St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1902-08-27


He shook his head.
mo kind of shoW-dog show. snake
charmer"
"Slavin has a monopoly of the
snakes"
Then he added hesitatingly: "There
was an old Punch and Judy chap here
last year, but he died. Whisky again."
What happened to his show|
The Black Rock hotel man took it
for board and whisky bill. He has it
still, l suppose"
l did not much relish the business,
but l hated to see him beaten, so
ventured, II have run a Punch and
Judy in an amateur way at the var
sity."
He sprang to his feet with a yell.
"You havel You mean to say it?
We've got them! We've beaten themw
He had an extraordinary way of taking
your help for granted. "The miner
chaps, mostly English and Welsh, went
mad over the poor old Snowman and
made him so wealthy that in sheer
gratitude he drank himself to death"
He walked up and down in high ex-
citement and in such evident delight
that felt pledged to my best effort.
"Well," l said, FIRST the poster. We
must beat them in that"
He brought me large sheets of brown
paper, and after two hours hard work
/ had half a dozen pictorial showbills
done in gorgeous colors and striking
designs. They were good, if l do say it
myself.
The turkey, the magic lantern, the
Punch and Judy show, were all there,
the last with a crowd before it in gap
ing delight. A few explanatory words
were thrown in emphasizing the high
ly artistic nature of the Punch and
Judy entertainment.
Craig was delighted and proceeded to
perfect his plans. He had some half a
dozen young men, four young ladies
and eight or ten matro is upon whom
he could depend for help. These he Or
ganiZed into vigilance committee
charged with the duty of preventing
miners and lumbermen from getting
away to Slavin's.
"The critical moments will be imme-
diately before and after dinner and
then again after the show is over" he
explained. "The first two crises must
be left to the care of Punch and Judy,
and, as for the last, am not yet sure
what shall be done" But l saw he had
something in his head, for he added, 81
shall see Mrs Mayor"
"Who is Mrs. Mavor" asked.
But he made no reply. He was a
born fighter, and he put the fighting
spirit into US all. We were bound to
win.
The sports were to begin at o'clock.
BY lunchtime everything was in readi-
ness. After lunch was having a quiet
smoke in Craig's shack when In he
rushed, saying:
1.-THE battle will be lost before it is
fought. IN we lose Quatre Bras, we
shall never get to Waterloo"
whats up|
"Slavin, just now. The miners are
coming in, and he will have them in
tow in half an hour"
He looked at me appealingly. knew
what he wanted.
"All right. l suppose l must, but it
is an awful bore that man can't have
a quiet smoke"
you're not half bad fellow" he
replied, smiling. II shall get the la
dies to furnish coffee inside the booth.
You furnish them intellectual nourish-
ment in front with dear old Punch and
Judy"
He sent boy with a bell round the
village, announcing, punch and Judy
in front Of the Christmas booth be-
side the church," and for three-quar-
tiers of an hour shrieked and sweated
in that awful little pen. But it was
almost worth it to hear the shouts of
approval and laughter that greeted my
performance 1t was cold work stand
ing about, so that the crowd was quite
ready to respond when Punch, after
being duly hanged, came forward and
invited all into the booth for the hot
coffee which Judy had ordered
In they trooped, and Quatre Bras
was won.
No sooner were the miners safely en-
gagged with their coffee than l heard a
great noise Of bells and of men shout
ing, and on reaching the street l saw
that the men from the lumber camp
were coming in. Two immense sleighs,
decorated with ribbons and spruce
boughs, each drawn by a four horse
team gayly adorned, filled with some
fifty men, singing and shouting with
all their might, were coming down the
hill road at full gallop. Round the cor
ner they swung, dashed at full speed
across the bridge and down the street
and pulled up after they had made the
circuit of block, to the great admira-
ton of the onlookers. Among others,
Slavin sauntered up good naturedly,
making himself agreeable to Sandy
and those who were helping to unhitch
his team.
"Oh, you need not take trouble with
me or my team, Mike Slavin. Batch
ees and me and the boys can look after
them fine" said Sandy coolly.
This rejecting of hospitality was per-
fectly understood by Slavin and by all.
"Dat'S too had help said BaDtiSte