Sept. tgoi.l 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
188 
ant be near it— only hear it— aii* Ah'Il had him, too, gre't 
many year "go." 
■'Yas, they say ye put three Freiichuiuns tergether an' 
they'll breed it." said Beri, reassured and drawing nearer 
again. 
Tlie sound of a strange voice had now drawn to the 
door his wife, fat. unkempt and slatternly, with a half- 
grown daughter of like build and general "appearance. 
"Say, Mum. they all got er smallpox daown tcr er vil- 
lag:e, an' ar'n't goin' ter have no 'lection. Sav. Mum. 
haow long ergo were 1 toxercated ?" 
^"Toxercated ! Wall. I reckon when ve hed cr las' 
chance at somebody's jug!" she sneered, and then, in evi- 
dent alarm, "Who tell'd ye the' was smallpox? I b'lieve 
ye lie. Be'." 
"Him." Beri answered, indicating Antoine with a nod 
"He live right handy by er village, an' he know. Say, 
Mum. when were I 'toxicated for er smallpox? I useter 
hed er mark here some'eres." He pushed his shirt sleeve 
to his shoulder and began searching the rough skin for a 
vaccmation scar, while his wife gave no heed to his ques- 
tion, but beset Antoine for particulars of the ill tidings. 
"Ne' mind." said Berri. abandoning the hopeless 
search and futile query. "You'll wanter know somep'n 
soinetinie." 
"An' what brung ye up here for?" Mum Burton asked 
fmally, curiously eyeing the rope." 
"Ah'll was tol' you. ma'am." Antoine answered, with 
great politeness. 'Ah'!! was lose mah leetly caow. an' 
Ah'll hear it say he was be straggle off this way. You'll 
ant prob'ly seen him. ant it?— leetly red caow'. nios' all 
spot o\er mid white, so he look more white as he was 
red an' de bes' caow you never see to beat it, sah. Oh, 
he bnmly over de pail two tarn every day." 
He looked into her eyes with a piteous imploring for 
tidings of the lost treasure, but she, brieflv searching her 
memory, answered hastily: 
"No. we hain't seen or heard o' no sech," and contin- 
ued concerning what was uppermost in her thoughts. 
"Gol dumn er ol' small-ppx! Can't hev no 'lection, an' 
it's goo'-bye ter you bein' Square. Be' I It tew plaguey 
mean, it is, jes' you got er chance tu be somebody, some 
"caount." 
She strode into the house and gave vent to some part 
of her vexation and disappointment upon the unwashed 
kettles and pans that stood in an untidy congregation 
on the stove. 
Beri dug a shovel-like thumb-nail into the soft wood 
of the top-rail in momentary unabstracted meditation; 
then, as Antoine moved slowly awav. straddled over it 
and walked on beside him, calling back to the house: 
"J er gom' 'long up ter Jonerdab's an' Peleg's, an' 
niongst 'em ter tell 'em what er rip be!" 
His wife called back imperatively, "You send a word 
ter darkter by that feller to hyper over here an" impocer- 
late aour sonny an' sis an' all them ter tother haousen 
what hain't be'n, an' tell that feller not for ter forget." 
Antoine did not find his cow; that was safe at home 
in her ferny pasture, whither he, too, wended his way 
when assured that the news he brought was imparted 
to every inhabitant of Burtontown Corners. 
Fine weather for September election is the rule in 
Vermont and this particular one was no exception, as 
gold and blue and green as a bright sun. a cloudless 
sky and fields rank with lush, aftermath and fresh pas- 
turage could make it. Such a day could scarcely fail to 
bring out every voter and, of course, everv boy whom 
some unfinished "stent" did not withhold, and even '"such 
was more than Hkely to break that tyrannical restraint 
and run away, trusting to luck to escape in the crowd 
the eye of parent, "guardeen," or employer. Many of 
the womankind improved the rare opportunity to visit 
friends who lived on the roads to the town house, or in 
its neighborhood. Farmhouses that were as;tir with 
their own busy life every other day of the year were ten- 
antless to-day, and the hen hawk wheeled Ioav above 
them, making leisurely selection of the fattest pullets. 
Fields were so free of human presence that at middav 
the fox ventured boldly beyond' where the wild sunflower- 
shone in the dusky woodside. 
