Show imi the he lio g h t in ali J he clearing JL jda 9 JA djs A TALE of the NORTH COUNTRY in the TIME of SILAS WRIGHT by IRVING BACHELLER author of EDEN HOLDEN DRI D RI AND 1 I DARREL OF THE 13 BLESSED LESSED ISLES KEEPING UP WITH LIZZIE etc etc by irving ir hinr D achelles ll fiji BARTON LEARNS OF THE EXISTENCE OF A WONDER FUL POWER KNOWN AS MONEY 11 synopsis barton an ni phan goes to live with liis his uncle baynus and liis ills aunt deel on a farm on Rattle road in a neighborhood called split about the year 1826 ite ile meets saly sally dunkelberg about his own age but socially of a class above the ea Bayne aneses ses and is fascinated by her face and fine clothes barton also meets roving kate known in tile neighborhood as the silent woman amos Grini grimshaw shaw a young son of the richest man in the township is a visitor at the baynes home and roving kate tolls tells the boys fortunes predicting a bright furuie for barton and death on oil the gallows for amos reproved Rep loved for an act of boyish mischief ml barton runs away intending to make ills his home with the lie he reaches clinton canton nud and falls asleep on a porch there lie is found by silas wright abright AV right jr a man prominent in public affairs who knowing peabody baynes takes take barton home after buying him new clothes silas wa ight evinces much interest in barton and sends it box bos of books and magazines to the baynes home A short time later the election of sir mr wright to the united states senate is announced CHAPTER V 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 ent away with them I 1 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 kotlier who crime came into Rattle road he came rarely and would not be long detained how curiously we looked at him knowing his fame and power this great stranger was money I 1 shall never forget the day that my uncle showed me a dollar bill and a little shiny gold coin and three pieces of silver nor can I 1 forget how carefully he be watched them while they lay in my hands and presently put them back into his wallet that was long iong before the ume time of which I 1 nm am wilting wiffing I 1 remember hearing him say ay one day of that year when I 1 asked him to take us to the caravan of wild beasts which was coming to the village im sorry but its been a hundred sundays since I 1 had a dollar in my wallet for more than ten minutes I 1 have ills his old account book for the years of 1837 and ISM 1838 here are some of of the entries balanced accounts J dorothy and gave him my note for to be paid in salts january 1 1838 sold ten bushels of wheat to E miner at 00 cents to be paid in goods sold two sheep to flavius curtis and took his note for ig 6 payable in boots on or before march the first only one entry in more than a hundred undred li mention money and this was the sum of eleven cents received in falance alance from a neighbor so it will be seen that a spirit of mutual accommodation served to help us over the rough going 1 mr Gi linshaw however demanded his pay in cash and that I 1 find was mainly the habit of lenders we were poor but our poverty was wai not like ceat of these days in which I 1 am writing it was nas proud and cleanly and well fed our fathers had bad seen heroic service in the wars N ars and we knew it I 1 I 1 was twelve years old when I 1 began to be the reader for our little family aunt deel had lo 10 long ng complained that she keep up with her knitting and read so much we had not seen mr wright for nearly to tio years but he had sent us the novels of sir walter scott and 1 had led them heart deep into the creed battles of old mortality then came the the evil days of 1837 when the story of our lives began to lit quicken lutticken its pace and excite bur interest in its coming chapters it gan gac C us 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 bew york had suspended payment of their notchy I 1 clivy could no longer meet their engagements gage ments As usual the burden tell fell heaviest on the poor it was hard to tc get money even for black salts uncle peabody had been silent and depressed for a month or more ITO he and 7 signed a note for rodney barnes barne a 1 cousin long before and was afraid that he would have to pay it I 1 know what a note was and I 1 remember that oue one night when 1 lay thinking about it I 1 decided that it must lie ile something lit in the nature of horse ilic my uncle told me that a note as a trouble which attacked the brain instead of tile the stomach one autumn da day in canton uncle peabody traded trad three sheep and twenty bushels for a cook stove and brought it honic home in the bi bis wagon rodney barnes barn came with him to hep set up the stove lie he was a big giant of oc a man with the longest nose in the township I 1 have often wondered how any one would solve the problem of kissing mr burnes barnes in the immediate eslin dealu i of ills his nose the same being in the lf kiture iture of a Oe defense fenre that evening I 1 was chiefly inter t in the stove stoie what a joy it no t nn p with its damper and grid dies and high oven and the shiny edge on its hearth it rival rivaled cd in its novelty and charm any tin peddlers cart that ever came to