Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-04-20
CHAPTER XII.

bic town meetin'! declared
B Sylvanu5 Cahoon with unc-
- ton. rising from settee to
gaze about him over the heads Of the
voters In the town hall. Il bet you
every ablebodicd man in Bnyport III
be hero this afternoon. Yes. sir. that's
what call it. a me morablc meetin'r
Mr.. Tidditt was conducted to the
platform. After humping the desk
with his fist lie announced that the
gathering would come to order right
of, as there Is considerable business
TO be done and It ought to I've goin
ahead" lie then proceeded 20 read
,pe call for The meeting. This cere-
mon: was no sooner over than Abed-
nego Small Uncle Beduy." was on
his fee loudly denaNding TO be In.
formed why tha town hasn't done
nothiu" toward fixing up the Bas-
tetc's HOiicv road UDelc Belongs
speech had rFoceeded 40 fprth"r than
fellow c:caeHs, in the name of an
outrageous ahuujd say outraged
portion OF ou- community when
he was checked OF by Il self appointed
committee who knew Mr.. Sinai! of
old ana had seated themselves near
MIN to be ready for just such emer-
Eencies. The next step, Judged by
meetings OF other years. should have
uren - unanimously elect Ehen Sal
tiers moderator. but as Captain Eben
refused to serve owing to his interest
in the Whitaker campaign Alvin
Knowles was, by small majority.
chosen for that office. Mr.. Knowles
was devout admirer Of the great At
kins. and his election would have been
considered preliminary victory for
the opposition had it not been that
many Of Captain Cy's adherents voted
for Alvin from q love Of mischief,
knowing from experience his ignorance
Of parliamentary law and his easy 60
Ing rule Now there'll be funr de-
ciared one delighted individual. Any
things in order wheL Alvin's chair
man"
mo sign of Cy or Heman yet" OBJ
served Mr.. Cahoon, craning his neck in
the direction of the door. ITS tie
queerest thing ever l see"
Queer enough about Cy, that's a
fact" concurred Captain Dimick. IL
comm. Looks as if Whit was right
lie always said Atkins lodged row
where folks could watch it. Does most
of his fghtin from round the corner
Hello. there's Tad Now you'll see
the crown of glory set on I4onzo
Shows head. Hope the crowns pad
ded nice and soft. Anything with
sharp edges would sink in"
But Captain Cy soon had entered the
hall. He was standing in the aisle.
and with him was Bailey Bangs The
captain looked very tired. almost worn
out. but he nodded cooly to Mr.. Simp-
son.
Here I am, Tad" continued the
captain. Say your piece"
But Tad. 1t appeared, was not anx-
ious to SAY his piece" He was WINS
pering earnestly with group of his
followers. Finally, however. he took
tn" platform and made sneering re-
marks that plainly referred to the cap
tain. Captain Cy held up his hand
mfr. Moderator" he asked. 'can I
have the floor a minute? All want
to say ia that I cal'late I'm the Teller
the last speaker had reference to-
have said that l didn't see why that
appropriation was so hard to get.
say it again. Other appropriations are
got, and why not ours? | did say If |
was congressman I'd get it. Yes,
and I'll say more" he added, raising
his voice-"Ill say that If l was sent
to Washn'ton by this town. congress
earth and all creation from the presl-
dent down till did get it; that's all.
SO would any live man, | should
think"
he sat down. There was some ap-
plause. BEFORE it had subsidized Abel
Leonard. one Of the quickest witted
of Mr. Simpsons workers. was on his
feet gest!culating for attention.
mir. Moderator" he shouted. II want
TO make motion. We've all heard the
big talk that's been made All right,
then. / move you. sir. that Captain
Cyrus Whitaker be appointed n COM
mittee Of one 10 go 10 Washn'tOn. If
he wants to, or anywhere else, ard see
that we get the appropriations And il
we don't get it the blame's his! There.
now"
There was roar Of laughter. This
was exactly the sort OF lit for tat
humor that appeals TO Yankee
crowd. The motion was seconded half
dozen times. Moderator Knowles
grfnncd and shook his head.
"a jokes a joke" he said. land we
all like good one. However this
meetin' is supposed to be for business
not fun, So
"Question! Question, It's been sec.
onded We've got to vote on it,!
shouted chorus
"Don't you think-seems to me that
sin't in order" began the moderator
but Captain Cy rose to his feet The
grim smile had returned to his face
Ind he looked at the joyous assem-
blage with almost his old expression
VI appreciative alertness.
"Never mind the vote" he said. "a
realize that Brother Leonard has rath
N got one on me, so to speak. Al
light; won't dodge. I'll be a commit
ee Of one on the harbor grab, and Il
lothin' comes of it III take my share
Of kicks Gentlemen, / appreciate you