A BUSY YEAR AT THE OLD SQUIRE'S
by
C. A. STEPHENS
Published by The Old Squire's Bookstore Norway, Maine Copyright, 1922 By C. A. Stephens All rights reserved
Electrotyped and Printed by The Colonial Press Clinton, Mass., U. S. A.
DEDICATED WITH CORDIAL BEST WISHES TO THE THOUSANDS OF READERS WHO HAVE REQUESTED THIS Memorial Edition OF THE C. A. STEPHENS BOOKS
Contents
CHAPTER
I. Master Pierson Comes Back
II. Cutting Ice at 14 Degrees Below Zero
III. A Bear's "Pipe" in Winter
IV. White Monkey Week
V. When Old Zack Went to School
VI. The Sad Abuse of Old Mehitable
VII. Bear-Tone
VIII. When We Hunted the Striped Catamount
IX. The Lost Oxen
X. Bethesda
XI. When We Walked the Town Lines
XII. The Rose-Quartz Spring
XIII. Fox Pills
XIV. The Unpardonable Sin
XV. The Cantaloupe Coaxer
XVI. The Strange Disappearance of Grandpa Edwards
XVII. Our Fourth of July at the Den
XVIII. Jim Doane's Bank Book
XIX. Grandmother Ruth's Last Load of Hay
XX. When Uncle Hannibal Spoke at the Chapel
XXI. That Mysterious Daguerreotype Saloon
XXII. "Rainbow in the Morning"
XIII. When I Went After the Eyestone
XXIV. Borrowed for a Bee Hunt
XXV. When the Lion Roared
XXVI. Uncle Solon Chase Comes Along
XVII. On the Dark of the Moon
XXVIII. Halstead's Gobbler
XXIX. Mitchella Jars
XXX. When Bears Were Denning Up
XXXI. Czar Brench
XXII. When Old Peg Led the Flock
XXXIII. Witches' Brooms
XXXIV. The Little Image Peddlers
XXXV. A January Thaw
XXXVI. Uncle Billy Murch's Hair-Raiser
XXXVII. Addison's Pocketful of Auger Chips
A Busy Year at the Old Squire's
CHAPTER I
MASTER PIERSON COMES BACK
Master Joel Pierson arrived the following Sunday afternoon, as he had promised in his letter of Thanksgiving Day eve, and took up his abode with us at the old Squire's for the winter term of school.
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: A Busy Year at the Old Squire's by C. A. Stephens
- 2: For Master Pierson brought a complete outfit
- 3: Aggravated at times by pranks from Halstead
- 4: Master Pierson hit on the best
- 5: But 'twas dreary without old Joel
- 6: Hitched old Sol to the new groover
- 7: During those nights it froze five inches thick
- 8: By the time we had eaten our supper and thawed out
- 9: Thereupon Addison and Thomas laid hold of him
- 10: He saw Sylvester arrive with his team
- 11: Addison was now getting his pepper ready
- 12: Doctor Truman jumped out of the sty quite as suddenly
- 13: The shoat was somewhat scratched
- 14: Named John Lurvey a brother of old Zachary Lurvey
- 15: And succeeded in engaging Morefield and his saw
- 16: With the sled load of supplies
- 17: Of course it was figurative monkey
- 18: With the notification about the birch
- 19: CHAPTER VWHEN OLD ZACK WENT TO SCHOOL This same week
- 20: The old fellow replied promptly Zack Lurvey
- 21: Old Zack appealed to Master Cobb
- 22: The lawyer once more advanced upon old Zack
- 23: Old Zack listened incredulously
- 24: Mehitable Mehitable Mehitable
- 25: A remark that Halstead appears to have overheard
- 26: We heard Halstead churning casually
- 27: After helping the girls from the pung
- 28: He spoke of soprano as tribble
- 29: There are plenty of girls tormentin' pianners now
- 30: In distinction from light soprano
- 31: Bear Tone meanwhile was teaching his singing schools
- 32: That old striped catamount has come round again
- 33: Pa don't want me to take our sleigh so long
- 34: Proceeded cautiously out to the sleigh
- 35: Get up and see your striped catamount
- 36: But he went up to the logging camp with Jotham
- 37: And we had to travel on snowshoes
- 38: Don't you think Jotham ought to know
- 39: Willis doesn't want Jotham told
- 40: Grandmother often exclaimed to the old Squire
- 41: In his younger days Davy Glinds had been a ship carpenter
- 42: With its Granger furnace and big water heater
- 43: A poet and humorist of state wide renown
- 44: The selectmen usually walked the north lines only
- 45: Stoss Pond Mountain then confronted us
- 46: Addison whispered in perplexity
- 47: Except that one powerful old gander
- 48: Tom and Addison appeared on the shore
- 49: It had always been called the Nubble Spring
- 50: For the kegs came back to be refilled
- 51: Addison examined the barrel carefully
- 52: If Lumen had been to blame for the quarrel
- 53: Kennard walked all the way with us
- 54: We saw one of the Percherons near the Morgan
- 55: He took away his other Percheron colt
- 56: After picking up one of the pills
- 57: Kennard answered him rather coldly
- 58: Willis need fear being imprisoned
- 59: Kennard went in and said Louise
- 60: Sylvester into the sitting room
- 61: Halstead and Addison had left the old farm
- 62: I've committed the unpardonable sin
- 63: Sylvester was always in poor circumstances
