Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-05-18
ONE PEEP WAS ENOUGH

All places have their psealisriIie.
now that Of DAl'on wa' dho3ur'e-ihn
.p,eia OF discourse. which Johnsons
Dictionary entities "eonver'l,ion on what
ever doe. 20, concern ourselves Every.
body knew what everybody did, and a
h,,le more. E,,ins.. drinking. wax.
ing.. sleeping,. wAlkings. ihlkias'' say.
ing., doing.-All were for the good OF the
public there was no such a thing as
secret in the town.
There va. story Of Mrs. Mary
Smith. an ancient dame who lived on an
annuity. and boosted the stn,ili'y Of
back and from, plrlor ihl, she onee asked
few friend. to dinner. The usual
heavy an,eceden, h,li.hoaf really passed
quite plea,an,ly; ior Mr,. Mays win.
dow. overlooked the markti'plIee, and
10, a .ersg Of muiion could leave !, un-
observed; 80 that the eI,tlvAsanse or
the meanne.. Of the varioa, buyer. farn.
i.hed . eopioa. theme for dialogue.
Still. in spite Of Mr.. As pair OF fowls.
aud Mrs. IS. round Of beef. the time
seemed long. and the guests found hunger
growing more poien, ,han curiosity.
They waited and waited; al leng,h the
fatal discovery took plaee--,hai Ia the
hury Of observing her nsishbofs dinner',
Mrs. Smith had forgotten TO order her
own.
|, was in the moa,h Of March ,ha, an
even, happened which pa, the whole
town in oommo,ion arrival Of a
stranger, who took up hi, abode a, the
White Hart; no, ,hA, there was any
thing remarkable about the stranger; he
wa. plain. middle.ased. respectable.
looking man, and the incest scrutiny and
heaven knows how narrowly he wa.
wa,ehed) failed to discover anything odd
aoou, him. |, was aseertsined that he
ro,e a, eight, bre.kf.s,ed at nine, ate
two sgs. and piece Of broiled bacon,
"a, in hi. room a, the window. read =
little wrote a little. and looked ou, upon
the road a good deal; then he s,rolled
out, returning home. dined =, five. smok.,
ed two cigars, read the morning Herald
for the Post came in Of an evening", and
wen, 10 bed at ten. Nothing could be
more regular OF unexcep,ioaable than bis
habits; sill /, was most extraordinary
VIA, could have brought him TO DAlioa.
There was no ehaly ybeaie springs, war
ran,sd 10 cure every disease under the
sun (: no ruins in the neistborhood. left
expressly for an,iquarian' and picnic
parties; no dae prospects. which. like
music. people make !, matter Of con-
science 10 admire; no celebrated person
had ever been born or buried In lis en-.
yirons; there were no races. no assizes
in short. there was SEQ nothing" 1t
was no, even summer; 90 country air
and fac weather were no, the induce
ment.. The strangers name W. Will
liams, but tha, was the eAten, OF their
knowledge; and. shy aad silent. there
seemed no probability Of learning any
thing more from himself Conjecture.
like Shakespeare. exhausted worlds. and
then imagined new" Some supposed
he was hiding from his creditors, Others
that be had committed forgery; one sug.
ge.,ed ,ha, he had escaped from a mad.
house, q second tha, he had killed some
one in a duel but all agreed that be
came there for no good.
ItwAs the ,weniy.,hird Of March when
= triad Of gossip, were assembled q, their
temple. the po.t.othee. The Affairs o!
Dalton and the nation were settled to-
ge,hsr; newspapers were slipped from
their covers, and no, an epi,,le but yield.
ed a portion Of Its contents. Ba, on this
night all attention Was concentrated up
on one. directed TO "John Williams,
ESQ, at the White Hart. Dalton"
Eagerly was il COMPRESSED In the long
fingers Of Mrs. Mary Smith OF dinnerles'
memory the fat landlady OF the White
Hart Was on tip,oe TO peep, while th'
pos,misiress. whose curiosity took
semblance Of official dignity. raised
warning hand against any over act o
violence. The paper Was closely folded
and closely written in . crsmped and IL
legible hand; suddenly Mrs. Mar,
Smiths look grew more intent--she hss
succeeded In deciphsrins q ssntsnce th'