Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-02-14
A Students Vacation.
urr on Irrr RAGING CANAL.

stern was painted "Polly Forbes OI
Schenectady" In = minute more h'
had come up with the mules aud ,heii
driver. The driver seemed fitting com.
p.hion for bic beasts, for wherever the
du,, Discovered hi, clothing !, was a mass
Of ps'ek,., ard torn vide brimmsd ha'
protected hi, head.
Hello = said he a, the reporter came
along. "souh you BE- kiad enough "a
tel me tho time y
"H.lf pas, H."
"Ah. thank you half an hour TO din
hsr time. ard I'm hungry enough now
10 eat both Pegasus and Baesphalu'.
They're the Amblins ,,ssds you see be.
fore you Full of fire. especially under
their collars They look little weary
now. for they've been on the tramp for
ten days nearly"
And you have Almo,, a. hard a 10, AZ
the mules. I fancy"
"wsll. that's just a. you look AZ IL.
rather like IL myself. OF course | ge,
foo',ors on the TOW path. ba, then when
I'm III | can, do much ba, rs,, and read.
I've bssa rsaiing considerable Of Tenny.
son Aad Brownins this summer"
"H,y :" aid the A,ioni,hsd reporter.
"Tsnhy,on and Biowhing. You sec
We can hardly keep uP with the current
literature in college"
"ln college =
"Yc,: am Cornell man and
,pend my yleA,ion. on the iowprh. Tha,
10. have my las, two The frat hired
oa, a, waiter a, a hotel. bu, my south.
,rn blood eouldn'i stand IL; 90 the la',
two I've followed the profession OF = mule
dh-sr. OF course. | have 20 stand
round aud obey order, ba, | look for a
good captain. And 80 don, have !, 90
rough a. some Of them"
"Ba, doa', you have TO pat up With
m.ny pri,l,ion' ?
"Oh. no; jus, come aboard At dinner
time. and you can see for yourself. The
walking !. beneficial 10 ones health. snd
While the fee, s,, sore a, hr,, ,hA, quick.
ly wears OIL. Thea. too. the eInal pass
e, through some Of the riches, farming
country in the State. aud wouldn', ask
fot hser scenery than ihA, 10 the Mo-
hawk and Hgison River Valleys
A hail from the boa, caused the driver
10 pull up hi, mules until they fairly r,''-
ell on their launches. A gAngway was
laid acfo,. 90 the blnk aud tbs mae
care ashore TO take the place of the dfiv.
er. who vent aboard. followed by the re.
porter. Near the middle Of tbs deck
va, = pail which the driver le, down Ia
to the canal aad brought up fall OF wA,e'
In which be washed himself
I'll don', believe the women folks ~ill
make fa.," said he. III they do III
tell them you're ehum Of mine.
he led the way 10 the eabin steps,
down which be disappeared. Before the
reporter could take note Of the cabin be
became aware tha, buIom young wo-
man vas doing up her hair before q
small looking sl." which hans over
very small bafeAu. She wAsn', half %
d,coaesr,sd as he was. howeyer. and
when ,h. driver had explained bis com
p.nion'' appearance she calmly proceed
cd With her toilet.
The cabin stretched across the boat,
some 10 or /? feet. aad vas some seven
fee, deep. Doo, opened ou, Of Il TO the
bath, in ,hs rear. Snow white muslin
curtain, hung a, the little windows. Oa
the door va. bright ingrAin eArP',.
Vase, And knieknsek, covered the TOP
Of the bureau. A brown tArihsavare
20, Of ,e, sung on the tiny stove, aud
the table spread with a snowy cloth. vas
,e, with stone china dl,he, aud wooden
handled knives And ,hree.,insd forks
The dinner while no, elegant, was
hearty. There was coined beef. With
boiled potatoes. green corn aud tomatoes,
everything well cooked The captain
daughter. fOr she !, was. presenily tore
herself from the glAs, aud "a, down &c
pour the tea. She wore a blue Ant
white striped calico gown. silver brooet
and a esllaloid comb. and the canal div.
er addressed her as Polly. She talked
like q woman bora TO command, and he'
conversation va. in,srspersed with fofei'
bic slang expressions. A sivory apple
pie was pa, on the table for dessert, ant
the canal driver remarked that be Away
ate largely Of IL. because he considered 4
al exeellen, brain food.
eve have an economical way OF read
ing the mAgaline.,' said be. "foa may
have imagined ,hA, canal men are an Il
lilerA,s lot. They are, sarule, bu
there are exceptions, and a good many o
them. Now. the captain Of til, boat
has = ehum on the canal who is 4 grea
reader. lie usually makes iiP east
while we're coming west 50 whe'
Harper. come. ou, in New York be buy
Il, and in the five days before be meet. ui
he read, II all through and thea wher
he passes Us throws the magazine to Us
We do the same thing with the Cen,ury
buying /, in Buffalo and hAndingit owe
to him when we meet. Have Ano,he
piece Of pie \, Mo- Oh. yes, this way o
passing the summer is infinitely prefer
able TO being eOoped up in hotel as
waiter. Now, here I'm practically inds
pendent; can wear the worst clothes
10 the world /; the food i. good. as
think you will admit; the work
healthy. AID no, only gives one whiff' Q
the country air. ba, puts you in eontae
with al .Ort Of queer characters. ThI
uip down the Hudson in tow is worth
fortune to any observing person. III
money we &c, Is clear gain. When z
back TO Ithaca In three weeks I'll be S.
ia pocket. to say nothing Of the en
perisnee. and Ils sure gained"
The diver here skosed back hi, ehal
aud led the way to the deck. The boa
vi. slowly approaching the GsOrsi
stree, bridge.
There, said the driver, "mOs, pee
pie imsgine that the canal Is IS noison
and ugly as ,hi, Is all the way to Albany
It's . great mistake. you wan, to en-
Joy yourself next summer turn cana
driver You'll never regre, It.