St. Landry democrat., 1885-12-19

"a NAIs bAtSASS
Not daring to trust to his own knowl-
edge of such things, Mr.. Parsons took
the abstract and deed to the landlord
of the hotel, whom he thought q man
likely to be possessed of some knowl- |
edge OF business. The landlord looked
them over and pronounced them all
right
Determined to have no lingering
doubts to worry him hereafter, Mr..
Parsons then sought out the village
lawyer. and submitted them to him
also.
That gentleman glanced them over
and replied:
..It's all right, sir; all right"
ssLand entered by John Smith, who
sells to Peter Jones. Deed signed by
John Smith and Hannah E. Smith, his
wife. They sell to Thomas r. Blake.
Thomas r. Blake and Mary s. Blake
deed to Martha j. Parsons.
'No mortgage appears upon the records in
my office against the above described land.
stENOs PUTERBAUGH. Recorder
s.That's all right. Title in your wife:
Nobody can get it away from you, sir
THAT'S what / thought every time
| afore," muttered John Parsons to HIM
| self as he left the Office, 'but they did
| it all the same. But may be as this
place amt worth much and amt never
| likely to be, they'll leave us in peace
the rest of our lives.
1t was near the middle Of the after
noon when the family found themselves
| in the spring wagon and on their way.
The road wound round and round the
hills, now up, now down, rocky and
full of gullies washed by the rains;
| never being repaired except when it
became absolutely impossible, and in
spite of the careful driving of his faith
er the rough jolting hurt Johnny,
sometimes causing him to cry out with
pain.
several miles FROM their journeys end,
making it still more difficult to travel
with any speed, SO that it was ten
o'clock when they turned their tired
and faded horses off the main road into
by-track to the right, and a quarter
of a mile further OH pulled up in front
of cheap, implanted board shanty-
their new home upon the mountain
side.
1t was TOO late to think of doing any,
thing except to make a cup OF coffee
and bunk down in the easiest way pos
sible for the night.
Mr.. Parsons, with the assistance of
the neighbor who came with him the
day before, had put up a cook-stove
and made q bunk for themselves on
the floor, which remained just as they
had crawled out of it in the morning.
Another similar one was now made up
in another corner of the room, and
upon these the family slept, except
Johnny, who occupied his wheeled cot.
! it having been the last thing packed on
the wagon before leaving the old home.
When they arose the next morning
the sun was shining over the mountain
| tops, and doing the best it could to
make the scene pleasant one,
Mr.. Parsons hastily slipped on his
clothes and went out to look to the
horses.
Mrs. Parsons and the girls also
: dressed hurriedly and then stepped tc
l the door and looked out, 1t had been
, too dark to see much the night before,
t and they had been too utterly tired out
: to try to see even the little chat might
: have been seen, but now they were
!. eager to know how the place really die
look.
e A sad enough contrast it was to th'
old home Instead of white cottage
: with its green blinds and wide open We
1 randas, their dwelling was q rough
D shanty of boards nailed perpendicular,
g to the framework, resembling in thi
J, respect the one which they had occu
n Died for a few days on the Suseo
$ ranch. But instead of Icing sixteen
e feet in length, these boards were bu
}, ten feet long, and as a consequence
a there was no loft above as in the Susco
. cottage.
G The interior was ceiled with cottol
J cloth, but there were no little nicel.
e made conveniences: no sink; no cup
|" board; no partition; no porch over tn
door. All was in one room and all wa
Y cheap and rough.
9 Outside. the view was no more cheer
9 inc. The shanty stood well up on In
d Hill or mountain. Below, and for a lit
tie distance, both in front and in til
IS rear. was piece of tolerably leVe
J ground, perhaps forty acres in all, whic
J declined gently to the west, ending in
J ravine, beyond which the earth becam
broken and rocky again.
: Above the shanty the ground slope
y upwards with sharper pitch for FEY
: hundred feet and then rose rapidly, be
!; !; coming more and more precipitous, IN
u til it reached the summit o third OF
mile away.
9. In places portions Of the solid roc
ID foundation projected through the bal
u rem soil, while in others immense d.
h tached powders, weighing hundreds