Mrs. Piper did not fail to improve the opportunity, and 
rode with her husband to the village, where she might 
spend the day at her cousin's and be at hand to get the 
first news of the election. Malvina chose to stay at 
home, and. when, frjm time to time, her mother thought 
of her during the day, she pitied her spending it in the 
quiet company of the asthmatic house dog. the cat. and 
the poultry. But as the clock in the kitchen cHcked 
the alarm for eleven, old Lige waddled out to bark 
wheezily, not in anger or in joy, but in strict accordance 
with custom, at a smart team which drove briskly up to 
the horse block and hitching post. The hens uttered a 
flustered little cackle, the cat jumped upon the window 
stool to learn the cause of {he commotion, but Malvina 
did not wonder at all when Tom Farr sprang out of a 
high-boxed buggy. When Andrew Colby drove that 
way an hour later in the hope of furthering his suit a 
little, as he went to election, he was dismayed to meet 
the couple driving in the opposite direction, both dressed: 
in their best, and looking very happy. 
"Dam the hull bilin' ! Til iarn him" tu be foolin' wi' 
me!" he growled back at them over his shoulder. "Not 
a identical Colby vote does ol' Piper get this day!" 
He laid the lash to his horse in his haste to make 
good his word, while Tom and Malvina bowled merrily 
on their way to the first minister or magistrate they 
might find in the next town. 
Two hours before noon the dreary old town house, and 
its precincts, swarmed with the male inhabitants of Dan- 
vis. For the most part, the elderly, middle-aged, and 
staid men.' and the town officers, were gathered inside 
the bare walls, while the younger men and boys chose 
the more cheerful outdoor atmosphere, some lounging 
upon the grass in shade and sunshine, some in groups 
discussing the chances of the candidates, or watching 
the contest of a pair of wrestlers or stick-pullers. One- 
great center of attraction was a booth of boards built 
against the side of the town house, where, for sale, were 
home-made cakes and pies, and cookies, crackers and 
cheese, highly colored with annotto, popularly known as 
"otter." There, too. were some jars of candy, in sticks 
striped like a barber's pole, and bajls similarly deco- 
rated, and cigars, at a cent apiece. The purchaser of 
one was fortunate if it would draW-^or, • considering the 
flavor, quite as much so if it did not. There was a box 
of dry. sugary raisins, a drum of ancient figs, and a bas- 
ket of puckery pears, and for those who thirsted for 
milder potations than Hamner's bar offered, there were 
bottles of mead and a cask of honey-brewed spruce beer. 
The proprietor was kept busy with a brisk trade, which 
increased as noon approached and the far-comers grew 
hungry. 
"Hain't got no drawin' plasters ter sell, hev ye. Josh- 
away?" John Dart asked when struggling with a warped 
cigar. "No? Wal, you'd ort tu; I want one tu put out' 
the back o' my neck tu draw the smoke through this 'ere 
seegar." 
The ancient joke was honored with a salute of laughter 
not at all relished by Joshua, who declared, "That's 
baout as good a box o' cigars as ever I hed — 'most 
every one on 'em '11 go." 
"Wal, this one hain't no exception," said John Dart; 
"it goes aout every time. Lord, it'll ruin me a-buyin' 
matches for it Gi' me a hunk o' that 'ere pink-eye 
cheese an' a han'ful o' crackers, an' I'll save this' seegar 
till I git where the' 's a stiddy fire." 
At one o'clock the meeting was opened by the con- 
stable, who took off his coat preparatory to "the labors 
before him, and the voting began. The dignitaries sit- 
ting in the seat of honor gave him their ballots, which 
he deposited in their respective boxes, an odd array of 
makeshifts. Some were square lozenge boxes with 
sliding covers, some round with covers that slipped on, 
on each of which a strip of paper was pasted whereon 
appeared in faded ink the words. "State," "County," 
"Representative," "Justice." The open space in front 
of the desk, and then the aisle, were soon crowded: for 
every one seemed possessed of the idea that everything 
depended on his vote being cast immediatel}^ and there 
was some pretty rough elbowing and hustling, but all 
in the best of humor, for no one took in ill part a trod- 
den toe or a punched rib. 
Gran'ther Hill was in the thick of' the crowd, without 
power to move, but as it surged forward or swayed from 
side to side yet holding his open ballot aloft like a 
banner. 
"Quit yer con-dumned shovin'!" cried a stout young 
fello-.v behind him, pushing backward lustily. "You've 
most squoze the breath o' life aout 'n this of' man!" 
"Never you fear, young man!" the veteran growled 
huskily over his shoulder. "I've stood wus rackets, an' 
hain't nigh dead yet! 'Tain't a primin tu gettin' aout 'n 
Independence! I'll get up ter the breastworks an' gi" 
'em a ha' bushel o' Pecks!" 
Levi Piper sat in a corner among a group of staunch 
supporters, looking smiling and confident, spite of the 
discomfort of wearing his best .suit, which he had donned 
out of respect to his position, when Brotlier Foot, who 
had been on a tour of inspection among the assembled 
freemen, made his way to him bearing a troubled coun- 
tenance. 
