The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-10-31
So ; 50 ; - E.
THE RIDE OF
BETSEY BENNETT.
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Miss Betsy was odd,
That would not have troubled the
village to any great extent had she
been willing 10 take the advice In re.
gard to every day affairs which 10
many were eager 10 give her. Rut this
was the last thing she was at all like,
~ to do, for Miss Betsy Bennett was
Independent She lived with very
deaf. sister In u neat little cottage in
ole end OF the town, That Is TO say,
II was rcputed 10 he neat. although
very few OF her fellow citizens ever
saw I, as It was shut OF from n front
view by an exceedingly thick hedge. A
vigorous board fence In full flower OF
spikes took care OF the other three
sides; anu rs 10 callers, Miss betsy
never had any.
II Is true PclRtlIh Mccombcr came
Mt lengthy intervals, harmonious with
ms own length OF limb--oncc In the
spring TO pillow and lay 0ut her garden:
once In November 10 stack away tlre
stock OF fuel which hnd already been
tossed over the fence In short cuts Of
tocE maple, stovG length size. But
Pel0t!ah the Silent was not given tn
speech. and the extract OF news thus
acquired was slngulArly deficient in
details. Even the boys OF tn, town had
ceased 10 consider that fence a de-
tiaNce. -
II was differcn, once: but one dnv
they raIded some other places, and
then spent some little time In the sin
GUAR business of tossing a dozen or 20
OF dead cats into the mir, with great
regard TO where they fell. When they
hau acquired n commcndable dellcacy
~ handling the Gafuncts and could
piacc them to a nicely, they MI march
ed down TO Miss Retsey's In body and
began mortar practice. When they had
finished. fourteen dead eats were sus-
pended from the spikes on that fence.
thc fifteenth, by Dick Jones' unhappv
mss, had landed inside Of the wall,
MISS BetSey came out, of course. That
was to be expected. But-sha had
thanked them with suavIty! ihad tossed
them with erratic aim an apple apiece.
ana then with q pi;chfork had lifted
down each cat and had planted II n,
the foot OF rnsebush as n fertilizer.
What could the boys do In the face OF
such sang-froId? Her sagacIty lost
nothing In their estimation by the fact
that those apples all proved TO be OF a
kind that had no superiority for acidi,y,
and were not worth Considering as a
stump"
Tell you what. rellows!" said Dick
ruetully. trying 10 get his teeth out Of
pucker, III that Is the sort OF apples she
keeps behind her Old fence, the longer
they stay there the better I'm suited. I
shan't cry II I never stick my teeth In
one again. We're sold the worst Kind
They all, laughed ut hirp, OF course.
but concluded that, on thd whole, they
had better cry quits" with Miss Betsey;
and for long time afterwards. when
any scheme proposed that bade fair 10
be boomerang, some sGuare-headed
youth would be likely to remark, drily:
Yes. It's a pretty good plan: but hadn't
you fest better eat Betsey apple and
sleep on it?" 1t Is astonishing how
many plans stopped right there, buried
out OF sight In the laugh that was sure
TO follow. SO. on the whole, they rather
Steered clear OF the little old lady after
that. No fellow likes to be laughed at
and, somehow, the girls got hold OF the
story, too,
But the boys couldn't keep out OF her
way altogether. for she was everywhere.
Although she lived at the far end OF the
village. she by no means stayed there.
on the contrary. in~Mc.y one was quite
as likely 10 find her r.:ies up the ,liveliest
trout-brook, with an apronful OF the
earliest waterSlde flowers. In June she
would be butanizlng in the foothills be-
yond the valley. In July she knew
where the earliest Strawberries were
quite as well as the boys, and, as a rule,
she got there first. In August the rlsp-
berries and bl=Gkberries saw her, while
more than once She was met peSS!ng
steadily homeward with ten-Nuart pail
IN each hand a!led with the ripcst OF
chnxe-cicrries. so ripe as 10 he black in
stead OF red. and from the very trees that
the boys had planned 10 visit when hay
Ing demands permitted.
After four days arr over. we New
England country people are great home
Keepers. 90 Miss BctsGy was q marked!
woman Be9Idcs-and this. after all,
was her one objectionable s!n--yenrs
ago when SHE wns 4 girl. there had been
a fashion OF dress which she had decided
suited her exactly. When the fashion
changed next year. she didn't. Twlc+
since fashions styles came round to hers
again. as though TO prove her wisdom;
bnt, % course, the village rocked naught
OF that. II was enough that-sGre In
thes- tvo years OF srace-as far as MICS
Betscy could he seen she could also be
known.
Because Of this roaming habit OF hers,
one day Dick Jones hal an adventure.
Dick owns a bicycle. and IL immensely
proud OF II. Ms. indeed. he has q right to
be. although II Is only a second hand
machine. But in the beginning is was a
good ono, and II Is Just as good now.
Many an hour had Dick spent very hap
ply under tn. one Enariy one apple!css
apple tree In his yard. From a long. low
limb two cords hang. Just right tn swing
the, machine n few inches up from the
ground. There, with 4 box for seat
and some bite or cloth, Dick can SIT and
get shine OF ';hc old spol;rS and nickel
huns until 10 one would suppose they
knew such 4 thing AZ rust: nor had they.
since In Dicks possession. Then. 70
give the wheel whlrl and know how
long Itjtakcs 1t to come TO a stand. how
II spins. and even ut the end. when
nbuut TO stop. seems 10 decide to have
Just one more revolution before settling
back to the pcndnlnni-iikc oscillation
that proves how beautifully the oiled
bearings run--cvery boy will l;nLw,
without telling, the fascination OF that.
~ Will snIllS bllle' tJO, ."iAuv"H'' h''N'
of them seem 20 Hike, to have their
brothers do thr. polishing II they own the
articles Such ones loSc'a deal OF fun.
Naturally. Dick IL something OF A
ronmcr hIEself. Everyone Is who owns
wheel. sun he was none the less
startled one evening just before dusk,
as he was hummlng homcward along
a particularly lonely country road, Ia
see Miss Bctsey sitting on Il rock be-
meath n tree. Her Inevitable basket
was BY her side. half filed With b1tan-
Ical products On these rested rhac
The foot to which the shoe belonged
was elevated across the 3nelEhborlng
kncn a nd stuck alrllglrt out Ike Il Snm