- 64: On which the freshly mown grass could be pitched from a cart
- 65: Late in September the first fall after we built the haymaker
- 66: After consulting with the two other selectmen
- 67: Maine muskmelons grown under a glass roof
- 68: Jotham Catherine and Tom's father
- 69: Jotham and his wife knew no more than their neighbors
- 70: Adjoining was an equally tidy barn
- 71: Went heavily back and picked up his hoe
- 72: The fault was not all with Jotham
- 73: The Den was a pokerish cavern near Overset Pond
- 74: Adriana fairly flew from one to another
- 75: Addison gave the word to start
- 76: Or at least depositors thought so
- 77: But when he had gone for a playday
- 78: He stole away for another playday
- 79: Addison slipped softly out of bed
- 80: I stole a glance at Miss Emmons
- 81: Wet ground where there were several long swales
- 82: Elder Witham moistened his hands
- 83: Calling on Elder Witham to catch them
- 84: The old Squire was so relieved
- 85: Could not help feeling loyal to Senator Morrill
- 86: And while I devoured mine he pottered with the smoker
- 87: Uncle Hannibal cried to Judge Peters
- 88: Which Uncle Hannibal tied over Addison's hat
- 89: Brimstone was what two of the church stewards did use
- 90: But there were the daguerreotypes
- 91: Halstead then started for home
- 92: Theodora was limp with terror at their plight
- 93: Thinking that he might find customers at Megantic
- 94: And a thundershower in the early morning is unusual in Maine
- 95: As Addison was thumping away with the hammer
- 96: Exclaimed Theodora reprovingly
- 97: The eclipse had given us an anxious afternoon
- 98: Most eyestones are a calcareous deposit
- 99: Opened a drawer and took out the eyestone
- 100: Presently I came upon a rickety trapdoor
- 101: While I hurried on with the eyestone
- 102: But for some reason old Glinds decided that I had better go
- 103: The basswood was fully three feet in diameter
- 104: The trunk of the basswood had split open when it struck
- 105: Old Hughy had little enough to say
- 106: Prolonged Hough hough hough
- 107: His noise wasn't worse than your hog stench
- 108: They proved to be past masters at handling hogs
- 109: When Willis and I approached the cage
- 110: First one of our Black Dutch belted heifers
- 111: Furnishing the bark eaters with cuds
- 112: What kind of a parster are them cows runnin' in
- 113: Before I turned my cows to parster
- 114: Cayenne pepper saved my life once
- 115: They took our Bartlett pears and plums
- 116: Where did we put our skunk fence last fall
- 117: Brothers named James and Asa Doane
- 118: Jim and Asa were greatly disappointed
- 119: Later in life Senator Fessenden
- 120: Halstead made him swallow four rolls of dough
- 121: Call the vine Mitchella repens
- 122: When filled with mitchella vines
- 123: Still clutching her armful of dry twigs
- 124: Addison took his gun and Halstead another lantern
- 125: While Halstead and I held the lanterns
- 126: Drove the three spans on the scoot
- 127: And shovels flew off the scoot
- 128: The old man was pottering about the scoot
- 129: Who for years had borne the nickname of Czar Brench
- 130: Newman and many of the others pushed in at the doorway
- 131: Feruling with the ruler was for ordinary
- 132: If Czar Brench had not been so big and strong
- 133: Czar Brench gazed at her for some moments in silence
- 134: He said that his name was Morey
- 135: Halstead was taken with cramps
- 136: Addison said after we had looked round
- 137: And a good many thought that Cronin murdered her
- 138: Addison went ahead and tramped a path in the deep snow
- 139: We had heard of witches' broom sticks
- 140: The broom is not a plant parasite
- 141: And while the hares were still flopping past
- 142: Witches' brooms are dry and light
- 143: Pitchy witches' brooms flamed up tremendously
- 144: The cherubs had lost their wings
- 145: The first name of the other was Tomaso
- 146: They found the padrone in a basement
- 147: Emilio said without a moment's hesitation
- 148: Halstead and I had been doing the farm chores
- 149: Batchelder hastened in with alarming news for us
- 150: But we also felt tremendously indignant with Halstead
- 151: For a moment Addison considered
- 152: Addison crept out and looked round
- 153: It was some moments before Halstead could speak
- 154: It was so beautiful that I waked Addison to see it
- 155: That panther story was a veritable hair raiser
- 156: At last he offered Billy Murch
- 157: Several times they heard the sough of its breath
- 158: Immediately the panther stole forward
- 159: In March of the fifth year after grandsir Cranston died
- 160: At four o'clock Hilburn stood on the house steps
- 161: The two selectmen and Hilburn smiled
- 162: 000 of it should go to Addison