The Penn's Grove record., 1893-12-22
POVERTY PENNYCOOK

Hes aye been a queer chap, Jean,
ut let onything happen tae him air
ned be gey sair missed"
"Oh, aye, Betty; it's a gey pull
body that's no missed. The clachan
owe bye ha ma blen the same sim puir
laft Marget wis ta'en ava; but it's a
lang time till the dell dee at the
dyke side, an I'm thinkin' that DR..
Pennycook IS no gaun that way yet"
'But he's unco seek, Jean, an they
tell me that Master Wallace, the
lawyer, wis In maxim DOT his wull
last NIGHT; but dinua tell onybody l
let ye ken, for they can carry a tale
that Gamma carry a burden, an it
NIGHT get me intae nae end o
'rouble."
'lHis wull:"
"Aye."
"Does Poverty Pennycook haze a
Sull?"
Aye, an some folks II open wide
their cen when Poverty PennYcook's
vull sees the LIGHT o day"
"An' dae We think he'll leave ony.
hing tae that thinner O. dochter o
his"
"Weel, it's no for me tae be sayin'
Tor in words haze WEIGHT On that sub
ect. seein' as my dochter is servant
Il Master Waliace's no sc aud ken3
nalst O the private affairs o the
'amily. Oh, aye"
This latter remark was brought
tut by a surprised lock on the face Of
lrS. Jean.
''Oh, aye, she's a smart lassie i:
my Belle. Kens a thing or twa an,
IAN keep her mooth shut an her
sen open. But as l said before an
an say again without lettin' out ouy
crets, the dochter'll leave some.
vhing IhatIl surprise folks, Jean"
"Weel, it's aye been a custom O.
nine niver tae say i'll O. the dead,
m I'd better say moo that Poverty
.'cnn cook niyyer left onything
thint him but a BLIGHT an a curse,
an I'm thinkin' he'll no break the
record even for death itsel'. Betty"
AYE"
"Dae ye think they'll gle him dae
cent buriel?"
''Lod alane kens, Jean. Whey"
"Weel. We min that his brither's
.uneral wasna ever respectable.
sandy CAM lame that day, an a gey
angry man he was. What's wrang,
lSahdy,' raid l. Wrang,' said he.
'Weel may We say what's wrang. l
'~niyver was sac insulted in my life.
Iinvitin' folk tae a funeral ap' they
tidna haze ii drap O. whusky in the
moose"
"Ncel, it wasna that way at his
'aithers funeral, for his mither had
;he management o that, an naebOdy
could say that Mrs ~Tennycook was
Lear begaun. My mither has often
'laid it wis the finest funeral ever
held in the parish O Bridlemains. Ye
Len the big dlnin'-r0om at Beath
Hose? Weel, they had twa tables
that ran the length o that. An
they had two kinds o. whusky an
flower kinds O. wine, an beefsteak
pies, an short bread, an kurren loaf
an guild kens a what"
ufThat wis something like it. It's
ABBOTT the last honor yo can pay the
dead. But here comes the minister.
the doctor maun be waur."
Betty pushed back her stray locks
and Strengthened her white apron.
'Guid e'enin' tae We, Master vii.
son.r
GOOD evening, Mrs. Duncan, and
rood evening to you, Mrs. Pye. l
suppose ycu have heard Of the illness
Of our good friend, the doctor?:"
"Aye haze we, an we were iist
lamentin' it," spake Mrs Jean. "A
quiet, ~inoffensiye man has been the
doctor. 1 was jist tellih' Mrs. Pye as
ye cam along, Master Wilson, that
the doctor left JOY an sunshine
yhere're he went"
Yes" said the preacher, with a
irawl and the remembrance OF many
a hard earned shilling that the willy
l9ctor had squeezed out OF him; Eyes,
10y and sunshine. Well, good even.
Ing again good people" ana the min,
ter passed on and into the house
There the doctor lay dying.
IL.
1T maun be twa an sixty year sin
he doctor cam tae the parish, for he
SIM here the year O. the cholera"
It was Jean who spoke. She had
Gated herself with Betty on the rus.
tic bench In front of her cottage and
er eyes wandered across the village
common where the fishermen and
miners were playing quoits, out to
the western coast line where the last
rays of the August SUI turned the
rests OF the ocean bil9ws into caps
# gold.
"Twa aud sixty years an what
leasure has he haen. He's denied
bimsel' the ordinary things o. life an
Iuid kens for what For the last
twenty year he's nivver glen a penny
taet the kirk. He's nivver come in
i'll the service WIS begun an the con-
'ribution plate was ta'en AVA an
when there wis a retirIn' collection
he slipped cot atore the service wis
over. An what has he spent foI
:laes? He's worn that aud top coat
buttoned up tae his throat simmer
an winter tae save collars ever sim !
mind, an his shune every bit a. lang.
Wildly Tamson has lodgel him Ave
an twenty year an she tells me that
when ony o. the BARNS wad gle a BIZ
boast the doctor wad insist on gi'eiu'
II a poother that he conld TAX q
,hAttIn ~ 1ha hale nrnnn that ba hod