Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1901-08-02
PuTrER's FIRST SPECULATION.

| Change, the other day, for a half
hours chat The talk started on st.
| Paul, drifted around Manhattan and
Pressed Steel, and finally ended on the
subject of brokers, and my friend men
toned the Wall Street house Of Put
! ter & Caller.
"By the way" said he, did l ever
tell you about Henry Putter's first
speculation? No? Well, it's pref
ty good story and it is thoroughly
characteristic of the man as he is to-
day. Henry was about as clever 40
years ago as he is now"
Putter was born in a small country
! town not many miles from Augusta,
Maine. His farther, Hiram, or, as
he was generally called Hi" Putter,
had spent the greater part of his life
in a hard, uphill struggle with a small
rocky farm, the net result being that
| the annual crop of rocks had slightly
diminished and the annual crop of
vegetables had slightly increased.
Hi Putter kept couple of horses, two
or three cows, pig or two, and some
| 10 or ~ hens.
There are two village groceries
there now, but then there was only
one, kept by a curious old character
named Hart Johnson.
Hart Johnson posed as the local
oracle, and 1t was at his store that
| the farmers from miles around would
| exchange views regarding the weather,
| the progress Of the potato crop, the
number of tons of hay some
meadow might be expected to yield,
and kindred topics of agricultural
interest. Hart Johnson made it
| practice to go to Boston once a year
| to keep up his stock of groceries, and,
as he expressed 1t, ito spruce up
bit" relying during the balance of the
year upon the mails and upon the
| occasional drummer who wandered
into that part of the country.
Upon returning from one of these
annual pilgrimages he brought with
| him what proved to be thrice nine
DAYS wonder, in the shape of a gilt
tering diamond shirt stud, which he
wore ostentatiously in the bosom OF
one of the few white shirts in the
town.
For a long time public opinion was
| fairly evenly divided as to whether
the diamond was false or genuine; but
! the opinion of the doctor, the only
person who could be presumed to
have had any previous acquaintance
with diamonds, being in favor Of its
genuineness, that was finally accepted
as an ultimatum.
This fact being satisfactorily es-
tablished, the rustic congress COM
menced the appraisal of the stone,
and finally settled upon $40 as a fair
valuation. To spend $40 upon
mere personal decorat on seemed In
their eyes to be the height Of extrav-
agance and folly; but the fact was
| self-evident.
One rainy morning in the month Of
March, the one month in the year
| when the Maine farmer has surplus
of leisure time on his hands, number
| of farmers had coneregated at john
| sons store, holding down his cracker
barrels and sampling his cheese and
| dried apples in an offhand manner to-
which he never dreamed OF object
| ing
Henry Putter was 81 ting in a back
room, in rather close proximity TO the
molasses barrel. reducing an OLD
single to a pile OF shavings, when
father. "iIi,n entered the store and,
inter exchanging greetings with those
present. asked for some cracked corn
for his hens.
Don't you calc1ate its ruther 'spe'"
sive feedin' chickens on corn?" asked
one of hose present. 4 low my
chickens kin hustle around an find
bout all they need themselves"
oval, yes, s'pose tbs, admitte !
HI. "but l reckin they lay nough bet
ter to pay fort in tie end"
"Im pretty nigh bout aout O. crack
| ed corn, Hi interiected the store
| keeper: ~here Amt NOR few hand
fuls left N the bottom OF the bari;
but II that's any use to you, you can
have it an welcome"
I'm much obleegcd tc We, Hart.
| It'll give the chickens one feed. and
they'll hev to 90 until ye get some
more"
AS Hart Johnson leaned over the
edge of rhe barrel 10 SCI ape up the
little corn remaining the diamond
stud caught on the edge of the bar
rel and the stone slipped from it's set
ting and disappeared in crack in the
floor, unperceived save by the sharp
eyes of Henry Putter in the back
room.
Henry automatically said nothing,
but waited the outcome and the pos
sible reward to be offered for the re-
covery of the stone, and his father
took the cracked corn and departed.
The storekeeper busted himself for
some time in the dark corner of the
store before returning to his post of
honor by the side of the stove, so
that it was a number of minutes be-
fore the loss of the diamond was dis
covered. 1t was not long, however,
after his return before the absence of
the stone was noticed and a vigorous
but unavailing search was instituted.
Every improbable corner was explor-
ed, but the stone was not brought to
light. Henry remained in his retreat
without aiding in the search. AT
last the hunt was given up tempo
rarily, and a council of war was held,
Beats all tarnation where the durn-
ed thing went to-" exclaimed John
son. ''Reckin it must hev fallen into
that hen feed of Hi Putter's. Won't
any of We tend store half an hour till
go up an see him."
This was accepted by all as prob
able solution of the mystery, but all
present evinced a sudden disinclina-
ton to tend store" as all wished to
accompany the unfortunate store
keeper on his quest.
The matter was finally decided by
locking up the store, and the whole
party set out by the rather circuit
GUS route for the farmhouse Of Hi