The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1910-05-18
Talec F or
D Winter
Evening
The Mare and the Motor
From the "Old Home House.
BY JOSEPH c. LINCOLN
coprish.. I9O7. By A. 5. B.tn.. q CO.

Brown had been advertising in the
New York and Boston papers to bag
the leftovers," as he called it. Besides
the reg'lar gush about the breath of
old ocean" and the simple, cleanly
living Of the bygone days we dream
about there was some new froth con-
corning hunting and fishing. You'd
think the wild geese roasted on the
1agpole nights and the bluetish clog
ged up the bay SOS you could walk on
their back fins without wetting your
feet-that is, If you wore rubbers and
trod light.
'There" says Peter IT,, waving the
advertisement and growing gladstone
They'll take to that like your temp'r-
ance aunt to brandy cough drops.
Well have to put up barbed wire to
keep 'em off,"
"Humphy grunts Cap'n Jonadab.
ANYBODY but a born fool I'll know
there amt any shooting down here
this time of year"
Peter looked at him sorrowful
"Pop," says he, did you ever hear
that Solomon answered a summer ho-
tel adj? You set back and count the
clock ticks
Well, that's bout all we had to do
We got boarders enough from that RI
diculous advertisement to fill every
spare room we had, including iona
dab's and mine. Me and the cap'n had
to bunk in the barn loft, but there
was some satisfaction in that. 1t give
US an excuse to get away from the
sports" in the smoking room.
The Todds was part Of the haul. He
was a little, dried up man, single and
minister. Nigh s / could find out,
he'd given up preaching by the re
quest Of the doctor and his last congre-
cation. He had notion that he was
mighty hunter afore the Lord, like
Nimrod in the Bible, and he'd come to
the Old Home to bag a few gross Of
geese and ducks.
His sister was an old maid and
slim. neither of which failings was
from choice, cal'late She wore eye
glasses and veil to tpreserve her
complexion" and her idee seemed to
be that native Cape Codders lived in
trees and ate cocoanuts. She called
'em "barbarians, utter barbarians."
Whenever she piped James her
brother had to drop everything and re-
port on deck. She was skipper Of the
Todd craft.
Them Todds was what Peter 4. call
ed ''the limit and a chip or two over"
The other would be gunners and fish
ermen were satisfied to slam shot
after sandpeeps or hook stray soul
pin or hake. But 'twa'n't SO with
brother James Todd and sister Claris-
sa. Ducks it was in the advertising,
and nothing but. ducks they wanted.
Clarissa, she commenced to hint mid
ding p'inted concerning fraud.
Finally we lost patience, and Peter
T. he said they'd got to be quieted
somehow or he'd do some shooting on
his own hook; said too much Teddy
was going to his head. Then suggest
ed taking 'em down the beach some
where on the chance of seeing a stray
coot or loon or something anything
that could be shot at Jonadab and
Peter agreed twas good plan, and
we matched to see who'd be guide.
And got stuck, of course. My luck
again
So the next morning we started, me
and the Rev. James and Clarissa in
the Creased Lightning, Peters new
motor launch. Clarissa set around
doing the heavy contemptuous and
turning up her nose at creation gener-
ally. 1t must have its drawbacks,
this roosting so fur above the common
flock
Well, by and by Lonesome Huckle-
berries shanty hove in sight, and !
was glad to see it, although ! had to
answer million questions about Lone
some and his history.
/ told the Todds that, so fur as ma
tionality was concerned, he was a lit
tie of everything, like picked up din
ner-principally Eyetalian and Portu-
gee, carlate, with a streak of Gay
Head Injun. He lives in the patch
work shanty on the beach down there,
ne Is uGdl anu Qul4D, QE1VCS iafSA NOl-
ored, balky mare that no one but HIM
self and his daughter Becky can ham
die, and he has love for bad rum
and temper that's landed him In the
Wellmouth lookup more than once or
twice. He's one OF the best gunners
alongshore, and at this time he owned
a flock OF live decoys that he'd refused
as high as SIS apiece for. told all
this and lot more.
When we struck the beach Clarissa.
she took her paint box and umbrella
and mosquito 'intment and the rest Of
her cargo and went off by herself to
sketch
James and me went perusing up and
down that beach in the blazing sun
looking for something to shoot. We
went way beyond Lonesome's shanty.
but there want nobody. to home. Todd
was a cheerful taIker, but limited. His
favorite remark was, "Oh, / say, my
deah manv' That's what he kept CALI
inc me. "my deah man." Now. my