The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-08-16
HOW THE CAPTAIN
GOT HIS REVENGE
By MARTHA D. pAReAN.

In the good old colony days"-they
were not so good as the present by
any means-a young sailor named Wit
ridge, who was not SO infatuated with
his religion that he must needs wish I'd
make bonfire Of those who disagreed
with him on doctrlnal subjects, came
out TO Boston from England aud stayed
long enough to fall In love with Pa.
thence Hartshorne. the daughter Of d
Puritan. Patience was engaged to be-
married to Aminadab LOngshanks. d
young man Of sanctimonious air and
nose that was very blue. AS soon
as the jack tar made bis appearance
she became fascinated with his devil
may care ways and forthwith, as we
would put II today, shook the said
Aminadab and married the sailor
Aninadab afterward married Conse
Grafton Smith, but he never forgays
Witridge for cutting him out.
Time came when Witridge got ship
Of his own and sailed away with the
products Of the soil of Massachusetts,
skins Of wild beasts-te visit foreign
lands and bring back such things. pots
and kettles principally, as were needed
in the colonies He babe adieu to bis
wife and little boy, and girl who had
come 30 him since his marriage with a
sad heart for he was not to meet them
again for three years and was In the
meanwhile to encounter the perils Of
the sea. II was a long three years for
them both.
But it is a long road that has no
turn. and one Sunday morning the cap
tain, who had arrived in port the night
before. just as the sun was rising and
Patience was preparing breakfast.
rushed into the house and with the
windows all open, for 1t was summer,
caught her and the children in his
arms. Few people were in the street
at that early hour, and the captain,
who suddenly remembered that ii was
Sunday and that a man was not per
mitted to KRIS his wife on that day.
thought no one had seen him But
Patience disabused his confidence
When her husband kissed her she was
facing the window and saw the lank
form Of Aninadab Longshanks 20 by
and corner OF his eye turned toward
the house.
The next day Captain Witridge was
taken before a magistrate and con-
victed of "lewd and unseemly CON
duct in kissing his wife on the Lords
day. He was forced to paGs two hours
in the stocks and TO pay a fne Of five
pounds. It was not known except to
the Witridge family who was the in.
former, and the captain charged his
wife to say nothing about her having
seen Aminadab so by the house at the
time the "lewd aud unseemly conduct
was enacted. The fact tAat the in
former had been Mrs. Witridge's be-
trothed would place her husband ia
an unenviable position If Longshanks
chose to deny completely in the matter
Witridge made several voyages after
that, accommodating a snug property
He was happy except for one thing
he had not got even With the informer
One Saturday night, when he was
ashore, Patience told him that Truth
HOLSTER had told her that Eunice /
Trotter had told her that Aminadab |
Longshanks was hurrying with prepa-
rations to go to New Amsterdam on
important business. 1t struck the cap
tain that possibly the business might
be SO consequential that bis enemy
would be tempted to travel on the
Lords day He would not likely start
however, till after sunset. which closed
the Sabbath The captain wished In
his heart that his enemy might 20
earlier in the day. that be might be
tempted to kiss his wife before start
ing and that be (WitridgeI might catch
him ia the act.
The next afternoon Captain Wit
ridge took walk about the town
Something prompted him TO turn his
steps toward the Longshanks dwell
ing. he passed it about the hour Of
sunset. He saw Aminadab come out
OF the house and glance at the sun
His horse was before the door, held
by negro. Mrs. Longshanks came
out, and the two looked at the sun to-
gether The atmosphere was murky
and it was impossible to tell whether
the sun was setting beneath the hort
zon or a cloud. When it disappeared
Mrs. Longshanks put her arm about
her husbands neck and their lips met
in a kiss. Then Aminadab mounted
his horse and rode away.
Several persons saw the act and they
were uncertain whether or no the sun
had set beneath the horizon or cloud /
They watched for matter Of FIVE
minutes. when the lower limb Of a dull |
red ball protruded beneath tbs clouds
When Aminadab Longshanks re
Turned from New Amsterdam he was
met by charge Of having kissed his
wife on the Lords day and was fined /
and put into The stocks.
While Aminadab was in the stocks |
Captain Witridge and this was not
known to any one In the colony except
Mrs Witridge placed shavings In bis /
chimney, made spark near them
with flint and rushed down the street 1
crying fire The citizens rushed in
the opposite direction When the cap
tain reached the spot where bis enemy
was sitting in the stocks he found the 4
euIprt alone, al having gone to the
fire. Approaching his enemy, the cap F
tain deliberately and with malice I
aforethought proceeded to tickle the T
bottoms Of Longshanks' feet This (
unholy revenge he kept up for half an |