Show ROBBING A FE ach ORCHARD A SKETCH jn in af a wiy aly settled t w i 1 out there r klea viea 0 0 i inore inure lure than three years ago anold an old oid rufo m aj iv 0 a was notorious for his penury ta faril hwe d for saving and torning every thing into money at the time tune to which our story relates old deacon newcomb was the only man in the vicinity who raised peaches which were a very scarce article owing to the newness of the country it so happened that the deacon had an abundance of these as bis fine young trees were just in their prime but not a single peach did one of his neighbors taste unless paid for in advance I 1 this penuriousness on the part of the old gentleman excited the malicious propensities of many of the young men in the neighborhood and they resolved to have a taste of the forbidden fruit at all events at that time and in that part of the country fruit stealing was not considered a very grave of fence but was looked upon as a mere practical joke and was laughed at in proportion with the trespassers in in committing their depredations consequently the young men while they coveted the deacons fruit despised b his is meanness ries rips resolved without a single scruple ofton fience fience to help themselves there were only about half a dozen privy to the plot and they soon had every thing satisfactorily arranged for carrying it into essie effie effect ct the six agreed to meet at the town tavern between the hours of nine and ten in the evening in order to be ready to commence operations at ten precisely pree prec isey which was the time appointed for setting out from the tavern among the conspirators was one ned harvey a bold hot headed hum humorous rous fellow wo who it my may be premised was an inimitable mimic harvey was the soul of the party but owing to some severe practical jokes which lie ho had pe perpetrated at the expense of his companions tey they were all anxious on the present occasion to put a trick upon him this there were none of them witty enough to invent but accident afforded them an idea it hap happened bened that the whole party were assembled at the tavern on the night appointed at a quarter before ten with the exception of harve harvey I 1 what are we waiting for asked one ned harvey replied another true ned is behind hand no he aint dont you see it time yet tens the hour youre right but I 1 propose boys 1 4 a well mat zat what is it I 1 I 1 that ithac we give him the slip and go without him exactly A splendid idea said one 11 A fint joke added another the e party accordingly silently left the tavern and appeared disappeared dla dia in the direction of deacon New newcombe combs peach orchard five minutes after ned harvey came in surprised at not meeting his companions alim whom he huil had supposed woud would he bp for the most part anem bled bied hp he looked locked at the clock then at his watch and finally enquired of the bar tender if he had the correct time ahne it wint eight minutes and three thice quarters ft tn t n id the genth nian nhan addressed ajero addre sed to a fr gri fri u I 1 harvey hervey sat down and remained groet jit just eight minutes and three quarters when the hour having arrived at which his companions had promised to ie be assembled he began t suspect foul play has dick W been here wre to sight t he asked yes replied the bar tender and charlay charley B yes and bill G yes they left here just before you ca in ned L and frank A were w h them harvey bit his lips he saw through the entire plot and he asked himself how the deuce can I 1 come up with the rascals an idea struck him and he rubbed his hands and chuckled audibly ile he left the tavern in hot heste and proceeded homeward in high glee ile he already felt his complete and saw his companions the victims of their own treachery instead of alarming the deacon he resolved to play the part of deacon himself the night was just dark enough to favor his design although there was a moon the sky was wag cloudy and ana the light of the night queen was obscured harvey procured an old hat hit similar to tho the one deacon newcomb wore pulled it over his eyes and disguised himself still more effectually by exchanging his jacket for an old frock coat which bore a striking resemblance to one the old man was frequently seen to have on provided with this disguise and being possessed as before stated of wonderful powers of mimicry he had no doubt of his ability to counterfeit the gentleman so closely that his comp companions anions would not discover the cheat having armed himself with a strong whip ned set out to surprise the trespassers at their work of darkness he was wag not long in reaching the deacons orchard and not many minutes had elapsed before he had discovered the whereabouts of his compa companion niom four of them were sitting upon the grass near the fence and directly under one of the finest peach trees on the old mans premises they were enjoying a delightful feast on the luscious fruit which one of the trespassers was waa shaking from tho the tree which he had climbed stolen kisses