Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-02-04

E.yzNTI-H 4. the cdltOr IN chief or the
Vss&SGJ Carlow County Herald took
his hand out of his hair wiped his pen
ON his last notice from the White Caps,
put on his coat, swept out the close
little entry and left the sanctum for
the bright June afternoon.
He chose the way TO the west, stroll
Tug thoughtfully out of town by the
white, hot, deserted Main street and
thence onward by the country road into
which its proud half mile Of old brick
store buildings. tumbledown frame
shops and thinly painted cottages de-
generated. The sun was in his face
where the road ran between the sum-
mcr fields. lying wavelcss, low, gra-
cious in promise; but, coming to
wood of hickory and beech and wal
nut that stood beyond, he might turn
his down-bent hat brim up and hold
his head erect. Here the shade fell
deep and cool on the green tangle Of
rag and iron weed and long grass in
the corners Of the snake fence, al
though the sun beat upon the road SO
close beside. There was no movement
of the crisp young leaves overhead.
High in the bouEhs there was a quick
flirt of crimson where two robins hop
ped noisclcssly The late afternoon,
when the air is quite still, had come.
vet thee rested somewhere on the
quiet day faint, pleasant. woody
smell. 1t came to the editor Of the
hn al To, hn
Of the fence for q seat, and he drew
long breath to get the elusive odor
more luxurously. and then it was gone
altogether.
"A habit of deicncies." he said aloud,
addressing the wide silence complain
ingly. zone taste and they quit" he
finished. gazing solemnly upon the
shining little town down the road.
1t was a place of which it's inhabit-
ants sometimes remarked easily that
their city had population Of from
5000 to 5000 souls, but it should be
easy to forgive them for such state
ments. Civic pride is virtue. The
town lay in She heart Of that fertile
stretch of fiat lands in Indiana where
eastern travellers. CHANGING from car
windows, shudder and return their eyes
TO interior upholstery, preferring even
the swaying caparisons Of Pullman to
the monotony without. The landscape
runs on Unfortunately level lines-bleak
in winter, a dcsolate plain Of mud and
snow: hot and dusty in summer, miles
on miles of flat lOncsomeness. with not
one cool hill slope away from the sun.
The persistent tourist who seeks for
signs of man in this sad expanse per-
ceives q reckless amount of rail fence,
at intervals large barn. and here and
there man himself. injurious, patient,
slow, looking up from the fields apa-
theticnly as the limited flies by. Now
and then the train passes n village
built scatteringly about courthouse,
with a mill or two humming near the
tracks. This is county seat, and the
inhabitants and the local papers refer
to it confidently as our city"
Such county scat was Plattville,
capital of Carlow county. The social
and business energy Of the town con-
centrated on the square, and here in
summer ts.lc the gentlemen We're wont
to lounge from store TO store in their
shirt sleeves, and in the center Of
the square stood the old red brick
courthouse, loosely fenced in shady
grove of maple and clm-"slipp'ry
elum"-callcd the courthouse yard"
When the sun grew too hot for the dry
goods box whittlers in front Of the
stores around the square and the occu-
pants Of the chairs in front of the Pal
ace hotel on the corner they would 20
across and drape themselves over the
| fence and carve their initials on the
top board. From the position Of the
sun the editor Of the Herald judged
that these operations We're now in
| progress. and he was not deeply elated
| by the knowledge that whatever desul
tory conversation might pass from man
| to man on the fence would probably be
inspired by his own convictions eX
pressed cd ltorially in the Herald.
| He drew faded tobacco bag and O
| brier pipe from his pocket and. after
filling and lighting the pipe, twirled the
| pouch mechanically about his finger
then, suddenly regarding it, patted il
| caressingly. 1t had been a g.ddy little
bag long ago, gay with embroidery II
the colors of the editors university
and, although now it was frayed to thu
verge of tatters, it still bore an air OF
pristine jauntiness, an air Of which IT.
owner in nowise partook. He looked
from 1t toward the village In the clea
distance and sighed softly rs he pu
the pouch back In his pocket and. rest
ing his arm on his knee and his chin OF
hls hand, sat blowing clouds Of smok
out Of the shade into the sunshine, alb
sently watching the ghostly shadow OF
the white dust of the road.
A little garter snake crept under tn
fence beneath him and disappeared fl
the underhrush a rabbit, progressing
IN its travels by a series OF brillian
dashes and terror smitten halts, cam
within a few yards Of him, sat up wit
quivering nose and eyes alight wit
fearful imaginings and vanished, a Mas
of fluffy brown and white. SHADOW
grew longer; II cricket chirped and hear
answers; there was woodland sur o
breezes and the pair of robins lert IN
branches overhead In eager Night, VI
eating before the arrival OF flock
blackbirds Fastening thither ere II
eventide should be upon them. III
blackblrds came, Chartered, gossipe'
quarreled and beat each other wit
their wings above the smoker sittil