The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-09-20

did not want to drive q to the larn
before the count q announced.
When 1 stepped out Of the town hal
I glanced up and down the street looking
for oongenial companionship In which
to pass the time of waiting. There was
much to choose from. Three-quartere
Of the voters In the township were strune
out along the village street, standing IN
silent groups or sitting on porch steps
waiting patiently. alb l had intended to
do, until the count was announced.
Regarded my fellow citizens curiousy.
1t is not often you can see 30 many OF
them together. for we are anything but
gregarious. They are my people and OF
course I like them, but l must admit
that they looked msrvellously unattrac-
tive in their heterogeneous best clothes.
The majority were glum and scragU
a grinning. minority exuded an odor OF
inferior alcohol. oh. Of course we are
supposed to be a temperance community,
but you can always get IL II you know
how. Here and there was q strong face,
but 1t was the exception. ..
The standard type vas rather one Of
undressing crabbedness. The survey
/ was uhIuly IOhoouI tlB VI u OoiAuoIOA
myself with the thought that In the past
1 have found my neiehbors nowhere near
as bad as they look.
I walked across the street and Joined
the two elderly men on the Perkins porch,
fitting my chair back and adding my
feet to the four already resting on the
railing. Both friends nodded solemny;
the one with the goatee went 20 far a. to
scratch his head and open his mouth:
then he thought better Of 1t and closed
1t again without q word. -.
/ settled myself for o long wait-the
count is apt to be q leisurely proceeding
and to pass the time fell to considering
my companions. You would certainly
think that as rival storekeepers and mem
bers of hostile political parties Jay Per-
kins and Ezra Hitchcock would regard
each other with feelings Of unrelieved
bitterness. On the contrary. outside Of
business hours they are close friends.
and even there they are not keenly COM
petitive; the laws Of economics are almost
suspended in u happy valley; one Is
generally out of whatever the other hap
pens to have in stock.
As for their politics, they differ chiefly
in order that, whichever party rules the
Union. the local post office may be in a
general store. National politics has
been rather one sided OF late. Post
master Perkins seems to have grown fast
to his job. leaving the title of storekeeper
to Hitchcock, the Democrat. .t
The monotony Of silence began to pail.
We fell to discussing past and future
weather at great length. No ,feeting
notice Of yesterday, no guess at the
chances for tomorrow, satisfied us. ,
Hitchcock delyed back In his memory
for thermometric fluctuations in the eos.
Perkins propounded his theory Of recur-
rent cycles Of we or dry seasons. fore
casting prosperity or restitution for gem
erations Of farmers yet unborn. At last
u stock Of meteorology ran dry and We
returned to what was really On BUR minds.
The postmaster cleared his throat.
"Haow do you calo'late it'll goi'
Hitchcock spat with elaboration and
wiped a discolorad white 4mustaohe.
well. W. e-ll-Anse lawrence 10, q
powerful man, q mighty powerful man.
but his record 10 q handicap. ,Twon't
be no walkoveris -
We agreed IN the verdict. Then. tho
Toe being broken. my friends began to call
to mind the humors Of similar elections
in the past years.
Il knew by experience that any inter-
ruption was likely to break the thread
Of discourse. 30 for q while I said moth
ing. picking up what scraps Of aneodote
I could understand; but when Perkins
L 1.lr>1 u,soh1z1I 70 - x~-.-L-.-l A..
time when Squire Bennett used to run
they both laughed % heartily that 1 risked
a question and inquired why that should
be 90 funny.
what Don't you knowf' The store
keeper stared at me over his spectaoles.
why, no. to be sure. twas before your
time'-he finds 1t hard TO realize that q
full grown man can belong to q younger
generation than his. Before your time,
sure enough; but 'twen't 90 long ago
since the warm the '70s. q
why. Squire Bennett was the hast Of
the old BENEFITS. Lived in the big house
that used to stand Just beyond the green.
He was quite a man In town too-not as
big as he thought he was. but quite q
man, for all that. :
Everybody was a little afraid OF him;
nobody ever talked him down. Well, he
always wanted to go to the Legislature,
but we neve sent him."
Here came a long pause. I knew my
mar and waited. 4
aY'eee. the old gentleman was peculiar
one way. 1t was bad enough at home, but
we we're blessed il we were going TO have
il talked about the capital that our men,
Der didn't pay his bills. 30 year after year
we kept shelving the old man and the
oftener his name got passed over the
keener he got for the nomination.
-As time went or he got worse and
worse about settling too. He owed every
body in town. I guess. Well. this has
always been a slow place for paying
the two storekeepers nodded sadly at
each other--but he got too bad ever for
us. And yet We didn't know what to do
about 1t. We couldn't think Of getting a
writ against Squire Bennett. and he didn't
pay no attention to duns.
Il don't know who thought Of h-likely
1t was Caleb Whitney. Anyway, q morn
ing there was on the town hall door an
announcement OF q Democratic rally. '
After they'd had the rally. when we
heard that Squire Bennett wal candidate
for member Of the Legislature on tho
Democratic ticket, myi oh. myi tho town
was a~abberRastedI all except the few who