Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1910-04-07

over 10 the House IN
Harniss. and either the soup or the
air had affected the ~colonel's head till
he imagined he could sail a boat all
by his ownty-donty. Well. he'd sailed
! n acrost the bay and got becalmed.
and then the tide took him among the
shoals at the mouth of Wellmouth
crick. and there. owing to a miNup
of tide. shoals. dark and an overdose
of foolishness. the boat had upset and
foundered and the Lannon'S had wad-
ed half 4 mile or so to shore. Once on
dry land they'd headed up the bluff
for the only port in sight. which was
the poorhouse. although they didn't
know it.
The widow and Asaph made 'em as
comfortable as they could. rugged EN-
up in dry clothes which had belonged
to departed paupers and got 'em some-
thing to eat, The Lannon'S was what
they called enchanted" with the
whole establishment.
"This." said the colonel. with his
mouth full of brown bread, lis de-
lightful. really delightful. The New
England hospitality that we read
about. so free from o%stentation and
conventionality."
AS for Mabel. she was one of them
gushy. goo-gooey kind of girls, and she
was as struck with the shebang as
her dad. She said the house itself was
a perfect dear"
And after supper they paired off and
got to talking. the colonel with Mrs.
Badger and Asaph with Mabel. Now,
1 can just imagine how Ase talked to
that poor, unsuspecting young female.
he sartin did love an audience. and
here was one that didn't know him or
his history or nothing. He played thu
sad and mysterious. You could see
that be was a blighted bud. all right.
He was q man with a hidden sorrer.
and the way he'd sigh and change the
subject when it come to embarrassing
questions was enough to bring tears
to a craven image, let alone a roman
tic girl just out Of boarding school.
Then after a spell Of this Mabel
wanted to be shown the house, so as
to see the sweet. old fashioned
rooms" And she wanted papa to sec
'em too. So Ase led the way. like the
talking man in the dime museum. And
the way them Lannon'S agonized over
every rag mat and corded bedStead
was something past belief. When they
was saying good n~ight-they had to
stay all night because their own
clothes WANT dry, and those they had
on were more picturesque than stylish
Mabel turns to her father and says
she:
Papa. dear" she says. 81 believe
that at last we've found the very thing
we've been looking for"
And the colonel said yes. he guessed
they had.
Next morning they was up early and
Il enjoying the view. 1t is about the
best view along shore, and they had a
fit over it. When breakfast was lone
the Lannon'S takes Asaph one side.
and the colonel says:
Mr.. Blueworthy." he says. my
daughter and | am very much pleased
with the Cape and the Cape people.
Some time ago we made up our minds
that if we could find the right spot
we would build Il summer home here.
Preferably we wish to purchase a typ
ical. old time colonial homestead and
remode it, retaining. Of course, all the
original old fashioned flavor. Cost is
not so much the consideration as Local
ton and the house itself. We are
ahem!-well. frankly. your place here
suits us exactly"
sSJyTo ,1~rN ~ ~1-1 kJoloI ID ~,
phatic.
MIR. Blueworthy," goes on the colo
mel. will you sell us your home? I
am prepared to pay a liberal price"
Poor Asaph was kind Of throwed on
his beam ends. SOS to speak. He
hemmed and hawed and finally had to
blurt out that he didn't own the place,
The Lannon'S was astonished. The
colonel wanted to know if it belonged
to Mrs. Badger.
"Vhy. no." says Ase. 1.-The fact is
that is to say-you see'-
And just then the widow opened the
kitchen window and called to EN-
Colonel Lamont" says she. there's
a sailboat beating up the harbor, and
l think the folks on it are looking for
you"
The colonel excused himself and
run off down the hill toward the back
side of the point, and Asaph was left
alone with the girl. He see. | s'poSe.
that here was his chance to make the
best yarn out of what was bound to
come out anyhow in a few minutes
So he fetched a sigh that sounded as
if twas racking loose the foundations
and commenced.
And then he told Mabel that her dad
and her had been deceived; that that
house want his nor Mrs. Badgers:
twas the Wellmouth poor farm. and
he was a pauper.
She was shocked all right enough.
but afore she had a chance to ask a
question he begun to tell her the story
Of his life. Twas a fine chance for
him to spread himself. and l callate