The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-08-03
A Story Of
The Towpath
By OSCAR cox

useu rs passenger Dodts. Iueil, unuel
competition with the railroads, they
sank into freighting only, and now they
have almost entirely passed away.
In those freighting days man named
Shock drove mule on the towpath
which pulled a boat. Shock was az
homely as his name. He had never
had q sweetheart, and there was little
hope Of his ever having one, for when.
ever woman looked at him she was
appalled,.
There was, some three or four hun
dred yards from the canal, at about
the center Of Shocks route, tumble
down house in small lot, In one cor
ner Of which was pigsty. One day
when Shock was trudging along be-
hind his mule he saw at an open win
dow In the dilapidated trap female
figure. She was too far Off for him to
see what she looked like, but she wav-
ed something white, which Enoch took
TO be tablecloth. Whether she was
trying to fiirt with him or was shaking
the crumbs out of the cloth. he could
not be sure Taking bandanna from
his pocket, he returned the wave.
Now, Enoch was cognizant Of the
fact that he was not beautiful. His
hair was a fiery red, his nose was
pug the color of his hair, his teeth
were mostly gone. Had it not been
for this he might have made bold on
his return trip to give his mule a rest
and gone to the house a-wooing. As 1t
was, and since this was the only
chance he had ever met, he was wary
He thought 1t better to make some
Roadway In lovemaking before risking
showing the lady his homely person at
close proximity. So, instead of stop
ping when he passed again, having
provided himself with boys blow
gun, he fired wad of paper at her,
which being unrolled revealed the fol-
lowing note:
1 seen you at yure winder yistaday and
wood like very much to max yure ac-
quaintenc.
The lady was watching for the boat
on its return trip, and when Enoch
fired his note at her she saw 1t fall
near her house and, going out. picked
it up and read 1t. But by this time
Enoch had gone on his way.
When Enoch passed the house again
he saw large letters chalked against
the house, which, though 1t had been
originally white, not having been paint |
ed in twenty years, was now dull |
brown. The letters were plainly visi- |
BILE from the canal, and Enoch read
/ can't see what you look like from
yere, but you may be decent lookin' fell
Tor and IL you air you kin come and see
me.
This reply was rather a setback TO
one who knew full well that he was
homely as a hedgehog. The communi-
cation was brief, and it contained ex-
actly what Enoch would have preferred
that 1t should not contain. The lady
evidently was looking for handsome
man. The message convinced him that
he was right in not permitting her to
see him close by before he had stirred
up some sentiment which might lead :
her to overlook in a measure his home
illness.
Enoch's next love letter was written
In lampback on several boards nailed
together and set up on the deck of his :
canalboat facing the house Of his In
amorata. 1t read:
II you air purity woman wood be hap I
py to stop over. Hain't got no use fer
ugly wimmen.
When Enoch passed the house the
next time the blinds were all closed
and no living thing was to be seen ex-
cept few chickens scratching the dirt t
in the yard Enoch was disappointed I
1t was plain to him that this was In
tended for snub. On his next trip
he wrote on his boards, whats upY' v
to which was chalked the reply, ]
''Nothin'."
Enoch reasoned that his ladylove
had been miffed at his previous COM
thinking that he had &C
cused her Of being homely; but, hav- B
ing thought the matter over, she had
seen his note In another light. He
began to think that faint heart ne'er
won fair lady" and he might as well q
face the music one time as another. c,
So he wiped the lampblack Off his =,
boards and wrote again:
lie stop over mex trip.
When he passed again he was ar
rayed in a store suit that had cost him al
a. His hair had been creased with A
slice of fat, and his boots had been :,
BACKED. Stopping his mule-and the
boat when 1t had lost its momentum 9,
be proceeded to the house of his lady &c
owe. She had been watching him u
from a window and opened the door .e
'or him. IN
Laws a marsyr' was her exclama- Tn
ion. w
by gumr' was Enoch's. IN
The woman had lost most of the hair gu
N her head, which seemed TO have
zone to her face. Her nose had de- 1t
'eloped abnormally under the effect of all
ONE skin disease She was slabsided by
nd angular hu
She slammed the door in Enoch's
ace, who turned and, with a melan- SUI
holy step, went back TO his boat and tn
tarted on in his interminable jour col
eys back and forth. The woman ia
card nothing from him for several dif
Months, nor did he hear from her. Of
hen they fell into new correspond AT
nee which led them on and on TIL thu
hey forgot each others LONELINESS Mr.