Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-10-05

with such motherly tenderness in voice
ana manner that have never forgot
ten It, Uncle Eb lay sleeping OH the
lounge. and when she had finished
dressing me Fred and 1 went out To
play in the garden. It was sumner
time In little while, and then again
the woman wndcd the shell and tho
men came up from the field. We sat
down to eat with them, as we had done
mt noon. and Uncle Eb consented ia
spend the night after some urging. Hs
helped them with the milking and az
I stood beside him shot n jet OF the
warm white flood into my mouth that
tickled It so I ran away laughing.
| The milking done. I sat on Uncle
Eds knee In the dooryard with all the
rest Of that household, hearing many
tales Of the wilderness and Of robbery
and murder on Paradise road. got
the impression that IL was country
OF unexainplcd wckedncss and ferocity
In men and animals. One man TOLD
about the ghost Of Burnt bridve-hnw
the bridge had burnt one afternoon
and how certain traveller in the darh
Of the night, driving down the hill
above 1t, fell to his death at the brink
Of the culvert.
AN every night since then" said
the man very positively, Eye can hea.
him drivin' down tibet hill jcs' as plain
as We can hear me talkin'-the rattle o
the wheels an all II stops sudden
an then We can hear i'm hit the rocks
way down there Mt the bottom o I'll.
gulley an groan an groan. An folk.
say It's curse on the town for leavin
tibet hole open"
whats a ghost, Uncle Eb?" wills
pered.
"Sumthln' like n swift" he answer
ed. but not so powerful. We heard &
panther las night" no added. turning
to our host. "Hollercd like sin when
he see the fire"
"Scairt!" said the man o the house
gaping. That's what allied him. I've
lived twenty year on Paradise road, an
1t was all woods when | put up the
cabin. Seen deer on the doorstep an
bears in the garden. an panthers in the
fields. But tell We there's no critter so
terrible as man. All the animals
know 'im--how he roars an splits fire
nm smoke an lead so It goes through a
body er bites off n leg. mebbe. Guess
they'd made friends with me- but them
l didn't kill went away smartin' with
holes In 'em. An I guess they told all
their people bout me-thc terrible crit
ter that walked on its hind legs an he'd
q white face an drew up an spit is
teeth into their vitals cross ten acre
lot. An purity soon they concluded
they didn't want t hev no truck with
me. They thought this clearin' was the
valley O. death. an they got very care
full. But the deer they KEEP peekin' in
at me. Sumthn' funny bout deer
they're so Gurus. Seems though they
loved the look O me an the taste o the
tame grass. Mebbe God meant EN- t
serve in the yoke some way an be the
friend O. man. They're the outcasts O.
the forest, the prey O the other ami
mails, an men like EN- only when they're
, dead. An they're the purtiest critter
alive an the sprieSt an the mos grace
full"
Men are the mos terrible Of all crit
tiers, an the meanest." said Uncle Eb
They're the only critters that kill fer
fun"
BEDTIME" said our host. rising pres.
entity. Got t. be up early n the morn.
in"
We climbed a ladder to the top floor
Of the cabin with the hired men. of
whom there were two. The good lady
of the house had made bed for us on
the floor. and l remember Fred came
up the ladder. too. and lay down be-
side us. Uncle Eb was up with the
men in the morning, and at breakfast
time my hostess came and woke me
with kisses and helped me to dress.
When we We're about going she brought
little wagon ont of the cellar that
had been playthng of her dead boy
and said l could have it, This Won
derful wagon was just the thing for
the journey we We're making. When
l held the little tongue in my hand I
was halfway to heaven already. 1t
had four stout wheels and beautiful
red box Her brother had sent it all
the way from New York. and it had
stood so long in the cellar it was now
much in need Of repair Uncle Eb
took it to the tool shop in the stable
and put 1t in shipshape order and made
a little pair of thils to 30 in place Of
the tongue. Then he made a big fiat
collar and back pad out of the leath-
or in old boot legs and rugged pair OF
tugs out of two pieces of rope. Old
Fred was quite cast down when he
stood in harness between the shafts.
He waited patiently to have his col
lar fitted; he had Grinned and painted
and wagged his tail with no suspicion
Of the serious and humiiating career
he was entering upon. Now he stood
with n sober face, and his aspect was
full of meditation.
"You tghtin hound" said Uncle Eb.
~ hope this II improve yer character
Fred tried to sit down when Uncle
Eb tied leading rope to his collar.
When he heard the wheels rattle AMI
felt the pull of the wagon he looked
back at it and growled little and
started to run. Uncle Eb shouted
"Whoa" and held him back. and then
the dog got down on his belly and
trembled until we patted his head and
gave him kind word. He seemed to
| mi procoutIy and cnna n Ion n