Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-09-26
THE TIN
PEDDLER
He Wa. Chock Full Of
Romance
By F. A. Mitchell
By F. A. Mitchell
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, ls11.

station In life or their occupatlon.
am an exception to that rule. De
light in my work, and yet am only
q tin peddler.
For heavens sake, why are you sat
isfied to be tin peddler7
For u paradoxical reason. l am
full Of ideality and romance.
Ideality and romance IN q tin ped
dler! Nonsense!
Yes; listen to me and will prove tf
you that there can be romance even
In a tin peddler. And because there
is romance In me I enjoy my work
1t gives me opportunity to dream. Fol
instance. ! drive my peddling wagor
along a road Of q bright spring morn
ing. The air is laden with the fra
rance Of opening buds. The birds
re chirping IN the trees, fitting here
nd there, one carrying bit Of straw
mother a string, another a hOrsehail
with which to build their nests. They
re chattering Mt each other just as
,rsons would do who were building
4. house. White clouds are rolling
along silently on the horizon. On IN!
eft forest trees rear their topmos,
h,anches as If reaching toward the
b!ue sky, where a hawk Is sailing. On
my right and beneath me lies q lake
round about the country is patch
work of farms dotted with houses.
was driving my wagon one even
Ing in October, looking for place II
: hich to spend the night. The woods
ere atiame with patches Of yellow ol
:, arlet. My eye was resting, as
supposed, on one Of these. deep red
.L.t in another moment I saw that Il
Vas the setting sun shining on q win
Gnwpane. 1 drove on toward It and
stopped ut q little farmhouse beside
tie road.
Iitching my team to the post before
- gate, went to the door and knock
gi. There was no answer. Looking
81 out. saw no signs Of life. missed
...icl:ens scratching In the yard. chill
,~ans playthings on the porch, the
rk of a dog. The barn was CLOSED
-, locked. The place was deserted.
finding window where the curtain
!. t hanging perpendiculariy, left ar
'i..ning through which I could looI
aside, saw that the house was FUR
shed. I was peering into the living
I'M. There were a center table, @
:! ie library Of books, lounge, while
- Il fireplace were andirons ON which
,.rre logs ready to be kindled.
The twilight was deepening and II
won't on I might be obliged to ride
lilies in the dark before finding an
o. her place to stop for the night. BY
breaking Il pane Of glass I could un
lock window, raise 1t and effect III
entrance. 1t remained to be seen If
could put my team into the barn.
succeeded in both. Having stabbed my
horses and FED them-there was fodder
1T hand-I entered the house. Having
lighted the fire on the hearth, / eX'
.ored every room. The beds were
made" though they gave evidence OF
Lcving remained 80 for long while
There were provisions in the larder
but time had rendered them useless
Fortunately I carried my own lunch
hamper. After finishing my explora
tons | brought some water from the
well and, sitting before the cracking
fire, ate my supper.
For long while I sat and dreamed
of those who had occupied this house,
and why It had been deserted. The
appearance was not that OF having
been left temporarily. 1t rather gave
evidence Of having been left number
Of years before. Who were these peo'
pie?
I've heard 1t said that there are GER
tain scientists who from seeing bone
can tell the animal Of which 1t formed
a part. So did l begin from my sur
roundings to form theories as to who
had occupied this house. There were
no toys; therefore there were no chill
dren. There were q few mems and
a few women's garments; therefore
there must have been q married cou-
ple. On the wall among other pictures
was one of those stifr photographs one
sees in the country-and, FOR that mat
ter, among city folks-of a bridal cou'
pie. inferred that 1t was a likeness
of those who had occupied the prem
ises. There were pictures OF old and
young persons, evidently the fathers
and mothers Of relatives Of the Bride
and groom.
My first theory was that the house
had been occupied by young married
couple; that one had died and the
other had shut up the house just as II
was and gone elsewhere. Secondly,
fancied that the couple who lived In II
had auarreled and both left 1t to 60
away by different paths. Thirdly, no
ticing the photograph Of a sour look
ing old woman, I concluded that the
family had been broken up by moth
er-in-law. Rummaging in an old desk
Il came upon a check book, figures on
the stubs of which indicated that the
bank account 1t represented was large
ly overdrawn. This led me to fourth
theory-that the occupants had suf'
fered from financial difficulty and this
was the cause Of the house having
been deserted.
How many other theories I might
have formed had my reveries not been
interrupted don't know. The inter
ruption was a tap on a windowpane
behind me. Quickly turning, looked
to see the cause, but apparently there
was no cause. I was turned from my
supposidons as to the former occu-
pancy Of the premises to wondering
what had caused the tapping. I arose,
went to the window, threw up the
sash and, putting out my head, looked
about me. Seeing nothing, I went
back to my seat before the fire.
In q few minutes there came an
other tap. Turning again, saw the
cause. The fame on the hearth light
ed up the face Of young girl.
Now, maintain that there's nothing
prettier on earth than a pretty girl,
and when lonesome bachelor In q
house BY himself sees a pretty girls
face at bis window, illuminated by a
nFelight, it's the prettiest sight he ever
saw. At any rate, II vista Of heaven
had been opened to me ! couldn't have