"What's the rip?" he whispered anxiously. 
"Andrew Colby's a-peddlin' votes for Peck faster 'n 
a boy a-killin' snakes, an' Beri an' his company hain't 
one on 'cm here, not a identical one!" 
The smile faded from Levi's face like sunshine from a 
landscape beneath a passing cloud. 
"Andrew!" he gasped. "Why! he promised me fair 
an' square, an' I've done all I agreed." 
"Can't help it," said Foot, sadly. 
"T see him at it a-givin' a Peck ballot to'his father an' 
tew brothers an' a-offerin' on 'em right an' left. 'Peared 
tu be mad as a settin' hen bacut suthin'. 'Damn his lyin' 
ol' sold.' them was. his words speakin' o' you, the blas- 
phemin' sinner. 'Damn his lyin' ol' soui!'" Second- 
hand profanity, being cheap and sinless, had attractions 
for the Deacon. 
"An' the Burtons hes all gigged back on me! I'm a 
gone goo.se !" Mr. Piper groaned as if the curse were 
already taking effect, and he wandered away to Clap- 
ham's horse shed to brood over his blasted prospects. 
All his visions of triumph and honor had suddenly sunk 
in a gloomy mist, and already he suft'ered the humilia- 
tion of defeat, and reviled himself for the useless and 
reckless expense of the two new dresses and the three 
shirts. The black silk dress might serve to assuage his 
wife's disappointment and the yellow poplin reconcile 
Malvina to the loss of a lover and the honor of being 
a representative's dai'..srhter. but he could never wear 
those shirts without Deing reminded of the high place 
for which they were intended. He cursed the day in 
which he had been persuaded to be a candidate, and 
thenceforth renounced all political aspirations. 
From his retreat he could see the voters entering the 
townhouse and made mental note of the known or sup- 
posed preference of each. "The's more'n half on 'em 
agin me 'at I know on an" I was a cussed fool ever tu 
run! Blast ol' Foot an' his Metherdist soft soap! He 
jest wanted tu see me beat! There goes the Farr tribe, 
all in a chunk, an' all agin me. Cy' an' his boys, Bial 
an' his'n, thirteen on 'em. All but Tom ; wonder where 
lie is^ Poor Tom. he's enough sight likelier'n Andrew, 
an' I'd a good deal druther hev him in the family. Wal. 
I won't slink araound here like a scairt fool — but I swear 
I wish 't I was t' hum a pickin' up stun!" 
He brushed the cobwebs from his sleeve and returned 
to the taown house, trying to appear unconcerned, though 
unable to force a smile to his dry lips. The votes were 
dropping in slowly now. the constable found time to ex- 
change a few words of conversation with the dignitaries 
beside him or some of the interested group that crowded 
in front of the desk watching the ballot boxes as if their 
eyes might penetrate the wooden shells and discover 
the secrets they held. Joel Bartlett, the town clerk, had 
a respite for his fingers from the incessant scribbling of 
names as the constable called them to him and for his 
tongue from keeping time to the motion of his fingers. 
The constable looked at his watch, and called out, 
■"Are your votes all in. gentlemen? The box will be 
turned in five minutes." 
A rapidl}' driven wagon stopped in front of the door, 
and in a moment Tom Farr came hurrying in and up 
to the voting place, where he handed his ballots to the 
constable. 
"Forward your ballots, gentlemen," the constable 
called again, and then announced that it was three 
o'clock and the box would be turned. 
After a minute of^ grace, dyring which no uncast bal- 
lot was offered, the box containing the votes for repre- 
sentative was emptied upon the desk and the counting 
by the authorized officials begun, while the crowd of 
sen- constituted inspectors pressed closer and craned 
their necks to .see which pile grew the faster as the 
names ot Peck and Piper were added to each. 
Since he had become assured of the disaffection of the 
Colbys, and the no less unaccountable ab.sence of the Bur- 
tons. Levi Piper had so fully accepted the certainty of de- 
teat that the first sharp pain of it was over and he was able 
to meet with a good deal of calmness the ill-concealed tri- 
umph of enemies and the sympathy of friends, which 
were shown in the faces of each, as he sauntered from 
group to group. 
"Hev they got them votes 'baout caounted?" some 
one asked of another who bad just come from the town- 
house. 
"Pooty nigh." ^ 
"Be a ch'ice fust time?" 
"D' ya.s — hain't none scatterin'." 
"Ary diance for Piper?" 
""^'l'''-',, The Colbys all turned agin him. an' the' hain't 
one o ol Ben s tribe ben a-nigh." 
"Gentlemen, please give your attention," the voice 
ot the constable was heard issuing from" the open win- 
dows above the hum of maiiv voices. 
