Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1892-03-05
HOW II HAPPENED.


When the farmers wives in the neigh.
oorhood of Dalton, and the residents OF
the little country village. heard the clang
of a cracked old hand bell and afterward
the shrill, quavering notes of Il cracked
old voice singing some cheerful ditty,
they smiled and said Uncle Peters COM
ing" The notes of his song grew shriller
and more strident as Uncle Peter drew
near in his old fish cart with its canvas
covering, on the sides of which was
printed Peter B. Pillsbury, dealer 10
fish. oysters, clans, and other notions.
No trust"
His bank account and other possessions
were so great that there was really no
necessity for Uncle Peters peddlIng fish.
"Ge think | hadn't ought to do so 10
more, do ye?" he often said to friendly
patrons who. with freedom of lifelong
acquaintance, asked him why he did not
give up his occupation and rest. "Ys
reckon that I'd set round doin nothin'?'
he would ask Nav. sir; that amt thu
Pillsbury style
I'VE would miss you, uncle" his pa
irons always said heartily, land we arc
always glad to see you"
The old man would smile like pleased
child.
Uncle Peters wife had been dead sorlo
years. His daughter Dorinda, a spinster
of 33, and Becky, a much younger daugh-
'er, kept house for him in the old home.
Becky had had the advantage or disaG.
'antage of attending would be fash
enable boarding school for about ono
iear, where she had only learned that
.he society to which she had aspired
could never tolerate the daughter OF a
fish prddling father. notwithstanding tho
fact that that father was one of the kind.
est and best and most honorable of men,
and Becky had come home determined
to close Uncle Peters fish peddling career.
Dorinda had an idea that a store might
prove more profitable than a fish notion
wagon, and she was too thrifty to allow
any opportunity to pass for increasing
her fathers account, which she expected
to share with her brothers and sisters.
Uncle Peter had several married sons
and daughters living near him, and all OF
them being thrifty like their sister kept
their eyes fixed on their fathers posses
sions, which aggregated several thousand
dollars. They had even suggested to him
the proprety Of dividing the property
among them before his demise and allow
ing them in return therefore to take
care of him" the remainder of his life
But Uncle Peter was irmcr and
wiser man than he seemed. He had 4
strong, dogged WILL Notwithstanding his
childish manner and his smooth, round
etfeminate, and ever smiling face. He
met this suggestion with smile, and dis,
missed it with a joke, but there was a
look in his faded old blue eyes that for
bade recurrence of the subject. He
came home from his rounds one day in the
merriest mood. He had cleaned out
his entire stock in trade and his cracked
old voice sang Annie Laurie" in per
fectly excruciating manner as he drove
up the long lane leading to his house.
At the gate he met Mrs. Harriet Glib.
bons, woman from the village near by,
whose highest earthly joy was felt when
it was her privilege to be first in retail
ing new bit of gossip of interest.
She was one of the few people on the
face of the earth whom good old Uncle
Peter did not like, but he had never given
utterance to this dislike. and now he
bobbed his head to and fro and greeted
her with cordial:
- 4 ,tl- oil
well at home? They be? That's right.
Can't we stay to tear 1t must be ready. J"
But Mrs. Gibbons declined the invita-
ton somewhat stiffiy.
When Uncle Peter went into the house
he noted an unusually severe look on
Rindy's always grim face, while Becky
looked reproachfully toward him. His
William, who lived in the village, hap
pened to come in a moment later and
was soon followed by his married daugh-
ter, Mrs. Gibson Downing
Uncle Peter heard the Whispering to-
gether as he stepped into his own little
room for scrap of paper to tigGcr some
on" He had noted peculiar GOODNESS
toward him on the part of all of them,
and he stepped to the door and asked:
whats going on here that We all act
so? Your old pa hurt yer some way"
Yes, you have done, or are going to
do, something we can't help dislikins, if
all reports are true" said Miss Dorinda.
"Ye don't say!" said Uncle Peter, tho
smile still on his face. "Well, what is
1t? Out with it, an see if poor old pa
can't clear his skirts of anything so very
reenyous,
Miss Dorinda came out with it fatty.
Its the talk of the village and tho
whole county that you are going to
marry Widder Newton"
Uncle Peter dropped in his old splint-
6ottomed rocking chair, his arms hang
ing Imply by his side, and an expression