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About The Albany register. (Albany, Or.) 1868-18?? | View Entire Issue (June 27, 1874)
VOLUME VI. ALBANY. OREGON. JUNE 27, 1874. NO. 43. 2e The His-t.i! fvure. . 11Y KL'l'll ("H KSTERMKLI). "SIhhi, slum! tipt home, yoil plauny critters! ' cried Mr. ! :! cock, waving his arms as lie chaed dozen sheep and lambs through a gap in the 'enee. It was a wooden feint1, and when he had succeeded in driving the animal-, the other side of it, he lifted it t'r. in its re cliuing position i id iriH'd it np with stakes. Thi was an operation he IihiI found himself 'obliged to re peat many lime in the course of the season, ami not y of that season, but of several previous seasoi s. Yet Mr. I'alicock was neither shick nor thriftless; in tact, he rather prided himself' on the orderly apearahce of his larm, ami not without, reason. How theh shall we account for his negligence in this particular in. stance? The truth was that this fence formed the boundary line between his estate and that of Mr. Small; and three generations of men who owned these, estates had been un able to decide to whom it belonged to rebuild and keep it iu repair. H the owners had chanced to be men ot jieaceable dispositions, they had compromised the matter and avoid ed a quarrel ; hut if, on the contrary, they liclonged to that much larger class who would sooner sacrifice their own comfort and convenience than their so-caled right, this fence had Ieeu a source of unending bickerings and strife. And of this class were the present owners Again and again they had consulted their respective lawyers on the sub ject, and dragged from their hiding places musty old deals and records, but always with the same result. ' 1 say it be ougs to yon to keep St in repair; that's a plain as a pike-statf," Mr. Babcock would say. " And I say it lel ngs to you any fool might see that," Mr. Sti'a'l would rep y, and then high words would follow, and they would part in anger, mure determined and ob (tiuate than ever. The lawyers' fees and the loss by damages from each other's cattle had already amounted to a stun sufficient to have built a fence round their entire es tates, but what was that comared to the satisfaction ot having their own way ? There were not wanting in the neighborhood peace-makers who would gladly have settle the affair by arbitration ; but to this neither of the belligerents wonid listen tor a moment At last one day, Miss Letitia Gill, a woman much respec ted in the village, and ot some weight as a laud-owner and tax payer, sent for Mr. Babcock to come and sec her on business; a summons which he made haste to obey, as how could he do otherwise where a lady was concerned? Miss Letitia sat at the window sewing np a seam, but she dropped her work and took off her spectae'es when Mr. Babcock made his ap jtearauce. " So you got my message; thank youforenmiug, i'm sure. Sit down, do. I suppose my man Isaac told you I wauled to consult you on a matter of business a matter of equity, I may say. It can't be ex pected that we womeu folks should bo - the bet jtidges about such things, yon know; there's Isaao, to be sure, but thou he lives on the place, and may be he wouldn't be exactly impartial in his judgment about our affairs." Jes' Ro,'Said Mr. Babcock. 'Well, the state of the case is this : When Isaao came op from the long meadow to dinner they're mowing the meadow ; uwlay, and an uncommonly good yield there is when he came up to dinner he found that certain stray cows had broken into the vegetable garden" " He did, liey?" " You can 'aney I he riot they made.- I declare Isaac was almost ready to use pro sue language. I'm not sure that he didn't say 'deuce,' and I'm certain le did say 'darn;' and after all. I cott dn'l 'eel to re protteh him very severely, for the pains he has taken with that gar den ,is something amazing; work ing in it, .Mr, I ahcock, early and late, weeding, and digging, and waterinir: and now to see it ah torn and trample1 so that you wouldn't kiow which was beets and which was cucumliers; it's enough to rouse uinbod.i tern, per." " It is so," said. Mr. Hancock. " And that isn't all. for by the looks of things they must have been ramaging a lull hour in the Vr chard and clover-field before they got juto the garden. Just you come and see ;" and putting on her sunhonnet, Miss Letitia showed Mr. Babcock over the damaged, preen ct " Yo'i don't happen to know whose animals did the mischief?" said Mr. Babcock. " Well, 1 did.i't observe them iii particu ar myself, but Isaac said them was one with a peculiar while mark, something like a cross, on her haunch." "Why, that's Small's old Drift, del," cried Mr. Babcock. "I know the mark as well as I Know the nose on my face. She had balls on her horns, didn't she?" " Yes, so Isaac said " " And a kind of hump on her back?" " A perfect dromedary," said Miss Letitia. "I noticed that my self:" "Tliey were Small's cows no doubt about it at all." said Mr. Hancock, rubbing his hands. "No sheep with them, hey?" "Well, now I think of it, there were sheep ; they ran away as soon as lliey saw Isaac. Yes, certainly there were sheep," said Miss Letitia. "I knew it they always go with the co s; and what you wish of me " "Is to fix the damages,'' said Miss Letitia. "As I said before, wome' folk are no judges about such matters." Mr. Babcock meditated a mo ment, and then said "Well, I wouldn't take a cent less than seventy-five dollars, if I were you not a cent." "Seventy-five dollars ! Isn't that a good deal, Mr. Babcock? You know I don't wish to be hard on the poor man ; all I want is a fair compensation for the mischief done." "Seventy-five dollars js fair, ma'am in fact, I may say it's low; I wouldn't have