The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-05-09

NbhlNl NtNNll AANlAiTNl y ~ ~ = liiiHh AtiN
gables whenever the wind blew
hard. In the rear was II pleasant
garden, covering perhaps II quar-
ter Of an acre, full OF purple plum
trees and gooseberry bushes.
These trees were old settlers, and
are all dead now, excepting one,
which bears a plum rs big as an
egg. This tree, as l have said, is
still standing, and a more beauti-
ful tree to tumble out Of never
grew anywhere. In the nOrthwes-
tern corner of the garden were the
stables and carriage house, open
ing upon narrow lane. You may
imagine that I made an early visit
to that locality to inspect Gypsy
Indeed, paid her visit every
half hour during the first day Of
my arrival. At the twenty-fourth
visit, she trod on my foot rather
heavily, as a reminder, probably,
that [ was wearing out my well
come. She was knowing little
pony, that Gypsy and I shall have
much to say of her in the course of
these pages.
Gypsy's quarters were very nice,
but nothing among my new sur
rounding gave me more satisfac-
ton than the cosey sleeping apart
ment that had been prepared for
myself. 1t was the hall room over
the front door.
/ had never had a chamber all to
myself before, and this one, about
twice the size of our state-room on
board the Typhoon, was a marvel
of neatness and comfort. Pretty
chintz curtains hung at the window,
and patch quilt of more colors
than were in Jacobs coat, covered
the little trucllle- bed. The pattern
of the wall paper left nothing to
be desired in that line. On gray
background were small punches of
leaves, unlike any that ever greA
in this world; and on every bunch
perched Il yellow bird, pitted with
crimson spots, as if it had just re-
covered from a severe attack of
the smallpox. That no such bird
ever existed did not dctrlct from
my admiral ion of each one. There
were two hundred and 'siXty-eight
of these birds in all, not counting
those split in two where the paper
was badly joined. | counted them
once when / was laid up with Il
fine black eye, and, falling asleep
Immediately dreamed that the
whole flock suddenly took wing
and flew out of the window. From
that time l was never able to re-
gard them as mcrel y inanimate OBJ
jects.
a wash stand in the corner, a
chest of carved mahogany drawers,
looking glass in filagreed frame,
and a high backed chair studded
with brass nails like coffin, con
stituted the furniture. Over the
head of the bed were two oak
shelves, holding perhaps dozen
books,-among which were Theo-
dore, or The Peruvians; Robinson
Crusoe; an odd volume of Tristram
Shandy; BaXter's Saints Rest; and
a fine English edition Of the Ara
bian Nights, with siX-hundred
wood cuts by Harvey
Shall 1 ever forget the hour
when / first overhauled these
books? l do not allude especially
to RdNter's Saints Rest, which is
far from being lively work for
the young, but to Arabian Nights,
and particularly to Robinson Cru
soc. The thrill that ran into my
fingers ends then has not run out
yet. Many "A time did l steal up
to this nest of room, and, taking
the dogs cared volume from its
shelf, glide off into an enchanted
realm, where there were no lessons
to get and no boys to smash my
kite. In a lidless trunk in the gar
ret l subsequently unearthed an
other motley collection of novels
and romances, embracing the ad-
ventures of Baron Trenck, Jack
Sheppard, Don QuiXote, Gil Bias,
and Charlotte Temple,-all of
which / fed upon like a bookworm.
never come across a copy of
any of those works without feeling
certain tenderness for a yellow
haired little rascal who used to
lean above the magic pages hour
after hour, religiously believing
every word he read, and no more
doubling the reality Of Sinbad the
Sailor, or the Knight of the Sor-
rowful Countenan"e, than he did
the existence of his own grand
father.