The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1886-06-02
A RUSTIC COMEDY.

In the Struggling, forlorn, unbeau
tiful Northumbrian village of Black
ford there w9s, half a century ago
only one comfortable looking build
ing. 1t was not one of the dwelling:
of the coal and lime carriers, The
hedger and ditchers, or the drainers
who formed the bulk of the popula,
ton, for their low dropping roofs
mended here and there with tar.
paulin, spoke too sloquentiy o.
damp, draught and over pressure
it was not the red-tiled croft-house
inhabited by William Allen, the
clever, lazy, kindly, cock-fghting,
dog fancying, boxing, wrestling,
swimming, beekeeping tenant Of the
little farm, for 5ac ieordom and neg
lect had combined with Willie's
devotion to hobbies of one kind and
another to create of it and its sur
ioundings an embodiment of pic
turesque disorder it was not the
great austere looking, square built
Presbyterian meeting house, with
its prison like walls and narrow
windows; far less was it the slated i,
shabby genteel manse, for in cold
weather the effect of the whitewash
upon it was to threaten the speeta-
tor with a fit of the ague. No; no
any gusty day in Novembe., when
the very trees on the hilltops SEEM
ed to have turned their shivering
backs TO the breeze that whistled
through their branches and whirled
away their red-tinted leaves in q
madcap dance, and the diminutive
cot house looked almost as though
crouching to escape the blast, which
the gaunt old mans faced in hag-
gard despair, the Red Lion Inn
alone, with It's comfortable overcoat
of impervious thatch, retained its
aspect of quiet comfort, and toward
evening the ruddy glare of Its kitch-
en- fire pressingly invited the toll
worn cotters to forsake their scold-
ing wives and brawling children,
their scapty fires and draughty
houses, and enjoy its comfortable
warmth. And often at the same
time, there would be a light at one
of two attic windows that peered
out from the roof like a pair of open
gray eyes from under lids of thatch.
For one of these attic rooms was the
favorite resort of Adam Black, the
THRIVING publican of Blackford
Hither to at night did ne often re-
sort. if business was dull below, to
smoke his pipe, to think over his
plans and to calculate his ingoings
and outgoings; for, as he would
remark: 1T took a deal
of worry for q man as could neither
read nor write to keep true reckon
ing" and Adams natural abilities
had not been frightened up by edu-
cation.
That did not hinder him from be-
ing greatly liked and respected in
Blackford. The wost that could be
said about him was that he was rather
hard, and as a matter of fact there
was little softness in his nature,
though he never failed TO greet his
customers with a smile and a Jest. |
and if the smile was a little mechan-
ical and the Jest the worst for wear,
it mattered little to quiet country !
folks, who were not ashamed to
laugh at the twentieth repetition of
a witticism. And it was everywhere |
agreed that he kept a model public
house-never, for instance, allowing
any fighting to 90 on in a conspicu-
Ous place, but forcing the cemba-
tants to have it out, if they really
meant business, in a secluded back.
yard. 6here they could black each
others eyes with the most perfect
safety and comfort. Any man
might 90 to the Red Lion with the
assurance that he would not be
made a fool Of Adam knew the
drinking capacity of every full
yrown male in the neighborhood of
and would let none trans
yress his limit, or, if an accident did
happen, generally managed to avoid
in the nature of public
Exhibition. And besides the villa
,ers all knew him 10 be, IN their |
,wn languages las game as bantam.
At times Adam might in bargain
making show himself not very scru-
1ulously above board, and general
Y speaking, what he could get he
ook, but nevertheless he steered
,otably clear of paltry meanness,
md be was known TO be stubbornly
aithful to all his friends-a man, on
he whole, with conscience not too
Troublesome, but far from dead.
In domestic life Adam was
martinez. He ruled his son Aleck,
lis red haired servant Bet, and even
lis niece Kitty with a rod of iron.
'rompt obedience was the unwrit-
en- law of the household. Only
Kitty, besides being the smartest,
,rettiest and cleverest girl in Black
ord, was so wayward and spirited
hat not even her uncle, who liked
Ter better than he liked anybody
Use in the world, was able to keep
Ter entirely under control.
1t was a great griefto Adam when
le found out that Kitty was in a
mood to throw herself away upon
Willie Allen Not that he disliked
nobody could do that-but
le thought him unlikely to be a
ood husband, that is thriving one,