The Holly chieftain., 1919-02-20
CHAPTER v.
The Great stranger

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The Great Stranger
Some strangers came along the
road those days-hunters. peddlers
and the like-and their coming filled
me with a Joy which mostly went
away with them, regret to say. None
of these, however, appealed to my
Imagination as did old Kate. But
there was one stranger greater than
she-greater indeed. than any other
who came into Rattleroad. He came
rarely and would not be long detained.
How curfously we looked ut him.
knowing his fame and powerl This
great stranger was Money.
shall never forget the day that
my uncle showed me dollar bill and
ia little shiny, gold coin and three
pieces of silver. nor can / forget how
carefully he watched them while
they lay In my hands and presently
put them back into his wallet. That
was long before the time Of which
am writing. / remember hearing him
say. one day Of that year.. when
asked him to take us to the Caravan
nf Wild Beasts which was coming to
the village:
"Tm sorry, but it's been a hundred
Sundays since had dollar In my
wallet for more than ten minutes"
have his old account book for
the years Of 1887 and 1888. Here are
some of the entries:
balanced accounts with J. Doro-
thy and gave him my note for $2.15
to be paid In salts January l. 1888.
Sold ten bushels Of wheat to e. Miner
at 90 cents, to be paid in goods.
"Sold two sheep to Flavius Curtis
and took his note for So. payable In
boots on or before March the first"
Only one entry In more than q
hundred mention money, and this was
the sum Of eleven cents received In
balance from neighbor.
80 It will be seen that spirit Of
mutual accommodation served to
help us over the rough going. Mr..
Grimshaw, however, demanded his
pay in cash and that find was main
" the habit Of the money-lenders.
we were ROOE OuI Jul POVCAAy was
not like that Of these days in which
I am writing. It was proud and
cleanly and well-fed. Our fathers
had seen heroic service In the wars
and we knew 1t.
was twelve years old when I be-
gan to be the reader for our little
family. Aunt Deel had long COM
~,.s..S kh~< uha Do,,ldpst boon nm uyith
her knitting and redd so much. We
had not seen Mr.. Wright for nearly
two years, but he had sent us the
novels Of Sir Walter Scott and had
led them heart deep into the creed
battles of Old Mortality.
Then came the evil days Of 1887,
when the story Of our lives began to
quicken its pace and excite our inter-
est In its coming chapters. 1t gave
rs enough to think of. God knows.
Wild speculations In land and the
American paper-money system. had
brought us into rough going. The
banks Of the city of New York had
suspended payment of their notes.
They could no longer meet their en-
gagements. As usual. the burden fell
heaviest on the poor. It was hard to
get money even for black salts.
Uncle Peabody had been silent and
depressed for month or more. He
had signed q note for Rodney Barnes,
a cousin, dong before and was afraid
that he would have to pay 1t. l didn't
know what note was and remem-
Der that one night, when lay think.
ing about 1t, decided that It must
be something In the nature Of horse
collie. My uncle told me that a note
was a trouble which attacked the
brain instead Of the stomach.
One autumn day in Canton Uncle
Peabody traded three sheep and twen-