The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1894-01-04


formed In regard to every move Of the
Bradfords.t n T"N Z
The position of.our affairs set mo seri-
ously to thinking. l did not wish old
Amarish Bradford 1T the Bradford of
oil the Bradfords-to pronounce upon
bis daughters Puritan curse, nor did l
wish the remainder of the family and
tribe to feel that Prudence had become
an outcsst-ha1 as good as thrown her.
self away and disgraced the name of her
ancestors. ! must in some way bring
all the tribe to freely consent to the
marriage. Unjust humor their pride Of
pedigree in some way.
The result of this thinking took such
shape that, meeting my father alone in
the library one day, I surprised him by
saying, Father, I'm going to England
next week" ITO England, Samr cried
the old gentleman, with widely expand
ed eyes. "Why, what put that notion
into your head, my boy?"'
"Our talk some time ago. l have
thoroughly thought over the situation,
and I've arrived at the conclusion that
we've got tbimport an ancestor"
"Import an ancestor"
Eyes, sir, an ancestor. There must be
plenty of Johnsons, Jonsons and John
stons buried over in England, and if !
can find one of the right date and quail
ty the mere spelling of the name is Of
little Importance. shall look for Sir
John, Sir Ralph or a. Sir Richard John
son, and, when find him, over here he
comes to be prominently and perma-
nently replanted in the Pasonagessit
cemetery. When find a titled Johnson
of the right degree Of antiquity, shall
steal him, bones. tombstone and all, and
we will then transplant him in style
that will astound the Pasonagessit de-
scendants of the pilgrim fathers"
"Ha, ha, ha!' laughed my father. 'Ha,
ha! Why, Sam, blast my buttons, it
wouldn't be bad notion"
l then thoroughly unfolded my plans
to the old gentleman, who laughed con-
sumedly. My father, you know, is jol-
ly joker as ever spun yarn or set trap
to catch hunter after mares nests and
three tailed cats. He soon began to en-
ter into the fun of the scheme and de-
clared that merely as a joke it would be
worth twice what the expedition would
cost.
We were agreed that our enterprise
must be kept ''dead secret" from all in
the village and all our own family in Or
der to make it succeed as really gor-
geous and ever blooming joke. Even my
mother apd sisters must remain in the
dark.
In consequence of this understanding,
the next week set out for England. In
a note to Prudence told her was 60
ing to the land of our ancestors on a
mission Of great Importance to my IA
ther, and one that would be quite as
important to ourselves. AS it was my
fathers business, was not at liberty to
enter into particulars, but she would
probably be able to get an mixing of it
from Rev. Nantucket Sperm or Captain
Shrimp, at whose houses my father Wis
tied.
My father gave out that I had gone to
the .-~cther country on business OF his
own. He VIZ" a very solemn face when
he said I was going Oh : ''grave' mission.
I was going, as he SAID, TO perform
solemn duty which had too :ong been
neglected, a duty which his forefa hers
had failed to perform owing to various
hindrances, and one which he himself
had too long deferred. Further than this
he declined to explain, except that my
mission involved duty to one long since
dead, a venerated ancestor.
This of course soon found its way into
the mouths of the village gossips, as was
intended. My father being on rather in
innate terms with the ''neutrals," Cap
tain Shrimp and Rev. Nantucket Sperm,
he did not mind telling them thus much
when they put forth some feelers in re-
gard to TIE occasion of my visit to Eng
land.