Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-01-02

form Of q parable. "UIu LaDan Slmp-
kins that lived round here one time,"
he said, twas mighty hard ticket
Drank rum by the hogshead, pounded
his wife till she left him, and was a
tough nut gin'rally. Well. one evenin'
Labe was comm bone pretty how
come-you-so, and he fell into Jonadab
Wixon's we'll. Wonder he want killed.
but he want, and they fished him out
In a little while. He said that was the
deepest we'll he ever saw; said he be-
gun to think it reached clear through
to the hereafter, and when he struck
the water he was s'prised to find 1t
want hot He fined the church the
next week, and somebody asked him IL
he thought religion would keep him
from fallin' into any more wells. He
said no; said he was lookln' out for
somethin' further on.
"Well, that's the way It's with SOL
School committees all right, but this
section of the Cape nominates a state
representative next year.
II mustn't forgit to see Seth," he
added. II promised l would, and, be-
Sides" with wink, II think 'twould
be better to do it cause, between you
and me, l don't blieve Seth knows that
he's been thinkin' Of runnin for the
committee and has decided not to-"
The second member Of the school
board, John Mullett, was, SO the cap
tain said, a sort of me too" to Mr..
Bangs and would vote as his friend
directed. The third member was Mr..
Langworthy, the Baptist minister, and.
| though 2 to / was a clear majority.
| Captain Err asserted that there was
nothing like unanimous vote, and so
they decided to call upon the reverend
gentleman.
They found him at home, and Elsie
was surprised after the previous inter
view to see how differently her cham
pion handled the case. There was no
preliminary parley and no beating
about the bush Miss Preston's claim
| to the soon to be vacant position was
stated clearly and with vigor; also
the reasons why she should receive
higher salary than had previously been
| paid were set forth. 1t was something
of a surprise to Elsie, as it had been
to Ralph, to STE how highly the towns
peOple-that is. the respectable portion
| of them-scemed to value the opinions
| Of this good natured but uneducated
seaman. And yet when she considered
| that she, too, went to him for advice
that she would not have asked Of 9th
er and far more learned acquaintances
| it did not seen so surprising after all.
The clergyman had had several can
didates in mind, but lie was easily won
| over to Elsie's side. And so, as Cap
tain Fri said, the stump speaking be-
ing over, there was nothing to do but
| to wait for the election, and Elsie and
he agreed to keep the affair secret
until she received formal notice OF the
| appointment. This was undoubtedly Il
good plan; but, unfortunately for its
success, Solomon Bangs called upon
his fellow in the committee, Mr.. Null
| lett, to inform the latter that he, en-
tirely unaided, had discovered the very
| teacher that Orham needed in the per-
son Of John BaXters granddaughter.
Mr.. Mullett, living up to his "me too
reputation, indorsed the selection with
enthusiasm, and not only did that,
but also told every one he met, so that
| Captain Perez heard Of it ut the post
office the very next afternoon.
The natural surprise of this gentle
man and Of Captain Jerry at their
guests sudden determination was met
by plausible explanations from Cap
tain Fri to the effect that Elsie was a
smart girl and didn't like to be ''hang-
in round doin' nothin' now that her
grandpa was some better" Elsie's
own reason, as expressed to them. be-
ing just this, the pair accepted 1t with
out further questioning. Neither OF
them attached much Importance to the
letter which she had received, although
| Captain Perez did ask Mrs. Snow II
she knew from whom it came.
The lady from Nantucket was not
so easily satisfied. At her first oppor-
tunity she cornered Captain Fri. and
they discussed the whole affair from
beginning to end. There was nothing
unusual in this proceeding, for dis
cussions concerning household matters
and questions Of domestic policy We're
between these two getting to be more
and more frequent. Mrs. Snow was
now accepted by all as one Of the
:.,mily, and Captain Fri had come to
lod Il high opinion Of her and her
views.
The marriage idea, that which had
brought the housekeeper to Orham, was
now seldom mentioned. In fact, Cap
'ain Fri had almost entirely ceased to