The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-04-01

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l.@ is little pictur.
SN:TTI esqueness except in
~ the backwoods and
in districts far removed from the n
vironments of railroads and electricity,
and that dialect peculiar to each To-
cality is being fiattened into monotone
by the omnipresent schoolmaster, who,
they complain, has his way far too
much in this proudly new world of
ours. But if this be true, as a whole,
there are delightful exceptions. A
carriage drive OF a few hours, or the
whirl of ones bicycle al hour, brings
one to the home of folk lore and pro.
vincialism capable of causing ecstatic
thrills in the heart of the dialect.mon-
ger.
Such were my thoughts as / alighted
from my wheel at nightfall, one cold
autumnal day, and raped there vas
no belly at the door of a low-brcwed
cottage, behind which clumps of
bushes shut off the horizon and seemed
to narrow the world down to the little
house, the yard, and myself, with a
heavy heart, standing before it, steady
iSy my wheel, for | was tired.
Presently an old lady came to the
door. Her comfortable, rotund form
and mild blue eye but decided chin
impressed me with instant respect,
while the Unborn ladyhood of her
nature was evidenced by her courteous
greeting and invitation to enter.
"Do you ever keep travellers over
night2" inquired after a decent inter.
val had elapsed.
1--WE do and we don't.,'bshe replied ;
"but you, can stay ireselcome. Sit
mp and eat. with me if you hain't had
no supper"
II haven't" was my reply; and
presently the old lady and 1 were dis.
cussing her homely but toothsome
supper, and doing it ample justice in
the way of testing its qualities at
least l did.
"My husband has gone to town. re-
marked my hostess, ''and if you hadn't
come / should a ben here all alone to-
night"
"Would you have been afraid to
spend the night alone?"
"Oh, no! But tonight l feel elf.
'runt, for, you see, at last we're ready
to lift the mortgage. It's two hun.
dred and thirty.three dollars an one
cent. That last cent l got by selling
an aig," she said with Il happy laugh,
"and now it's altogether 'twixt the
straw bed and feather bed in my room /;
and husband, he's gonter pay it off to
morrer-if he lives" she added, with
the reverence felt by the old who have
Eeen SO many hopes fade and friends
die that they never dare to speak even
of almost certainties without an ''lf."
"But are you not unwise to speak o!
your money to a stranger?" | asked as
u warning.
"Oh, no !" she said. laughing pleas.
antly, 81 know an honest man when |
see him, and | was glad the minute l
see your face and kuowed that you
wanted to stay all night. 'Taint likely
anybuddy would steal from me but
stragglers. One has been seen round,
and | feel a little mite uneasy"
My hostess and l spent a pleasant
evening together. She showed me
many an heirloom which had been
handed through five generations from
an ancestor who had been a great man
in colonial days. There was a silver
punch bowl and a gold snuff box,
either worth more than the sum treas.
ured so carefully in the owners bed /;
but suspect she would have parted
with her life as quickly as with either
Of them.
''They are Jameses," she said, "or
will be when husband and l are done
with them. James is my nephew, and
he's out to Chiny now. He's had lots
of pullbacks, James has, or he'd helped
us. But you look tired, Mr."
Bradley"
"Mr. Bradley, you look zif you
doughter be to bed. I'll light you up
Ascending the short flight of stairs,
/ learned that my room was exactly
wei the old lady's ''settin'" room, as
she called it. There was a sort Of reg.
lister overi it, through which the warmth
struggled agreeably enough. How.
ever, I should have closed it had not
n sense of the old lady's unprotected
situation impressed me, and so 1 re-
tired to bed and dreamland, where
wandered lazily until awakened by
voices beneath.
Evidently the first word had reused
me, for as | sat IN in bed, wide awake
in an i%nstan. l heard the old lady say
in q matter of fact tone