The whittlers hastily shut" and pocketed their knives, 
the loungers m the grass scrambled to their feet the 
story-teller left his tale unfinished, and all made haste 
to get within closer range of the speaker's voice. 
" Hul number of votes cast, tew hundred an' one 
Nessary for a ch'ice, one hundred an' one. Of these 
Piper hes received one hundred an' one— Peck, one '* 
The concluding figures were drowned in a tumultuous 
billow ot cheers, and, as it subsided in an echo of be- 
lated voices, the constable announced what every one 
now knew, 
"And you have made ch'ice of Levi Piper to sarve 
you as representative." 
Quite dazed and .scarcely believing his ears in the con- 
firmation of friendly congratulations, Levi Piper was 
hustled into the town house, and mounted upon a seat 
whrre he vainly tried to recall the speech, once well 
conned, but now forgotten as useless and never ' to be 
spoken. He managed to thank his friends in a few 
stammering words, and then to deliver to their free 
raiding al! things eatable and drinkable that the huck- 
ster's booth still held, for such was the custom of those 
tunes, and one which gave quite as much satisfaction 
to all concerned, especially to the successful candidate, 
as does the modern reception. 
"We'l. father an' mother," said Malvina, radiant with 
smiles and the glory of the yellow poplin as she met 
her happy parents "at the door upon their return. "I 
run away an' got married tu Tom whilst you was gone, 
but you'd oif tu forgive us, seein' 'at you've got the 
'lection, an' it was Tom an' his folkses' votes done it for 
you." 
"What!" her father gasped, sinking into a chair a^d 
making no opposition to Malvina sitting on his knee. 
"You an' Tom merried? Him an' his folks voted for 
me? Wal, I swear! everything beats everything else tu- 
day! No, sir; I'm almighty glad you be merried tu 
Tom, for that Andrew Colby 's a skunk— a mean 
skunk!" 
It was noticed that for some weeks after election An- 
toine avoided the highways and public places in day- 
time: in fact, Uncle Lisha's shop was the only place he 
appeared abroad. 
"You don't want to let that ol' Beri Burton git a holt 
on ye. Antwine."' said Uncle Lisha one evening when 
the company were g.ithered there] 
"They say he's swore tu 'kill ye for that yarn. you told 
him 'fore 'lection. 'Twas pooty tough, an' I do' know 
but he'd ort tu." 
"Wal, .\h don' care for me," Antoine protested, while 
he ground the tobacco nervously in his palms. "An' 
he'l! an' want for care, too, 'cause hees man's gat de 
'lectcd. an' he'll was square heesself. Oh, but Ah tol' 
you. Ah'll was come pooty nigh for beat it, honly for 
dat gal. She -was marry more vote as Ah could scare." 
The Legend of Noqualmis, the 
Thunder Warrior. 
I WAS sitting one dvay on a .grassy slope in front of an 
Indian village. I had been waiting for a certain Indian's 
return from Imnting, so that I could get him, with his 
canoe, to take nio on a few d.ays' trip hunting and fishing. 
The spring sun shone warnily on the southern slope and 
the level plateau upon which stood the quaint w'ooden 
lodges — T50 by 8o icet or thereabouts — of the Indians. In 
front, the slope fell gently away to the edge of the waters 
of the bay. A few bufile heads sported in the blue water, 
the rainbow-headed males prinking themselves and con- 
torting their little bodies in all manner of impossible pos- 
tures as they strove to tell the graceful, leaden-colored 
females that spring had come, and that, far. far to the 
North, was a re,stful haven and peace and quietude for fond 
lovers, such as they, while, as they told their story, they 
fluttered and wheeled and splashed the almost glassy 
water. But they, the hard-hearted females, would think 
of nothing but diving for food to fill their insatiable little 
.stomachs, iust for all the world like humans. Across the 
pretty stretch of water, a fringe of crab trees and willows, 
already bathed in a delicate wash of tender green, .with 
here and there a splash of greenish yellow, adding clumps 
of elder, made a sweet mass of spring color against a 
background of ^omber-hued firs, which, stretching away 
to distance in undulating swells, turned gradually from 
a dark chrome green, first to ashy black, then to pur- 
plish, then blue: net the blue of heaven, but, rather, that 
of lapis lazuli. Far to the west and south, rising out of 
the sea of distance like grim giants, impalpable and un- 
real appearing-, were the mighty mountains: grand, silent, 
mysterious: the higher peaks snow-capped and outlined 
against the ethereal blue, symbols of eternity. 
Between the two highest peaks of everlasting snow, was 
a ridge, fashioned like a gigantic Indian lyin^- in death'.s 
