Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-02-25
THE WAGER OF VI. LAFONr.

Monsieur Lafont, Us will call hin-his
real name matters li;ile-was the Wealth.
est stock owner IN the parish Of r. He
was jovial, irrascibie old Acadian, short
in stature, and very stout, with all the thrift
pf his race, and good deal of the energy
and push Of the Americans, whom, BY the
way, he despised as people given over to
cheatery and all manner of evil things To
Pierre Lafont the dollars he had earned
were as precious as his hearts idol.
But penurious as was old Lafont, he was
also the very soul of hospitality Among
the Acadians hospitality is actually reli-
einh, and Pierre was no renegade 10 the
creed Of his ancestors. In a trade he was a
Shylock who would exact his bond if it
took every cent Of the lucklesS creditor. but
rich or poor, a stranger might spend month
beneath his roof, and nothing was ever
charged for board or lodging, nor single
question asked reticent guest Ihave said
Pierre Lafont was irrascible, and, must
add, full Of strong and inveterate prejudice,
and as stubborn as his worst mule In fact,
he was pig-headed old fellow, who, if he
once had said he could step over wall five
feet high, would have broken his short legs
il making tiie attempt '~NS.
But all the prejudice and obstinacy ofhis
character was directed against peddlers. OF
all created beings, Pierre held them TO be
the last and worst The meanest Of crea-
Iion might be welcome under his roof, but
he drew the line at peddlers They were
never allowed, under any pretext, TO enter
his gates. It was whispered that q Yankee
peddler had once swindled the old fellow
out ofa round sum. but he never alluded
10 the incident; only the name or sight OF
one Of the fraternity would bring forth such
an avalanche Of "sacres" and "tonnerres'
that the people avoided the very mention OF
packman. Old Pierre was once brough.
into court by luckless peddler who had
ventured into the lions den, but who had
been kicked out, to the great injury Of his
back and his goods. Pierre pleaded his
own cause In his own way:
You see, Monsieur lie Juge, You shoot q
bugglar, you shoot a tief ven you catch him
In your house, heinz Veil, be worse dan q
bugglar. He bring de rotten calico and de
brass earring, and he say. strong cloth, no,
fade; fine gold, good gold,' and dc vimmin
Is such fools, dey gif fife dollar for tings nc
WORT fife cent come in. sees him put
my money in his pocket Aha! kick
him and his salopris out You can't dc
nothin' 70 me. Monsieur le Juge. Iorder nc
pcddleF come on my place, and de sacTe
sochon he know !s He sneak In ven I &C
70 town, to get my money from de fool vim
min. and If I can shoot bugg!ar, sar. do
law can't do me notin' ven I kick psddlel
"a tes-ou, Of my house"
In some way or other the old fellow escap'
ed with only a nominal sum to pay for dam
ages, and after that the peddling fraternity
would 90 miles out of their way rather thar
pass the Lafont farm.
Il was the Christmas night Of ls-. In
the large kitchen. which was also the eat
ing room Of the Lafont household, the re-
mains Of bountifal dinner were still on the
table. though the guests-relAtives Of The
AmIly-hsd departed to their several homes
Il was the cus;om-T presume an Acadiau
one-to leave the remains Of a Christina.
feast on the table all night, in case some
hungry wayfarer might seek hospitality
Old Pierre himself sat there, radiant viii
good humor and good cheer, large bow
Of egg-nog before him, from which he wa,
filing his glass from time TO time. An ex
ceptionally prosperous year was drawing
TO close. His cattle speculaticns had beer
lucky, his only daughter had just married I
wealthy stock owner, and his son Aphons.
was turning out just the thrifty, industrioui
young man his father had tried TO make
him. Between these pleasant thoughts and
the egg-nog. the old mans face positively
beamed with good humor upon his wife Ani
son, who sat near him.
listen. Jeanne he said to his wifs
show tt 10 rxining, and hear those gusts O
wind Non dieu we haven't had such |
storm ssr swsnty years II b % warm an<
Comfortable Ia hare TIA; % saakss ne sscsr
ssssiis sssn wossa ] wscieaf put rs
nose ous, not u yoO gave ns efy aoiiar.'
But then there are always travellers ana
poor people who have noshelter," his wifi
answered in that soft pasois which il stil
spoken among some Of the Aesdian descen
aAnts. Il dare say there are psoplt In a,