The Marshall republican., 1912-01-04
THE TIN
PEDDLER
He Was Chock Full Of
Romance
BY r. A. Mitchell
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.
BY r. A. Mitchell

stau0n In Ire or their 1
an an exception to that rule. de.
light in my work. aud yet 1 am only
q tin peddler.
For heavens sake. why are you sat
isfed TO be a tin peddler?
For q paradoxical reason. I nm
full Of ideality and romance.
Ideality and romance in a tin ped.
der! Nonsense!
Yes; listen to me and I will prove to
you that there can be romance even
In a tin peddler. And because there
Is romance In me ! enjoy my work.
II gives me opportunity to dream. For
instance, I drive my %peddling wagon
along a road Of a bright spring morn
ing. The air Il laden with the fra
GRANGE Of opening buds. The birds
are chirping In the trees, lifting here
and there. one carrying a bit Of straw.
another a string. another a horsehair
with which to build their nests. They
are chattering mt each other just as
persons would do who were building
a 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 a hawk II sailing. On
my right and beneath me lies n lake.
Around about the country II q patch
work Of farms dotted with houses.
was driving my wagon o even
ing in October. looking for q place In
which TO spend the night. The woods
were atame with patches of yellow or
scarlet. My eye vas resting. as
supposed. on one OF these. a deep red.
but In another moment I saw that II
was the setting sun shining on a win.
dowpane. I drove on toward II ana
stopped ut a little farmhouse beside
the road.
Hitching my team to the post before
the gate. I went 20 the door and knock.
cd. There was no answer. Looking
about. ! saw no signs Of life. ! missed
chickens scratching In the yard. chill.
dren's p%laythIngy on the porch. the
bark Of a dog. The barn was closed
and locked. The place was deserted.
Finding n window where the curtain.
not hanging perpendicularly. left an
opening through which I could look
inside. 7 saw that the house was fur
nlshed. was peering into the living
room. There were n center table. c
little library Of books. a lounge. while
In q fireplace were andirons on whicl
were logs ready to be klndled.
The twilight was deepening and II ]
went on I might be obliged to ride
miles In the dark before finding an
other place TO stop for the night. by
breaking a pane Of glass I could un
lock a window. raise II and effect nm
entrance. II remained TO be seen II J
could put my team into the barn.
succeeded In both. Having stabbed my
horses and fed them-there was fodder
Mt hand-I entered the house. Having
lighted the fire on the hearth. ] ex
plored every room. The beds were
''made." though they gave evidence Of
having remained 80 for a long while
There were provisions In the larder.
but time had rendered them useless.
Fortunately I carried my W lunch
tons l brought some water from the
well and. sitting before the cracking
Ore. ate my supper.
For a long while I sat and dreamed
Of those who had occupied this house.
and why II had been deserted. The
appearance was not that OF having
been left temporarily. II rather gave
evidence Of having been left q number
Of years before. Who were these peo
plef
I've heard II said that there are GER
tain scientists who from seeing a bone
can tell the animal of.which 1t formed
q part. SO did ! begin from my sur.
roundings to form theories as to who
had occupied this house. There were
no toys; therefore there We're no chill
dren. There were a few mems and
n few women's garments; therefore
there must have been a married cou-
pie. On the wall among other pictures
was one OF those stif photographs n
sect In the couhtry--and. for that mat
ter. among city folks-of a bridal cou-
pie. ! inferred that II was a likeness
OF those who had occupied the prem
Uses. There were pictures Of old and
ySuHE pttsOust GftaSatJ tht Aatbtho
and mothers Of relatives Of the bride
and groom.
My first theory was that the house
had been occupied by a 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 It
had quarreded and both left It to go
away by different paths. Thirdly, no
ticing the photograph of a sour look
ing old woman. l concluded that the
family had been broken mp by a moth
er.in-law. Rummaging In an old desk
came upon a check book. figures on
the stubs Of which indicated that the
bank account II represented was large
~ overdrawn. This led me to q fourth
theory-that the occupants had suf-
fered from financial difficulty and this
was the cause of the house having