1856.] That John Mason. 93 



[From the Model American Courier. 

 THAT JOHN MASON. 



BY JOHN JONES, JB. 



* What kind of people have you here ?' I asked of my acquaintance, 

 after becoming a citizen of the beautiful little village of Jkloortield. 



* Very clever people, with one or two exceptions,' he replied. ' I am 

 sure you will like us very well.' 



'Who are the exceptions?' I asked; 'for I wish to keep all such 

 exceptions at a distance. Being a stranger, I will take a hint in time. 

 It is an easy matter to shun acquaintanceship, but by no means so easy 

 to break it off after it is once formed.' 



* Very truly said ; and I will warn you in time, of one in particular. 

 His name is John Mason. Keep clear of him, if you wish to keep clear 

 of trouble. He's smooth and oily as a whetstone, and, like a whetstone, 

 abrades everything he touches. He's a bad man, that John Mason ! ' 



' Who, or what is he ? ' I asked. 



* He's a lawyer, and one of the principal holders of property in the 

 township. But money can't gild him over. He's a bad man, that 

 John Mason; and my advice to you, and to every one, is, to keep clear 

 of him. I know him like a book.' 



I'm very much obliged to you,' said I, 'for your timely caution, and 

 will take care to profit by it.' 



My next acquaintance bore pretty much the same testimony, and so 

 did the next. It was, that John Mason was not the right kind of a 

 man, and rather a blemish upon the village of Moorfield, notwithstand- 

 ing he was one of the property-holders in the township. 



' If it wasn't for John Mason,' I heard on this hand, and 'if it wasn't 

 for that John Mason,' I heard on the other hand, as my acquaintance- 

 ship among the people extended. Particularly against him was the 

 first individual who had whispered in my ears a friendly caution, and I 

 hardly ever met with him, but he had something to say about ' that 

 John Mason.' 



About six months after my arrival in Moorfield, I attended a public 

 meeting, at which the leading men of the township weie j resent. Most 

 of them were strangers to me. At this meeting, I fell in company with 

 a very pleasant man, who had several times addressed those present, 

 always in such a clear, forcible and common-sense way, as to carry 



