Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-11-14

Ipcnturod 10 stroll home irith her.
tied ont Of sight In an instant. The
Bradford Of all the Bradfords eyed me
over. Then, beginning with "Young
mani" he laid down the law Of the Brad.
ford dynasty. He gave me to under
stand that Prudence was reserved for
her bluebloode,l cousin, Standish Brad.
ford, and rs good US told me that was
nobody and never again to Iarken his
door. He was almost brutally plain In
his talk.
But ''love laughs at locksmiths," and
Captain Shrimp was my friend. Hcwas
only shrimp in the eyes Of Pasonages-
sit-in the heart and soul he was
whale. Now, urged by necessity, Pru'
dence and came to good, square under.
standing. She had n perfect horror oil
Standish Bradford. and come veal or
woe I was to be th, man. Yet she feared
her father and all her family. They and
all the town would be arrayed on the
side of her cousin Standish. She begged
me to keep our engaseLient secret until
we could SEQ our way to an open declara-
ton of our intentions, and IL need be de-
fiance OF Standish Bradford and all other
Bradfords. I promised, at the same time
telling her to I've Of good cheer, that !
would set my wits to work for our mu-
tual benefit. Besides our occasional meet
Ing under the hospitable roof of Captain
Shrimp we established III extra postof-
fice In the town, and this, after all, was
our mainstay. Through 1t werc dis.
cussed all our plans. she keeping me In.
formed in regard to every move OF the
Bradfords.
The position of our affsirs set me seri.
ously TO thinking. ! did not wish old
Amariah Bradford = tho Bradford ~
all the Bradforls-to pronounce upon
his daughters Puritan curse. nor did
wish the remainder Of the family nnd
tribe to feel that Prudence had become
an outcast-hal as good as thrown her.
self away and disgracel the name OF her
ancestors. | must In some way bring
all the trib, to freely consent TO the
marriage. must hunor their pride Oh
pedigree In some way. i,
The result Of this thinking took such
shape that, meeting my father alone In
the library one day. l surprised him by
saying, "Father. I'm going to England
next week." ITO England, Samr cried
the old gentleman. with widely expand'
ell eyes. "Why. what put that notion
into your head. my boyr
"Our talk some tune ego. have
thoroughly thought over tho situation,
and I've arrived ut the conclusion tuai
we've got to import an ancestor"
"ImpOrt an ancestorT
eyes, sir, an anccstor. There must D<
plenty of Johnsons, Jonsons and John
stons buried over In England, and II
can find one OF the right date and quail
| ty the mere spelling Of the name Is o.
little importance. shall look for Sii
John, aSir Ralph or q Sir Richard John
son, and, when find him, over here hi
comes to be prominently and perma
nently replantcd In the Pasonagessi
cemetery. When I find titled johnson
of the right degree Of antiquity. ! shal
steal him, bones. tombstone and oil. ant
we will then transplant him In styi'
that will astound the Pasonagessit GO
scendants Of the pilgrim fathers"
"Ha, ha, har' laughed my father. "ha
hal Why. Sam, blast my buttons
wouldn't bs bad notion"
I then thoroughly unfolded my plan
10 the old gentleman. who laughed co'i
sumediy.. Ny father, You know, " 1ei
ly Joker a. ever spun yarn OF sos a.n.
70 catch hunter after mares nests MT
three tailed cats. He soon began to ei'
ter into the fun OF the scheine and aa
clsred that merely as q joke Il would y
worth twioe what the expedition wou''