Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1909-08-21
THE DEACON'S DAY.
BY M. QUAD,

world that troubled him and his rood
wife was tho inrt t,nt ,hov h,d -
nonLou. ovor ,t S,It,iiro ,,,i, ,,,.,.,
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"''" ~ -" '"''' "''' ne >P'''"' nv
hoi Only Sp"r''d NJ nome despite the
protests OF his widowed mother, but
be came over 10 Riy"rton ana sported
there. The deacon struggled ana strug.
glcd with him. but II did mo good
Tie would drinl, co,I,tniIs ANA he ,vould
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a., ,,,., va
',' '''' '''""H Nv was VI
".''' ""' VI we "'"'"'S n""Se ana
tolu never u" return lhrh III" sporty
youth began to study how to get even.
Now, ne deacon had n weakness for
sweet cider though he didn't go tell
ing II around. When cider making time
came he carried apples To the mill and
tlnd one barrel OF cider mUde--ncver
more. The cider would retain IL
sweetness Tor about month. When
II began 10 get an edge on it, II was
provided with "mothe and rolled
aside to becom" vinegar.
or course this little ON" barecd af-
fair was known 10 the nephew, and
affcr little thought he saw Ills way
clear. When the apples ana the barrel
hnd been taken to the mill he was
ready with MS plot. Perhaps he had
the ala OF ih' owner of the mill, but
that has never been satisfactorily set
tied. There are thirty-two gallons of
cider in the average barrel. How many
gallons - al ipt Ia,
barrel has not yet been solved by Sher-
lock Holmes 1t was sufficient, no mat
TER whnt the number.
when the deacon wcnt after his bar
rel 1t was ready for him, and never did
cIdcr barrel look more innocent. 1t
was rolled down cellar TO cool ANA was
NOT tapped until the afternoon of the
next day. Then the deHcon's wife
Went out to visit ncighhor. and he
put Spigot In the barrel ANA drew n
glass to drink. He had been drinking
cider for twcnty-thrcc years, but never
dld cider taste like that before. 1t had
peculiar taste. 1t had an agreeable
taste The palate just cried out for
more. Tho deacon gave it more. He
was n little bit frightened when he
round himself laughing for he had not
laughed FOR sixteen years by the al t,
manac, but he drew another glass ana
slowly slipped 1t and figured that he
must have mixed II lot of Seek No Fur
ther apples in with the pippins. At /.
any rate, he wasn't going to seek any
further for good thing. Who can :
tell Just no" many glasses of sweet
cider man will drink under favorable
conditions! You can't even guess at it.
When Deacon Ilnrdstonc assembled .
from the cellar his eyes were shining
ana his hair curling. He put on his
nat ana walked out to the gate, won
derihg why his heels were so springy,
and down by the postollicc he saw an
auto. 1t was the one hclongl g to his
sporty nephew. He waTird down there
TO give the young man Il blast; but. not
hnding MIN, ne was seized with sud
den desire TO take ride all by his
lonesome. He had been shown how to
start ana stop the machine. Before
leaplng In he Whooped. He didn't
mean 10 whoop, but the whO0p Sorter
whooped itself. Then he whOopcd
again as he started Off.
The town of Rivcrton will never for
get that day. In fact, il is observed as
sort OF holiday unGo' the name Of
demons day" He put that auto at
IT'S fastest clip and went up and down
the four or five streets. He drove
everybody within doors He immo-
lated twenty different runaways. He
at the corners, and he whoopcd
m the middle of the blocks. Sometimes
he whoopcu and swung his hat at the
same time.
When this happened the machine eli
Their graHcd il Tree or took to the side
walk and cleared off the kerosene bar
'els in front of the groceries. OF
curse 1t was plain that something was
wrong. and huAdred people would
AVE extended help if they could. but
he trouble was they couldn't.
But they stopped the deacon at last
They piled dry goods boxes on the
street and ran him into millinery
'tore and captured him. He was still
Nhooping, but he didn't fight back
when they carried him home and put
lin to bed. OF course there was some
hing done about it. No deacon can .
perform that way after so many years
II probty without bit of scandal fol-