St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-01-11

Inar ne was staying temporarily at tue
perfect boarding house; that he was
lawful well or" having made lots of
money down in South America; that
he intended to fix over the Whit
taker place and that 1t was TO be fixed
over not In a modern manner, with
plush parlor sets-a la Sylvanus Ca
hoon-or with onyx tables and blue
and gold chairs like those adjoining the
Atkins mansion. It was to be as near
as possible reproduction of what it
had been in the time of the late
'tCap'n Cy,' young Cy's father.
SCI think he's out of his head" de-
clared Miss Phinney in confidence to
each of the nine females whom she IA
vored with her calls-'tnot crazy, you
understand, but sort of touched in the
upper story. says so to Matildy
Tripp-said it right out too. 'Matildy,'
I says, he's got screw loose up aloft
just as sure as you're a born woman
What makes you think So? says she.
Well says I, do you s'pose anybody
that want foolish would be for spend
in good money on an old house to
make it olderY I says Coin to tear
down the piazza the fust thing! Per-
fectly good piazza that cost $98.60 to
build; 1 know, because / see the bill
when the Howeses had it done. And
he's goin' to set out box hedges, some
thin that amt been the style in this
town sence Congressman Atkins pull
ed up his. What in the wide world,
Cap'n Whitaker says l to him. do
you want of box hedges? HomeIy
and stiff and funeral lookin'! l might
have 'em around my grave in the bury
in ground says, but nowheres else
All right. Angie says he, you shall
have 'em there I'll cut some slips pur-
pose for you. It'll be a pleasure he
says. Now. amt that crazy talk for q
grown man?'
Miss Phinney was not the only one
In our village to question Captain Cy
Whittaker's sanity during the next
few months. The majority of our peo-
pie didn't understand him at all. He
was generally liked. for. although he
had money. be did not put on airs, but
he had his own way of doing things.
and they We're not Bayport ways.
True to his promise he had a squad
Of carpenters busy. on the day fol-
lowing his arrival. tearing down the
loathed piazza These carpenters and
more were kept busy throughout that
entire spring and well into the summer.
Then came painters and gardeners.
The piazza Disappeared; new picket
fence, exactly like the old one torn
down by the Howeses, was erected;
new shutters were hung; new window
paneS were set; the roof was newly
shingled. Captain Cy senior had in
his day cherished a New England fond
ness for white and green paint; there
fore the new fence was white and the
house was white and the blinds brill
liant green. Rows Of box hedge, the
plants brought from Boston, were set
out on each side of the front walk. The
Howes' front door bella clamorous
gong-was removed, and a glass knob
attached to a spring bell of the old
fashioned Jingle" variety took its
place. An old fashioned flower garden
Captain Cy's mother had loved po-
sies-was laid out on the west lawn
beyond the pear trees. All these
changes the captain superintendent.
When they were complete he turned
his attention to interior decoration.
And now Captain Cy proceeded to
literally astonish the natives. Among
the Howes improvements were gilt
wall papers and modern furniture for
the lower floor of the house. The fur
niture they had taken with them: the
wall paper had perforce been left be-
hind. And the captain had every scrap
of that paper stripped from the walls
and the latter recovered with quaint,
ugly, old fashioned patterns, stripes
and roses and Powered sprays with i'm
possible birds fitting among them.
The Bassett decorators had pasted the
gilt improvement over the old Whitta-
ker paper, and it was the Whitaker
paper that the captain did his best to
match, sending samples here there and
everywhere in the effort. Then upon
the walls he hung old fashioned pic
lures, such as Bayport jewellers had
long ago relegated to their attics, pic
lures like From Shore to Shore
christian Viewing the City Beauti-
full" and signing the Declaration
To these he added, bringing them from
the crowded garnet OF the homestead,
oil paintings Of ships commanded by
his father and grandfather and family
portraits executed-which is a pecul-
iarly fitting worldly deceased local
artists in oil and crayon.
(To be continued)