152 TEE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 



NO. 46. TIM BUNKER ON BAD WATER. 



A STIR IN HOOKERTOWN. 



&quot; What upon airth do you s pose is the matter with my 

 well ? &quot; said Uncle Jotham Sparrowgrass, one morning in 

 August. &quot; We hain t been able to drink it for more than 

 a month. 5 



&quot; Guess there s a cat in it,&quot; responded Benjamin Frank 

 lin Jones, who is always at leisure to attend to any busi 

 ness of his neighbors. &quot; I found one in mine, last week. 

 Shouldn t have found it out if I hadn t seen some of the 

 hair in the bucket. Smelt like pizen though, depend on t.&quot; 



&quot; No, there ain t any cat or rat in it. The water is as 

 clear as a crystal, and I had it cleared out last week, but 

 it didn t help it a bit.&quot; 



&quot; Shouldn t wonder ef it had been pizened,&quot; suggested 

 Seth Twiggs, with a slight twinkle in his eye, and a puff 

 of smoke that made the kitchen blue. He loves to play 

 upon the fears of Uncle Jotham, and knows his weak 

 spot. &quot; Kier Frink was round all last month, you know.&quot; 



&quot; You don t say that creetur is at hum agin ! I thought 

 we d got rid of him when he married the widder,&quot; re 

 sponded Jotham, with a faint feeling at the stomach. 



&quot;Ye needn t lay it to Kier,&quot; said Jake Frink, &quot;for my 

 well has been out of fix all summer, and the boy wouldn t 

 pizen our well. I know taint any thing uncommon to 

 have the water taste bad in summer at our house. Water 

 gets low, smells a leetle like the bottom of a ditch, and I 

 s pose it s for the same reason. It draws the smell out of 

 the dirt.&quot; 



&quot; Our well used to taste bad in summer until I put them 

 tile into the garden, and made the surface water run off 

 through them iuto the brook,&quot; remarked Twiggs. 



