The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1906-08-15
Some Theories
And q Bear Trap
By c. D. LEWIS
: Copyright, 1906, by NJ. NJ. Cunningham
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skirts of the village If Hillside had
lost his good wife, and his daughter
Jennie kept house for him He had got
10 be fifty years old and fnicky, while
the had got 10 be twenty and was
called one Of the incest girls in Adams
county
Tom Barlow. the youngest OF the vii
lage merchants. agreed with all others
He had driven out to see Jennie on half
Il dozen occasions on sunday after
Moons, and il was whispered around
that marriage would come of ii. The
father had scratched his head and said
nothing. but in his own mind he had
regarded it rs a good match
All was going we'll when an Interrupt
ton suddenly occurred. Mr. Barlow
dealt in hoes. rakes and shovels AZ well
as in dry goods and groceries, Uncle
Peter bought hoe of him and started
into the cOrnteld one morning 10 make
the dirt fly. The hoe pleased him. the
air was balmy and the corn was knee
high and still growing He WAS hum
ming To himself and wondering how
long before lie would lose Jennie when
he pulled over sod with his hoe and
caught sight of big fat mole under
meath
The life OF death of that mole had
little 10 do with the future prosperity
of Adams county. but Uncle Peter
jumped in With intent 10 slaughter He
made three or four blows with the hoe
aud finally ole tremendous blow. The
mole Was inundated. but ut the same
time the handle of the hoe WAS broken
and The old man fell forward and
plowcd his nose into the ground He
got up mad. He WAS mad at the mole.
the hoe and himself. and he jumped up
and down and used cuss words
One does not remain mad at himself
very loag. lie finds some one else TO
blame for the whole thing. In this
ease Haele Peter put the calamity on
the shoulders of MIR Barlow lie had
sold him Il hoe handle that was weak
in the bael.= sold II with intent TO de
fraud and deceive Uncle Peter had
sold short TONS of hay more than once.
but when any one cheated him he look
ed upon it ms Il wrong to all humanity.
He was near the roadside fence when
he massncred the mole. and he had
Just got the dirt out of his mouth after
the fall when Il man he knew came
driving along in his buggy.
lie naturally asked what was the
matter. and the old man cut loose. lie
called the merchant cheat, fraud and
swindler and vowed by the whlskers
of his ancestors that he would never
never buy aught more of him. He
wanted his words repeated. and they
were
When the father went up to the
house after another hoe and the daugh-
ter asked what was the matter he had
more to say about the merchant and
something particular TO say 10 her. He
made more fuss about that broken hoe
handle than the county commissioners
had in building Il bridge over Goose
creek, and he ended off with;
"Now, you gal, listen to me. II that
swindler ever sets foot on my land
ag,in I'll crush him us ! would a-a-s
mousse"
Jennie ar utd and protested and
tried to sootirt but the father was oh
durate. lie talI her Of the message
he had sent 10 town. and she wrote
few lines of excuse 10 Mr. Barlow and
sent them by passing boy. That aft
eruoon several persons had several
theories TO advance TO themselves.
Uncle Peter held TO his anger. His
theory was that Mr.. Barlow would
drive out in the evening and try TO get
speech with Jennie and seek to excuse
his disgraceful conduct In selling for
% cents hoe not worth a dime
Jennie's theory was that the mer
chant would drive out with half doZ-
en- hoes in his buggy and tell her fa-
Their TO take them all, but she feared
the result The old man was mad all
through, and It always took him at
least week to get over one of his fits.
Old Mrs Davis. who lived just across
the road heard something about the
broken hoe, and her theory was that
there would be row of some sort and
that she would he there to hear and
to see.
The merchant didn't have any par
ticular theory. He simply made up his
mind to drive out to Uncle Peters and
tell him to come In and help himself
to hoes rakes and shovels without
stint.
Nothing further of moment happened
during the day 1t was after supper
when Uncle Peter was milking the
brindle COW that he got another the
DRY. 1t might have worked well had
not his daughter observed him half an
hour later oiling up the springs of
bear trap that had hung in the barn for
the last twenty years. Then she got a
new theory. Her father hoped and In
tended that some one should walk into
that trap. 1t must be the man who
sold him the deceptive hoe that he was
laying for Old Mrs. Davis kept her
eye on the Scott homestead between
shutdown and dark, and, though no
tragedy took place, she turned to her
husband and said:
Andrew, something is goin' to hap
pen. feel it in my bones. I've got
a theory that there's goln' to he awful
don's across the road tonight"
Father and daughter sat on the porch
till the clock struck 0. aud then the girl |
arose and entered the house to go to
bed That was his chance. lie jump |
ed down on the grass and ran for his
bear trap and set 1t Just inside the gate
and ten minutes later was winding up
the clock with an innoc ant exrre1fm
of countenance calculated to deceive
the cat
Nov, why did father linger be
hind" asked Jennie of herself as she
went upstairs, and. poking her head
out of a front window, she saw him
engaged in some nefarious business on
the path something that she inyesti-
gated fifteen minutes later and |
dragged to one side on the lawn.
The merchant had been detained. He |
had also forgotten that farmers re-
tired to their beds when the hens went |