Connecticut western news., 1894-05-17
DEBORA'S IDEA.

"A woman's idee air sometimes wurth considerin," began Fisherman Joe, tilting his chair back and giving incessant puffs at the stem of his old clay pipe. ''I hev found thet out fo1 sure. Now, for more years 'an can re- member, we lived down on ther Pint, Debora an me
 'We fished, raised chickens, ducks all geese, an between lem all, with the'l eggs, we made a purity tolerabul fai1 Twin an he'd little mite over. But ther mite over went mostly for house rent, so mighty little was left to go down in ther sock for a rainy day. How. sumever, ther little in ther sock cumi- lated fust straight, an we made the1 fust payment on this place. An by the1 time we'd saved up nigh on to CT life time we paid ther last cent on 1t, an ther place was ours. We fixed it uI some, givip it tuch when we could, an fust thing we mowed we he'd 8 mighty fine place. All it lacked was ther house, an we lowed to hev thet if we lived long enough. An thinkin ot thet we helt up our heads proudlike an worked on, every now an then haulin out ther SOCK an droppin somethin thet chinked into it
 "We wouldn't count what we he'd not for months, 'cause we wanted it to cumilate unbeknownst to us, but last spring we got so cur'us about it we looked to see how much was ther an found most enough to start on ou1 house. An just then hard times set in an smashed thet idee flat. Times got worse an worser. couldn't sell my fish or nuthin. People said times was toe hard to buy such things as ducks, spring chickens an eggs, so ther warn't no use for me to fetch lem round. But kept goin an kept not sellin too.
 From then on for about seven months me an Debora didn't make as much as bits. An all the time rent he'd to be paid, an we he'd to have somethin to eat. So down in thet sock we he'd to go every month. At them times we wouldn't look at one mother nor say a word We knowed how hard we'd worked for it an what it was for, sc we'd just use it slow an hide our feel in's best way we could. Now, not fa1 from where we lived ther was purty fair lookin house. 1t was built after we moved to ther Pint an was standin thel just like it was when ther carpenters finished it. Nobody he'd ever lived in it, cause it was ha'nted Everybody sait : kra fal~ ok it. We, Debora an me, knowed it. "We lived closer to it an anybody else an he'd seen an heard 'nough tt know thet house was as full of ha' a: one generally gifts, but ther house WI lived in belonged to ther man who owned ther ha 'nted house, so it didn' do for us to air all we knowed about it. But this is ther way the ha'nts got in it
 ''Ther carpenters was two young men, considered we'll behaved an gen teel Tom was ther best lookin-he wa most purity. Ed was ugly as sin. How sumever, they was both we'll liked b, everybody. They boarded up at Mis- | Biscom's, but it was so far from the. house thet to keep from losin time Mis- | Biscom would send their dinner Sh, didn't have no little children, but hat a grown daughter, Jessie, an every da, when ther 12 o'clock whistles would | with ther young mems dinner. They't spread it out on pile of lumber, al | while they'd be eatin Jessie would b laughin an tallin to lem. An then whel l ther turnout whistles would blow she't gather up ther dishes an go on home an ther boys back to work Jessie was | purity girl-plump as any partridge yo' ever seen an as rosy as apple.
 "Ther boys he'd only been to Mis- Biscom's two days when they said n money could make 'em leave ther, no long as Jessie staid with her ma. Thei hkin for her was plain as daylight. The. would watch for her at noon an watcl her clear out of sight when she wen back home. An in ther evenins the' hurry up ther as fast as they could go just to be with Jessie. The boys wa good friends when they fust come to the Pint, but thet purity face of Jessie Bis com come between lem. Debora an m could see thet before they could see themselves. We lived so close we coul tell by their looks, first at her, then a themselves, an more'n once Debora sai ther was trouble ahe'd for them yer same young people.
 Every Sunday ther three went ou walkin together, Jessie in ther middle Ed on one side, Tom on ther other Thet was all right, but when a danC come erlong one was sure to get left, a thet was generally Ed. Tom kept hi ears open for everything come along a would ask Jessie to go with him, an ( course she'd say yes to the first one the asked her. So things went on, an b the time ther house was done thing was gettin seri us with ther boys, spt cially with Ed. They was up to thei ears in love with Jessie, an she like Tom ther best. Thet made Ed ma 'nough to eat up everybody Twin on the Pint.
 "One night ther boys didn't hurry U home to Miss Biscom' s as they he'd bee doin right straight along. They he been quarrelin most all day an 'peare like they was goin to hev it out then 8 ther. Ed was doin most of ther fussil an Tom tryin to make him hush. Me a Debora sat still an listened. Ther bo.
 got madder an madder, an presently "
 heard big slap ill ther face an Ed Sd, '' Take thet, sirl'
 "We knowed he he'd hit Tom, an in
 minute more Tom hit him back. The
 such noise you never hearn. They fl fit, fit. All over ther room they scrar
 bled an whacked one mother. I 2