Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-03-23

urned toward her and extended his


hand
Hello, Keturyw he said. "I amt
seen you sence you wore your hair
up, but you're Just as good lookin' as
ever. And amt that Bailey? Yes,
It's. and Asaph too. How are you,
boys? Shaker
Mr.. Bangs and his chum, the town
clerk. had emerged from the doorway.
Their mouths and eyes were wide
open, and they seemed to be sunering
from n sort of paralysis.
"Wer. what's the matter with your
demanded the arrival Amt too
stuck up to shake hands after all these
years. are your
Bailey CALCULATED: well. swan to
man! II b'lieve you're Cy Whit
takerw
Miss Angelina Phinney made no less
than nine calls that afternoon. Be-
fore bedtime It was known from the
last house in "Woodchuck lane" to the
fish shanties Mt West Bayport that
young Cy" Whitaker had come back;
that he had come back "for good"
that he was staying temporarily at the
perfect boarding house; that he was
awful we'll off" having made lots of
he intended to Elk over" the Whit
taker place and that It was to be fixed
over not In q modern manner, with
plush parlor setsa la Sylvanus Ca
honor with onyx tables and blue
and gold chairs like those adjoining the
Atkins mansion. 1t was to be as near
as possible reproduction of what it
had been in the time of the late
"Cap'n Cy," young Cy's father.
II think he's out of his head" de-
clared Miss rhinney In confidence to
each OF the nine females whom she IA
vored with her calls-'not crazy, you
understand, but sort of touched in the
upper story. / says so to Matildy
Tripp-said it right out too. 'Matildy,'
| says, he's got n screw loose up aloft
just rs sure as you're born woman!
What makes you think SOP 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 older?' I says. Coin to tear
down the piazza the fust thing. Per
fectly good piazza that cost S9S.GO to
build; | know. because | see tho bill
when the Ioweses had 1t done. and
he's goin to set out box hedges, some
thin that amt been the style in this
town scnce Congressman Atkins pull
ed up his. What in the wide world,
Cap'n Whitaker says to him. do
you want of box hedges? Honey
and stiff and funeral lookin'. l might
have EN- around my grave in the bury
IN ground, I says. but nowheres else
All right, Angie says he, you shall
have EN- there. III cut some slips pur-
pose for you. tn be pleasure he
says Now, amt that crazy talk for 4
grown man."
Miss Phinney was not the only one
n our village to question Captain Cy
Whittakers 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. he did not put on airs. but
he had his own way Of doing things.
and they were not Bayport ways.
True to his promise. he had q squad
IF carpenters busy. on the day fol-
lowing his arrival. tearing down the
oathed 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; a new picket
fence, exactly like the old one torn
iown by the Howeses, was erected;
new shutters were hung; new window
panes were set: the roof was newly
his day cherished n New England fond
ness for white and green paint there
fore the new fence was white and the
louse was white and the blinds a brill
liant green. Rows Of box hedge, the
plants brought from Boston, were set
our on each side Of the front walk. The
uowes' front door bella clRmorous
gong-was removed, and glass knc"
attached to n spring bell of the old
fashioned Jingle" variety took Its
place. An old fashioned flower garden
Captain Cy's mother had loved po-
sies-vas laid out on the west lawn
beyond the pear trees. All these
changes the captain superntended.
Whom they were complete he turned
his attention to interior decoration.
And now Captain Cy proceeded to
literally astonish the natives. Among
the IIowes improvements" were gilt
wall papers and modern furniture for
the lower floor OF the house. Tho fur
nlture they had taken with them: the
Wnll paper had perforce been left be-
lind. And the captain had every scrap
Df that paper stripped from the walls
and the latter recovered with quaint.
ugly, old fashioned patterns, stripes
mud roses and lowered sprays with i'm
possible birds fitting among them.
The Bassett decorators had pasted the
FIT improvement over the old Whitta-
hor 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 dwellers had
long ago relocated to their attics pic