise who had sup
planted her as Napoleon's wife, and she
hobbled out of the room in great agitation
and wrath, her peacock feathers waving
wildly in the air. She returned in a few
minutes, however, and whispered to Mi
randa that, "as Napoleon want just what
he'd ought to be anyway, mebbe they'd
better make up" To which proposition
Miranda assented gravely, holding the
wrinkled, trembling old hand tenderly in
hers.
Cap'n Kiah felt it incumbent upon him
to lead the conversation, being modestly
conscious of his social gifts.
He mad been ship owner, and very
we'll do, until in his old age he was