148 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 
Arkansas was admitted into the “Union.” Mo, from 
this fact, received great glory, of course; his father’s 
greatness alone would have stamped him with supe- 
riority; but his having been twice to the ‘“ Capitol” 
when the legislature was in session, stamped his claims 
to pre-eminence over all competitors. 
Mo Mercer was the oracle of the renowned village 
of Hardscrabble. 
“Mo” knew every thing; he had all the consequence 
and complacency of a man who had never seen his 
equal, and never expected to. ‘ Mo” bragged exten- 
sively upon his having been to the “ Capitol” twice,— 
of his there having been in the most “ fashionable soci- 
ety,”"—of having seen the world. His return to town 
was therefore received with a shout. The arrival of the 
piano was announced to him, and he alone of all the 
community, was not astonished at the news. 
His insensibility was considered wonderful. He 
treated the piano as a thing that he was used to, and 
went on, among other things to say, that he had seen 
more pianos in the “Capitol” than he had ever seen 
woodchucks; and that it was not an animal, but a must- 
cal instrument, played upon by the ladies; and he wound 
up his description by saying that the way “the dear 
ereeters could pull music out of it was a caution to 
hoarse owls.” 
The new turn given to the piano excitement in 
Hardscrabble by Mo Mercer, was like pouring oil on - 