our door john axtell and ills his wife who had seen it pass their house hurried over for a look at it every hand was on tile the stove as we tenderly carried it into the house piece by piece and set it up then they cut a hole in the upper floor and the stone chimney and fitted the pipe how keenly we watched the building of the fire how quickly it roared and began to heat the room when the astells had gone away aunt deel said its grand it is sartin but im fraid we cant afford it ayes I 1 be we cant afford to freeze any longer I 1 made up my mind that wo we go through another winter as we nae have was my uncles nn answer sier how much did it cost she asked askea not much diff different ernt from thirty four dollars in sheep and grain he answered rodney barnes stayed to supper and spent a part of the evening with us like other settlers there M mr r barnes was a cheerful optimist acry E ery thin looked good to him until it turned out badly he told how he had heard that it was a growing country near the great water inter highway of the st lawrence prosperous towns were bull building ding up in it were going to be great cities in northern new york there were rich stores of lead and hon in the rocks sir mr barnes lind biad bought two hundred acres at ten dollars an acre lie he had to pay a fee of five per cent to grimshawe Grim shaws lawyer lawver for the survey yand and the papers aills this left him owing fourteen hundred dollars on his farm much more than it was ii w orth our cousin twisted the poker in ills his great hands until it squeaked as lie he stood before my uncle and said sly my wife and I 1 have chopped and burnt and pried and hauled rocks lit an shoveled dung an milked an churned until we are worn out for almost twenty years weve been days an nights an sundays my mortgage was overdue over due I 1 owed six hundred dollars on it I 1 thought it all over one lay day nn an went ment up ill to Grim grimshawe shaws laws an all took him by the back of the neck and shook him ile he said lie would drive me out 0 th tho country ITO he gave me six months to pay up 1 I 11 had a 10 1 0 pay or lose the land an I 1 got tal the money on the note that you signed over in potsdam nobody in canton would a dared to lend it to me lile why my uncle asked fraid 0 grimshaw Grimsh nw ho he want me to be able to pay it the place is worth pore than six hundred dollars now the reason 1 1 intended I 1 n to cut some timber an haul h till it to the village this winter so I 1 could pay a part 0 the note in an git more time as I 1 told ye but the roads have been so bad I 1 do any haulin M my N y uncle went and took a dianh at the water pall I 1 saw by his face th eliat at lie was unusually wrought up my heavens an earth lie he ex cs chi lined as he sat down again its the brain colac cobic I 1 said to myself us as I 1 looked at him mr NI bitines seemed to have it also too anith anit li note I 1 whispered im awful sorry but ive done everything I 1 could said mr barnea aint there somebody take another niort mortgage gage it ought to be safe now my uncle suggested money is so tight it cant be done the bank lias has got all the money an Grims liaw anns tile bank ive tried and tried but ill make maize you safe ill give you a mortgage until I 1 can turn round so I 1 saw how rodney barnos barnes like other settlers in had gone into bondage to the landlord how much do you owe on this place barnes barncs asked seven hundred an fifty dollars said my uncle Is it due its been due a year an if I 1 have to pay that note ill be short my interest 11 I 1 god 0 israeli im said U uncle acl e peabody Pc down crashed the stick of wood into tile the box bos wit what at about it would be like him to put the screws on you now youve got between him tit an liis ills prey youe taken the mouse away from tit the cat 1 remember the little panic that fell on us then I 1 could see tears in tile the eyes of aunt deel as she sat with her lend head leaning wearily on her hand it he does docs ill do all I 1 can said earnes whatever ive got will be yours rodney barnes barncs loft left us and I 1 remember how uncle peabody stood in tiie the middle of he file floor and whistled the merz merriest iest tune lie he h knew new stand light up here he called in ills his most cheerful tone stand right t up till liere here before me both 0 ye 1 I 1 pot got aunt deel by the hand and led her toward my uncle we stood facing him stand straighter he demanded now altogether one two three ready sing ile he beat time with ills his hand in imitation of the singing master at the schoolhouse and we joined him in singing tit an old tune which began oh keep my heart from sadness god this irresistible spirit of the man bridged a bad hour and got us off to bed in fairly good condition A few days later the note came due and its owner insisted upon full payment there was such a clamor for money those days I 1 remember that my aunt had sixty dollars which she had saved little by little by selling eggs and clil chickens chens she had planned to use it to buy a tombstone for her mother and father a long cherished ambition my uncle needed the most 7 va ia L M t na t T 6 al at 4 1 N 4 one two three ready sing of it to help pay the