St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-09-13
THE PRODIGAL'S RECEPTION.

SINGLE MILLS, VT, 10 Sept. '88.
Mister Ed.-Deer Sur when l woz
yung Teller, wun o. my mates, Tom
Baxter, sun Nv ole DeekOn Baxter, TUX
noshun he'd go ter see. Ye see, he
gut tired o. heerin' the DeekOn pray
an SKIOLD, an so wun mite he run away,
meenin' ter work ter Bostn an git er-
bord sum ship. Tom warnt mOren Is
an hadn't moren a dOller in hiz pockit.
Wal, he gut fur az Conkurd, N. H., an
hiz mummy gin out, an hiz feet wOz
sore, an he woz hOme-sick all over.
So he turnd round an wocked back
home, beggin' hiz feed along the rode.
He woz gon bout fortnit goin' an
cummin', an gut home Satterday mite
Jest az hiz foax woz settin' down ter
supper.
Deekon seemd reel glad ter see i'm.
"Praze the Lawd," sezzee, ''the prod
dygl's returnd."
He didn't fall on TOMS neck, an he
didn't kill no fat caff but he told
L
an a leetl more punkin ply. After sup
per the Deekon red the Is chapter O.
Luke an made prair bout half an
our long, thankin' the Lord over an
over agin that the wicked proddygl
he'd seen the errer ov hiz ways,-hed
turnd fore twaz everlastinly tew late,
he'd ben snached az Il bran from the
burnin', etc. When he gut threw, he
blowd hiz nose an pretended ter wipe
the teers out ov hiz ize.
"NOw, Tom," sezzee, aye see how
glad we be ter hev we cum back but
least yew shood ever cut up SIGH a
trick agin, l feel constraind tew chas-
tie We leetl."
So he reeched round the cIimbly
corner an TUX down a luther strap bout
three foot long, an takin' Tom by the
collier, he wollopt i'm with it, giyin' i'm
thurty- mine stripes, "cordin' ter scrip
ter" ez he sed. An after that, evry
day or tew, the Deekon wood take
down that strap an finger it over kim
der luvinly, an say, aye don't think
yell ever run away agin, dew We sun
ny 2" Moren that, the Deekon woodn't
let Tom go offn the farm fer feer he'd
run away. He'd say, Eyer arnt Lizzy
wanted ter hey We cum down ter Johns
bry ter day an make her visit !; but
| can't trust We, an so yew may go ter
pickin' stun out thar on the sidehill."
Or praps he'd say, 'thar, Tom, shood
like to send ye up ter the post offs
with this letter, but can't trust We,
an so spose 1 shell hev ter go my
selfD
or ,far dow
when thar woz good crust he slid
down acrOst the mOwin' on a han sled,
an over inter the paster outer site, an
the Deekon hain't seen him sens. Last
L beerd ov Tom, he woz a CASHIER ov
bank in Sinsinnaty. Wal, 1 hain't
thot O. that scrape for mOren ten yeer,
till luther day suthin' jest like it hap
pend heer, an when the simmerlarity
struck me l lafft ter split.
Ye see, Square Rumrill, livin' over
on the Goodnuff place, is erbout the
Onnestest, level-hededest ole farmer
thar liz in town. He's alters ben a
strate Publickn till A yeer ago, when
sumhow be TUX nOshun agin Blame
an went an voted for Saint Jon. Cum
ter think ont, thar WOE more tew it n
that. The Squares yungest boy TUX
ter drinkin' (boy's ded now an that
made the ole man think more bout
proy bishun. Ennyhow, he voted fer
Saint Jon an ever sens then the Pub
lickns hev jest hated i'm. Mex town
meetin' tina lected i'm hog punishable |
an didn't Civ i'm no luther offs, tho
he'd ben fust seleckman an town AUNT |
for moren ten yeer. Tew yeer ago tina
woodn't lect i'm jestis peece, alltho
he'd been the best tryal jestis we he'd
fer fifteen yeer.
Wal, cum this fall, Square wanted
ter go ter Montpelier, an he told hiz |
naybers, sezzee, 81 kin sport Harry
son with a good konshunse, an Pme
gunter vote the county Publickn tick
it, all but wun man an eff the town
thinks best shood kinder liketer go.
Seems eff twaz bout my turn" An hiz |
naybers sed, ''Yis, yis, we CESS we'll
send the Square,"
But lordy-massy cum freemun
meetin' day, lawyer Bumpus gut up an
sezzee, 81 say ter the Publickns o. this
town, we wanter send man ter the
legislator az we kin trust. We want
a strate, out-an'-out Publickn. We
don't want no turn-cotsn - loOkin'
strate at the Square-"we don't want
a man az III sackerfize hiz party ter no
sentermental twaddle bout Ticker, an