The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1911-09-12
THE TIN
PEDDLER
He Was Chock Full of
Romance
By F. A. Mitchell
By F. A. mitchell
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.

Few persons are satisfied with their
station in life or their occupation.
am an exception to that rule. de-
light in my work, and yet / am only
tin peddler.
For heavens sake. why are you sat
lsfied to be a tin peddler7
For a paradoxical reason. am
full of ideality and romance.
Ideality and romance in q tin ped
dleri Nonsensel
Yes; listen to me and will prove to
you that there can be romance even
In a tin peddler And because there
Is romance In me enjoy my work.
1t gives me opportunity to dream. For
instance, drive my peddling wagon
along road OF bright spring morn
Ing. The air is laden with the fra
GRANGE of opening buds. The birds
are chirping In the trees. hitting here
and there. one carrying a bit Of straw,
another a string. another a horsehair
with which to build their nests They
are chattering at each other just as
persons would do who were building
house. White clouds are rolling
along silently on the horizon. On my
left forest trees rear their topmost
branches as II reaching toward the
blue sky. where hawk is sailing. On
my right and beneath me lies lake.
Around about the country is a patch
work of farms dotted with houses.
was driving my wagon one even
ing in October, looking for place in
which to spend the night The woods
were afame with patches of yellow or
scarlet My eye was resting, as
supposed, on one OF these, deep red.
but in another moment / saw that ii
was the setting sun shining on win
dowpane / drove on toward 1t and
stopped at a little farmhouse beside
the road.
Hitching my team to the post before
the gate, went to the door and knock
ed. There was no answer. Looking
about, saw no signs OF life. missed
chickens scratching In the yard. chill
dren's playthings on the porch, the
bark of dog. The barn was closed
and locked The place was deserted
Finding window where the curtain,
not hanging perpendicularly, left an
opening through which l could look
inside, saw that the house was fur
nished. l was peering into the living
room. There were center table, a
little library Of books, lounge, while
In fireplace were andirons on which
were logs ready to be kindled.
The twilight was deepening and II
went ON l might be obliged to ride
miles in the dark before finding an
other place to stop for the night. BY
breaking pane Of glass could I'M
lock a window, raise 1t and effect an
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
at hand-I entered the house. Having
lighted the fire on the hearth, I ex-
plored every room. The beds were
made" though they gave evidence of
having remained so for long while.
There were provisions in the larder,
but time had rendered them useless.
Fortunately l carried my own lunch
hamper. After finishing my explora-
lions 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 1t 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 it said that there are GER
tain scientists who from seeing a bone
can tell the animal of which it formed
a part. So did / 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 a few mems and
a few women's garments; therefore
there must have been married cou-
pie. On the wall among other pictures
was one of those stiff photographs one
sees in the country-and, for that mat
ter. among city folks-of a bridal cou-
pie. inferred that it was 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 1t
was and gone elsewhere. Secondly,
fancied that the couple who lived in it
had quarreled and both left it to go
away by different paths. Thirdly, no
ticing the photograph of sour look
ing old woman, l concluded t the
family had been broken up By = moth
er-in-law. Rummaging In an old desk.
I came upon a check book. figures on
the stubs of which Indicated that the
bank account it represented was large
" overdrawn. This led me to fourth
theory-that the occupants had SUI
fered from financial difficulty and this
was the cause Of the house having
been deserted
How many other theories might
have formed had my reveries not been
Interrupted l don't know The inter
ruption was a tap on a windowpane
behind me. Quickly turning, I looked
10 see the cause. but apparently there
was no cause. / was turned from my
suppositions as to the former occu-
pancy of the premises to wondering
what had caused the tapping. l arose,
went to the window. threw up the
sash and. putting out my head, looked
about me. Seeing nothing, l went
back to my seat before the fire.
In a few minutes there came an
other tap Turning again. saw the
cause. The fame on the hearth light
ed up the face Of a young girl.
Now. maintain that there's nothing
prettier on earth than a pretty girl.
and when a lonesome bachelor in a
house by himself sees pretty girls
face at his window, Illuminated by a
drelight. it's the prettiest sight he ever
saw. At any rate. If vista Of heaven
had been opened to me couldn't have
been more delighted.
whirled my chair around and sat
snraptured. The window was just
high enough from the ground and the
girl just tall enough to show her face
but not the rest of her body. She
could see me fairly well by the light
of the fire.
who are you." she asked. land
what are you doing hereT
''Pm pin peddler. and 1 stopped
here for overnight"