note we drove to Pots potsdam dain on that sad errand and aliat liat a time we ne had getting there and back in deep mud and sand al and id i jolting over bart my uncle said the next evening as I 1 took down the book to read 1 I guess dueis wed better talk things over a little tonight these lie aie hard times if we can find anybody with money enough to buy em cm I 1 dunno but we e better sell the sheep it if you been a fool my aunt exclaimed with tit a look of greab great distress ayes it if you been a fool im jut jutt what I 1 be an I 1 aint so big a fool that I 1 need to be reminded of it sald said my iny uncle ill stay home in an work I 1 proposed bral bra ely you aint old enough for that sighed aunt deol deel 1 I want to keep you in school said uncle peabody who sat making a splint bloom while we were talking in walked benjamin Gilm hav the rich man of tile the hills ile he stop to knock but walked right in as if the house were ills his own oin it was common gossip that lie held a mortgage on every acre of the countryside I 1 lind had never liked him for lie was a eed ninn who was nas always scolding somebody and I 1 had not forgotten what his son had said of him good night he exclaimed curt curtly Y as lie he sat down and set ills his cano cane between ins his feet and rested his hands upon it lie he spoke hoarsely and 1 reine remember niber the curious notion came to me that lie he looked like our old ram he fie wore a thin gray beard under his chin ills his mouth was shut tight in a long line curving downward doNn Nard a little at the ends sly my uncle used to say that ills mouth was made to keep ills his thoughts from leaking and g going to waste he had a big body a big chin a big mouth a big nose and bi big ears cars and hands his eyes lay small ln in this setting of bigness why mr Grini grimshaw shaw its years since youve been in our house ayes ayeal I 1 sai sal dAunt deel 1 jr I suppose it Is he answered rathor rather sharply 1 I dont ion I 1 nave much tim limn to get around I 1 have to work theres some people e seem to be ablo able to git along without it I 1 see youve I 1 sot ot one 0 these newfangled aed stoves lie added as tie he looked it over huh rich folks can have anything they want uncle peabody had sat splintering the long stick of yellow birch 1 observed that the jackknife trembled in ills his hand ills 1113 3 tone had a touch of unnaturalness proceeding no doubt from ills fear of the man before him as lie he said when I 1 bought that stove I 1 felt ril richer ter than I 1 do now I 1 had bad almost on enough ough to settle with you up to date but I 1 signed a note for a friend and had to pay I 1 it L ayah I 1 I 1 suppose so grimshaw it tinkered irn cred in a tone lone of bitter irony I 1 which cut me like a knife blade young i is I 1 was what business it have ave you si alenin I 1 iain notes un tin givin away money which aint bours 5 ours to give id like to know now what business have you like a rich man when you cant pity pay ur hone honest honea A debts rd id like to know that too if ive ever acted like a rich mun man its IS been hen I 1 want lookin 1001 adu said uncle peabody Pc whitt business have bae you to go on en largin yer family another mouth to feed and another body to spin for that costs money I 1 want to tell you one thing baynes youve got to pay up or git out 0 here ile he raised his cane and shook it in the air as he spoke oh I 1 aint no doubt 0 that said uncle peabody have to have yer money sure an you will have it it if I 1 live every cent of it this boy is goin to be a great help to me you ou dont know what ahat a good boy he is and what a comfort lies been to us I 1 these words of my beloved uncle uncovered ny my emotions so that I 1 put my elbow on oa the wood box and leaned my y head upon it and sobbed 1 I aint goin to be hard on ye baynes said mr grimshaw as he rose from ills his chair ill give ye three months to see what you can do I 1 wonder if the boy would airn out all right hes big an cordy of liis ills age and a likely boy they tell me mr I 1 r GrIni grimshaw shaw opened the door and stood for a moment looking at us and added in a milder tone youve got one 0 the best farms in this town an if ye work nork hard an use common sense ye ought to be out 0 debt in five years debbe less ild he closed the door and went away neither of us moved or spoke as we listened to his footsteps on oil the gravel path that went down to the road and to the sound of his buggy as lie he drove away then uncle peabody bro broke C the silence b by y saying iles hes the dam dest ile he stopped set the half balf splintered stick aside closed his jackknife jack knite a and nd went nent to the water pall pail to cool ills his emotions with a drink aunt deel took up the subject where lie lind had dropped it as it if no half ex es pressed sentiment would satisfy her saying old skinflint that ever lived in this world ayes I 1 aint goin to told my opinion 0 that man no longer ayes ayeal I 1 cant its too powerful ayes having recovered my composure I 1 repeated that I 1 should like to give up school and stay at home and work aunt dee interrupted me by saying 1 I have an idee that sile wright will mill help ln ip us ayes I 1 hes |