The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-11-17


PROEMIAL.
"Congratulate me, old man, i am now
n Mayfiower of the Mayhowersi" cried
my friend Sam johnson.
"a Mayfower?" queried |.
"Yes. a Mayhower. Not in person, Of
course, but by marriage. 70 shall now
be my care to perpetuate on the soil Of
America the line of the noble house OF
johnson. At last am in the SWIM
and blue is the hue Of my blood"
ssWhatl Married. Have you deserted
our noble band of bachelors"
'Yes, and am now of the noble band
of benedicts."
I'm what bright spot in the Golden
State did you find your Mayfower
blooming?"
sWhy, my dear fellow, I've not been
in California at all. I've been east.
Bless you, old man, since leaving the
Comstock I've crossed the 'briny' have
been over to the land Of our fathers"
'sYou don't mean to say that you've
brought bride from over the sea, when
we have in our own America the best
and most blooming beauties the world
can boast|
mo, no, my dear boyl No, my bride
is not from over the sea, but 70 win her
cost me a trip TO the land of my ances-
tors-to old England, where peacefully
slumbering in rural churchyards lie
whole acres Of Johnsons."
"Why, Sam, you don't mean TO tell
me that you've been over TO England
since last saw your
"Yes, old man, that is just whore j
have been, and to q few other places be-
sides. Why, by Joye, man may cir
cumnavigate the globe, and when he re-
appears on the Comstock he is supposed
to have merely been over the Sierras to
California on little hyerl I've eknocked
about pretty lively since / left Virginia
. City year ago" ~
IA year ago!'
Eyes, a year ago. You have hardly
missed me, but really left here year
ago. When you think a fellow is over
in California, 1t never counts with you
in this town; it is the same as IL he We're
here at home. In the time I've been
away might have put about four 'gir-
dies round the earth"
The particular Sam Johnson who
thus spoke was a young man about 2e
years of age, who had for three or four
years been engaged in running a big
hoisting engine at one of the leading sill
yer mines in Virginia City. He also
speculated little in mining shares and
otherwise enjoyed himself after the
IL alx 4.
happy-go-lucky young fellow and bought
and sold mining stocks in such seem
ingly offhand, reckless way that his
friends were wont to say that the god
dess of fortune herself took care of all
his speculations. The fact was, how.
ever, that every move Sam made in
stocks was well considered.
/ was delighted to meet the jolly young
. fellow, and having met we at once pro-
ceeded to our old quiet retreat to con.
verse at ease and pass upon the merits Of
the newest brand of beer put forth as a
candidate for public favor.
EYES," continued Sam, when we had
anchored ourselves in our old time safe
harbor, "yes, I've been down eaet, over
to England, down south and all about"
II can understand your trip to the
New England states and can guess that
you went down into Georgia or South
Carolina to look at mines, but cannot
imagine why you should have gone to
England"
"Ha, ha, hal" laughed Sam.
"What is the joke about your trip to
England? Perhaps you made it merely
In imaginationi'
mo. actually went to England and
accomplished my mission there, but
probably no man ever before crossed the
ocean on such an errand. Ha, hal ii
was the funniest piece of business ever
( undertaken. But it was a success-a
glorious success"
What you are saying is all Greek to
me, Sam"
"Of course, but you'll see the fun Of
the whole business when you've heard
my story. Then if you don't say that
the affair is the most elaborate joke of
the century I'll treat to the beer every
day for the next year. To begin with,
the whole and sole object Of my mission
70 England was to steal and import an
incestor for the Johnson family"
ITO import an ancestor"
'Yes. A eat-great-grandfather and
got him. He is now the pride of Pason-
agessit."
''But he is not aliveY"
"Alivel Pooh, mol Been dead ever