are sweet and so are stolen peaches I 1 should judge muttered ned hv irv vey as he crept stealthily towards his corm corn anions along by the fence ile he was soon so near that he could over hear their conversation and stopped to list n r this is what I 1 call rich decidedly I 1 exclaimed dick swallowing a ripe melli med w peach as he spoke what delicious rare wh whisper iper d charley 46 excellent but nut so good as the j ke after a said B bli ll hahl bahi ili lit hugged arar who ta wa i the tree ha ha echoed chiri Chirl py v ain t t rich johe joke ke it tells aca on th the man stingy despos disposition non ton bon osand pars pias up nd nod N d tf ex I 1 i ed eddick dick ilola oh I 1 lc ld t we g ve him the na nicely cei eel 2 gge yes said bi bil biu dut out taut I 1 ia in afraid he 11 II i x p posa pose se us to the old deacon never fear returned charley I 1 lity litz harvey aint the chap to do such a mean trick as that it but he ba worked up if he lie knew how we are enjoying ourselves without his precious com company pany wouldn t he chuckled ned to himself and it start the old deacon laughed dick gilf if one should tell him how we are enjoying ourselves at his expense ha ha ha laughed the whole company have you filled the bag demanded frank on the tree yes and our stomachs too then I 1 am coming down to have my share my time thought ned it is impossible to describe the consternation of his ills treacherous friends as he sprang upon them disturbed so unexpectedly and suddenly in the quiet enjoyment of the stolen fruit th they ey knew not where to turn but ran aty ati against ains t each other knocked each other down while the frightened frank pitched headlong from the tree among his fallen companions here you are arc are arc you cried ned imitating the old deacons voice all ail ali ah you thieving rascals ive caught you at it this time and ill give you peaches enough so saying ned used his heavy whip with all ills his force striking the trespassers on their backs and on their heads and across their faces knocking them down as fast as they got up and attempted to run at last they scrambled away lie chased them and hitting first one and then another and scream screaming ng in the deacons voice all ail ah ali you vill binom whelps ill lam you you good tor for nothing ungodly thieving wretches at length thinking ha he hid punished punie hed them severely enough for their treachery ned appeared to give up the chase while his companions hid in the tho comers corners of the fence but instead of leaving them thus lie he dropped down on his knees and crept along towards them under the fence in order to hear what they said bill whispered one what muttered bill where are you here in the corner of the fence with dick aint you dead no but I 1 should be if lie he had hit me once more only just once over the head aa as he ile did ha almost broke my back said a timid v ince sice in another corner of the fence ab lle lie ile he drew blood on my face said charley sand and land his unmerciful sharp lash has left a ridge on my finger he made roide me see a whole constellation of stars whispered frank besides I 1 broke i ly neck in as much as seven places when I 1 1 feil jell 11 from the tree 4 darn his hia growled dick his ills whip hurt me much until lie he knocked mi in down when I 1 thought satan himself had s k me ine wha ht the old mm man so strong c le te I 1 ned D 1 I who thought the old fellow could run so retorted charley harvey ey listened to this conversation and much more of the tiie same game sort until frank who wiio hid had not the consolation of thinking he had eaten a single binole 7 peach started on telling his ills companions thit if they ther wanted the bag baay mey wey ind had I ia left a ulder urcer the tree they might go and get it provided old newcomb haantz already taken care of it they declined going for it but withdrew from the field of their defeat altogether leaving harvey to laugh at the joke and enjoy a hearty meal on the peaches he lie had found already collected in the bag having satisfied in ids s appetite on the delicious d licious fruit he left the bag bair and the remaining contents for the old man and arld quietly walked home ned harvey intended to keep the affair to himself fearing the revenge of his companions but when the deacon reported that he had llad found a bag full of peaches pea clies ciles under one of his trees and talked of the tres trespass plass in such a way that the trespassers knew that he had nothing to do with flogging them so soundly their suspicions rested at once on ned harvey finding this to be the case ned immediately proclaimed the joke all about the neighborhood and related the whole affair with such exaggerations as served to show up his comrades in in the most ridiculous light possible the traitors were emphatically used up the ridicule was worse than the tile punishment they summered suffered red everybody twitted twisted them an and d even the old deacon forgiving them the peaches they had eaten chuckles over the rich joke of robbing a peach orchard |