Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-04-30
MUSTAPHA'S VACATION.

From the Burlington qa) iawkeyel
Now in the sixth month, in the reign
of the good Caliph, it was so that Musta-
pna said: II am wearied with much
work; thought, care and worry have
worn me out; | need repose, for the hand
of exhaustion is upon me, and death even
now lieth at the door" And he called
his physician, who felt of his pulse and
looked upon his tongue and said: 1.-Two
dollahs.'' (For this was the oath by
which all physicians swore.) "Of YER
ity thou must have rest. Flee unto the
valley of quiet, and close thine eyes in
dreamful rest: hold back thy brain from
thought and thy hand from labor, or you
will be a candidate for the asylum in
three weeks" And he heard him and
went out and put the business in the
hands of the clerk and went away to rest
in the valley of quiet. And he went to
his Uncle Ben's. whom he had not seen
for 10. these fourteen years. Now. his
Uncle Ben was farmer and abode in the
valley of rest. and the mountains of re-
pose rose round about him. And he was
rich and well-favored and strong as an
OK and healthy As an onion crop. Oft
times he boosted to his neighbors that
there was not lazy bone in his body,
and he swore that he hated lazy man.
And Mustapha visit not that it was so.
But when he reached his Uncle Ben's
they received him with great joy and
placed before him supper of homely vi
ands well cooked and piled upon his plate
like the wreck of box car. When he
could not eat all they laughed him to
scorn. And after supper they sat up with
him and talked with him about relatives
whereof he had never in all his life so
much as heard. And he answered their
questions at random and lied unto them,
protesting to know Uncle Ezra and Aunt
Bethesda. and once he said he had a let
ter from Uncle George last week. Now
they all knew that Uncle George was
shot in a neighbours sheep pen three
years ago, but Mustapha wist not that it
was so, and he was sleepy and only
talked to fill up the time And then they
talked politics to him and he hated poll
tics. So about o'clock in the morning
they sent him to bed. Now the spare
room. wherein he slept, was right under
the roof. and there were ears and bundles
of ears of seed corn hung from the raft
ers. and he bunged his eve with the same
and he hooked his chin in festoons of
dried apples, and shook dried herbs and
seeds down his back as he walked along.
for it was dark. And when he sat up in
bed in the night he ran a Scythe in his
ear. And it was so that the four BOYS
slept with him, for the bed was wide.
And they were restless and slumbered
crosswise and kicked. so that MuStapha
slope not wink that night. neither
closed he his eyes. And about the fourth
hour after midnight his Uncle Ben Smote
him on the back and spake unto him. saw
ing: Awake. arise, rustic out of this
and wash your face, for the liver and ba-
con are fried and the breakfast waiteth.
You will find the we'll down at the other
end of the COW lot. Take towel with
you" When they had eaten, his Uncle
Ben spake unto him, saying: "Come,
let Us stroll around the farm" And
they walked about eleven miles. And his
Uncle Ben set him upon wagon and
taught him how to load hay. Then they
drove into the barn and he taught him
how to unload it. Then they grid
ed up their lOins and walked four
miles. even into the forest. and his Uncle
Ben taught him how to chop wood, and
they walked back TO supper. And the
morning and the evening were the first
day, and Mustapha wished that he were
dead. And after supper his Uncle Ben
spake once more and said: Come, let
Us have some fun" And so they hooked
up team and drove nine miles, down to
Belchers branch, where there was hop.
And they danced until the second hour
in the morning.
When the next day was cOme-which
wasn't long, for already the night was
far spent-his Uncle Ben took him out
and taught him to make rail fences. And
that night there was wedding, and they