Evening star., 1924-05-25

- OOD HOPE is pleasant
name. The words are short
and each has the same num-
ber of vowels and con-
sonants. The words have their roots
in languages Of northern Europe and
| were in use centuries before Roman
| influence spread to Gaul and Britain.
Good and hope" have been Eng
lish words ever since there was an
English language. One tells of
quality most men like, which some
of us strive to attain and which
nearly all of us pretend to have.
The last word Of the name tells of a
thing or something which, if we have
it not, must make us poor indeed.
1t is the thing on which most men
live and which makes most living
worth the while. Il is that thing
which, when death comes near. gives
US calm and content. So there was
something in the name Good Hope
which drew the Rambler to it.
AS far back as any mans memory
can go there was a tavern at Good
Hope. Many kinds of men drank
whisky there. In winter Il log fire
burned in the taproom and old drinks
were handed round by the keeper,
who was often called mine host"
The room was cloudy with smoke
from tobacco pipes and there was also
great chewing of tobacco and spit
ting in the fire. A great many an
cestors met there and the Rambler
does not doubt that among them were
ancestors of persons who now are
very pious and even very polished
The Rambler could call the names
of many men who sat on rough
benches and rude settles about the
red brick hearth, but there was one
he will tell of in this story. He wore
coonskin cap and cowskin boots
He carried long OK whip in one
hand and in the other he held an
earthen mug of strong rum toddy.
This man was coarse and unlet-
tered. judged by the standards of
1924, but he was loyal to his country
and faithful to his religion family
and friends He was well thought of
by nearly all his neighbors in that
wild and sparSely settled region
That is, he was as well thought of
by his neighbors as a man can hope
to be. He was a strong and honest
pioneer American. Coming to the
colony after life of wretched poy-
erty in London. Leeds or Liverpool.
he worked hard with his big, rough
hands till he saved enough shiIlings
TO make the first payment on fifty
acres of land, which was a part of
large plantation that had been
sold foi mortgage, because the chill
dren of the frugal and industrious
owners were reared to think that
they were superior to folk who work.
They lost the property because thew
would not work. and in the end had
to go to very humble work that thew
might eat.
THE rough, hard-handed immigrant
worked his fifty-acre farm with
strength and courage. and rolled"
his tobacco in hogsheads to the wharf
at Bladensbure or to an old wharf
farther down the Eastern Branch. the
name of which the Rambler has for
gotten.
He had been married TO a good.
strong woman whose family for gem
erations had known dire poverty and
hardship in an English county. Her
passage 10 Maryland had been paid
by an eminent landholder, that the
governor might grant him a hundred
acres for bringing in colonist, and
under terms of indenture he could use
the labor Of this woman as a servant
or hire her out" till her wages would
repay him the cost Of her passage.
This woman. when she had fulfilled
the terms of the indenture. was mar
ried to him who was buying the
fifty-acre farm. They were happy
They worked hard. They were kind
to the poor and sick. They reared
brood of children and taught them
honesty and thrift. At length the