St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-03-14
A WINTER COURTSHIP.

! Kilby and Sanscrit Pond was carried
on by Mr. Jefferson Briley, whose
two seated covered wagon was usu-
| ally much too large for the demand
| of business. Both the Sanscrit Pond
and North kilby people were stayers-
| at-I1ome. and Mr.. Briley often made
his seven-mile journey in entire soil
| tude, except for the limp leather mail
bag, which he held firmly to the floor
of the carriage with his heavily shod
left foot The mailbag had almost
personality to him, born of long as
sociation. Mr.. Briley was a meek
and timid-looking body, but he had
| a warlike soul, and encouraged his
fancies by reading awful tales of
! bloodshed and lawlessness in the far
West Mindful of stage robberies
! and train thieves, and of express mes
sengers who died at their posts, he
was prepared for anything; and al
! though he had trusted to his own
strength and bravery these many
years, he carried a heavy pistol under
his front-seat cushion for better de-
| fence. This awful weapon was ia
miliar to all his regular passengers,
and was usually shown to strangers
by the time two of the seven miles of
Mr. Briley's route had been passed.
| The pistol was not loaded. Nobody
| at least not Mr.. Briley himself)
doubted that the mere sight of such
| q weapon would turn the bOldeSt adj
venturer aside.
Protected by such a man and such
piece of argument, one gray Friday
morning in the edge of winter, Mrs.
| Fanny Tobin was travelling from
! Sanscrit Pond to North kilby. She
was an elderly and feeble-loOking
woman, but with a shrewd twinkle
in her eyes, and she felt very anxious
about her numerous pieces of bag
gage and her own personal safety.
| She was envelOped in many shawls
and smaller wrappings, but they
were not securely fastened, and kept
getting undone and flying loose, SO
that the bitter December cold seemed
to be picking a lock now or then, and
creeping in to steal away the little
warmth she had Mr. Briley was
cold, too, and could only cheer him
self by remembering the valor ofthose
pOny-express drivers of the pre-rail-
road days, who had to cross the
Rocky Mountains on the great Cali
for1lia route. He spoke at length of
their perils to the suffering passen-
ger but she felt none the warmer,
and at last gave a grOan of weari-
| ness.
How fur did you say t was now ~
Il do knows l said, Mis- Tobin, :"
| Il II Nv
laugh. You see them big pines, and
the side of barn just this way with
them yellow circus bills? That's my
three mile mark"
BE we got four more to make !?
Oh, my laws!" mourned Mrs Tobin.
Urge the beast, can't We, Jeff son?
ain t used to bein' out in such cold
weather. Seems if L couldn't keep
my breath. I'm all pinched up and
wigglin' with shivers now. T aint
no Use lettin the boss go step-a-ty-
step, this fashion,
"Landy me !" exclaimed the affront-
ed driver. Il don't see why folks eX-
poets me to race with the cars. Every
body that gifts in wants me to run
the boss to death on the road. |
make a good everage o time, and
that's all can do. Eff you was togo
back an forth every day but Sab
bath for eighteen years, you'd want
to ease it all you could, and let those
thrash the spOkes out O. their wheels
that wanted to. North Kilby, M on
days, Wednesdays, and Fridays; San
scrit Pond, Tuesdays, Thu 'sdays, an
Saturdays. Me an the beasts done
it eighteen years together, and the
creatur' warn't, so to say, young
when we begun it, nor | neither.
RELY didn't knows she'd hold out
till this time. There, git up, will We,
old MARI as the beast of burden
stopped short in the road.
There was a story that Jefferson
gave this faithful creature a rest
three times mile, and took four
hours for the journey by himself, and
longer whenever he had a passenger.
But in pleasant weather the road
was delightful, and full of people who
drove their own conveyances, and
liked to stop and talk. There were
not many farms, and the third growth
of white pines made a pleasant shade,
though Jefferson liked to say that
when he began to carry the mail his
way lay through an open country of
stumps and sparse underbrush, where
the white pines nowadays complete
ly arched the road.
They had passed the barn with cir
Gus posters, and felt colder than ever
when they caught sight of the
eather-beaten acrObats in their
tights.
My gorryw exclaimed Widow
TObin, them pore creatur's looks as
cheerless as little birch-treeS in snow
time. | hope they dresses 'em warm
er this time o year. Now, there
look at that one jumpin through the
little hoop, will YEP
He couldn't git himself through
there with two pairs O. pants on"
answered MIR. Briley. Il expect they
must have to keep Timber as cells. |
used to think, when l was a boy,
that t was the only thing | could
ever be reconciled to do for a Twin
| set out to run away an follow
rOvin' Snowman once, but mother
needed me at home There warn't
nobody but me an the little gals"
You ain t the only one that's ben
disap pinted o their hearts DESIRE"
said Mrs. Tobin sadly. "'Twarn't
so that l could be spared from home
to learn the dressmaker's trade"
1T would a come handy later on,
declare" answered the sympathetic
driver, ''bein's you went an had such
passel O. gals to clothe an feed.
There, them that's Twin is all we'll off
now, but it must ha' been some in
convenient for We when they was
small"
Yes. Mr.. BriIey. but then I've had