The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1885-12-25
FORTY YEARS AGO.
HIS STORY OF THE WIDOW wIaas AND BETSY
FAssETT'S CHRISTMAS.
BY ED. II. MOTT.


"a weddin' hain't giner'ly s'prise party
boys" said the Old Settler, as he shut one eve
and peered through cloud of mist that rose
from pewter mug in his hand, laden with the
sweetly suspicious odor Of cloves, allspice,
lemon and all that they imply 'but if Bev-
ery G Fredenbaugh's weddin', forty-seven
year ago, this Christmas eve, want an up-an'-
up s,'prise party, then, bgosh, I've heern of
s'prlse parties but never see one."
Ihe ire IN the tavern was 80 bright that
you could stand on one side of the room and
read clear across on the other, just as plain as
day, the announcements of a coming dance at
Welcome Hollow, donation at Dominic Skin
ners, and turkey shoot and rattle at Nate
Coolies. 1t was so bright that the usual glow
on the Old Settlers nose actually seemed so
much subdued by the unwonted effulgence of
the room that its tone failed to give him one
half the credit he was entitled to as regular
patron OF that department of the hosiery.
But the CHEEKY influence Of the light and the
suspicious odor was upon him, and upon the
Squire, the County Clerk, the Sheriff. and all
the boys. The Old Settler and his friends were
beaming, and he himself was bubblng over
with "reminiscences.
9TH were heap o fun in Pike county
forty-seven year ago." continued the Old Set
tier, ian no mistake. My brother-'n-law Sim
Peters-leastwlse he got TO be my brother n
law artw'dS, but he want dzac'ly mine then,
cause me an NJ riar hadn't hitched yit, not by
several year, an nuther one on us hadn't ever
thort o setch thing; ez | hadn't never see
M'riar yit, and Mriar hadn't never see me.
Me an M'riar was talkin' over them OF times
unly t'other day. The night we was hitched |
were jis' more than ras'lin' wi the asmy. and
were GUNNER, bgosh, than def deerhoun'
But Mriar, she were feelin' SO durn good that
she were chuck full an runnin' over. l saws
To M'rinr unly t'other 1av .Mi,iar T
dye member how glum were the night we
was hitched !?
"'Wall, orter, says she
can dye member how good you felt2'
/" 4 reckon, says M'riar.
"Wall,' says I, 'M'riar, the reason felt so
glum that night was that thort you'd be a
wilder in lessn six months says l.
I" so did l, says Mriar AN that's the rea-
son felt so durn good " says she.
This joke of M'rar's made the boys laugh,
and it pleased the Squire so that he ordered
the landlord to set the pewter mugs to steam
ing.
WALL" the Old Settler went on, Sim Peters
had Il farm over in Big Camp Holler The
farm measured twenty-three acres, but think,
bgosh, that if they could ha' run it through a
sieve an tuck the dirt ez were left an spread
it out agin, it wouldn't ha' footed ND more'n
three acres an half. But nobody couldn't
make Sim blieve that tn were any more stun
on the place than tn orter be to keep the sile
warm, though he did usety say that it were q
leetle dang rous an mite expensive, sides
keepin' pantin back consid' able, havin' to
blast away a rock or two evry time he wanted
to drop hill o beans or Eaters.
81 lived wi Sam in them days, and that's
how know'd bout the fac's I'm gointer give
We. One o Sims clus neighbors were the Wild
der Wigs. The wilder want ez pooty ez an
ash saplln bows. but she were jist about the
shape o one. TIL want no superflo-ous ma
faf,n fhnD tl,ax
were want 'stribited proper. Wen noses an
feet was give out, the Wilder Wigs must ha'
ben the fust one thar, fur she got enough O.
both to fix out three or four ordinary folks
but wen chists an hips was striblted she
must ha' ben late gittin' up to the dough
one OF 'em, b'gosh, ED pass for a grddle
blister on pancake. But then, the wilder
had a farm wuth easy two hundred an fifty
dollars, mule, a brinde steer, a bark wagon,
coon dog, bar trap, an gun, all lef' to
to her by Of Lias Wigg, which died suddint,
count O fallin' off'n load o hoop poles an
abe mule steppin' onter him. Consistently,
the wilder were quite some punkins in society
at the Holler.
cor Balaam Topmuck lived on little place
that he rented, over on Snipe Ridge. He were
the meanest Of all the mem OF fippiny-bit
squeeZeIs tn was in that distric' an tn was
some ez could give Odds b'gosh to all crea-
ton. Wy, OF Topmuck were so dod-durn
mean that wen his fust wife died he locked
his hired man days wages fur knockin' off
an goin' to her fuuerl He did, bgosh! OF
Balaam had a darter Jenny ez were jist ez
mean, if not leetle meaner than her pap
were. &c. wen BALKAN begun to shine roun'
the Wilder Wigs ev'rybodS know'd, o. course,
the reason fur wy, but nobody in the clearin'
could get it through their conks wy the Wild
der Wigs tuck TO cottonin' TO Balaam. Any
how, he mar'd the wilder, give up the Snpe