a herd of cattle anrt sheep tramping through my premises iu that way for a hun dred." "There's one thing I forgot to state: the orchard gate was open or they couldn't have got in ; that may make a difference." "Not a bit, not a bit. You'd a right to have your gate open, bui Small's cows had no right to run loose. I hoie Isaac drove 'em all to pound, didn't he?" "I heard him say he'd shut 'era up somewhere, and didn't mean to let 'em otit till the owner calls for 'em. But, Mr. Babcock, what it he should refuse to pay the dam ages? I should hate to go to law about it." "He won't refuse; it he does, keep the critters till he will pay. As to law, I guess he's bad about enough of that," "I'm sore I thank you for your j advice," said Mm Letitia, "aud I mean to act upon it to the very letter." And Mr. Babcock took hislea'.e with a very happy expression of coiintet aice., .'earcely was he out sight when Miss f etitia sent a sinnmons tor Mr. Small, which he obeyed as promptly as Ins neighbor had dm. She made to ,him precisely the aitic statement she had made to Mr. I'ahcork, showed him the in jured iiroiierty, am! asked him to fix damages. It wa remarkable that before he did this, he should a-k t'-e same question Vr. labcek hail asked, namely, whether she had any sus piciou to whom the animals be longed. "Well, one of them I observed bad a terribly crooked horn." "Precisely; it's I alvock's heifer. I should know her among a thous and. She was black and white, wa-n't she?" "Well, now I think of it she was; one seldom sees so clear a black and white on a cow " "To be sure, they're Paleock's animals fast enough Well, Jet me see, what you want is just glwut a fa r estimate, I suppose?" "Certainly. ' "Well, I shou'd say ninety did. lars was as low as he ought to be allowed to get off with " "0, but I tear that will seem as if I meant to take advantage. Sup jiose we ca I it say seventy-five ?" "Just as you jilease, of course; but hanged if Pd let him off for less than a hundred, if 'twas my case." "And it he refuses to pav" "Why, keep his animals till he c mes round, that's all." " But tl lere's one thing I neglected to mention : our gate was standing ojieii; that may alter the case." "Not at all; there's no law against your keeping your gate oiieu ; there is against stray ani mals." "Very well; thank you tor your advice," said Miss Leiilia; and Mr. Sma'l departed with as smiling a countenance as Mr. labcock had wqrii. But atJpilking-time that night tie madeHRliSo'ie discovery, old Brindle w missing! At altont the same hour Mr. Bab cock made a similar discovery; the black and white heifer was nowhere to be found ! A horrible suspicion seized them both a suspicion which they would not have made ki own to each other tor the world. They waited till it was dark, and then Mr. Babcock stole round to Miss I.etitia's,. and meekly asked leave to look at the animals which had committed the trespa-s. lie wou'd have done it without asking leave, only that thrifty Miss Letitia always lucked her barn doors al night. While he stood looking over into the pen where the cows were con fined, and trying to negotiate with Miss Letitia for the release of the heifer, along came Mr. Small iu quest of Briud e. The two men stared at each other tor an instant iu blank dismay, then hung their heads iu contusion. It was useless to assert that the damages were too high, for had they not fixed them themselves? It was useless to plead that .Miss Letitia was in a maimer resxisible for what iiad happened, on account of the open gate, for had they not assured her that circum stance did not affect the case. It was useless to say that she had no right to keep the cows in custody, for had they not counse'ed her to do so ? As to going to law about it, would they not thus become the sport of the whole town? " 'lie that diggeth a pit, he him. self shall fall into it,'" said Miss, Letitia, who read what wa pasting in their minds as well as if they Imd spoken, tor the light ot Isaac's lan tern fell full on their faces. "Flow ever, I don't wish to be ban! upon yii, and on one condition I will free the cows and forgive yon the debt." T "What is that?" Both Wked the question, but did not ask it. " I he c ndition is that you prom ise to put a good new fence iu place of the old one that seiarates your estate.-, dividing the cost between you, awl that hence'orth you will live ieaceab y together as far as iu you lies. IJo you promise?" "Yes," muttered both, iu a voice scarcely audible " hake hauds upon it, then," said Miss I etitia. They did ho. "Xow let the cows out. Tsaac; it's time they were milked," said she. And the two men went away driving their animals before them, whith a shame'accd air greatly in ctrast to the look of triumph with which they had last quilted her presence. The feme was built, and the strife ceased when the cause was removed, but it was long Wort Miss Letitia's iart of the affair came to the public ear; for she her self maintained a strict silence con cerning it, and enjoined the same upon her man-servant Isaac. Youth's Companion. The Fflteet or Mood Acting;. "When I was a poor girl," re. tains Mrs. oott Millions, the ac tress, "working very "hard for thirty shillings a week, I went down to Liverpool during the holidays. where I was kindly received. 1 was to pertorm in a new piece something like those pretty little affecting dramas they get up now at the minor theatres and in my diameter 1 represented a poor friendless orphan girl, educed to the most wretched poverty. A heartless tradesman prosecutes the sad heroine for a heavy debt, and insists on putting her in prison un less some one will be bail for her. The girl replies, ' I hen I have no hope I have not a friend in the world!' 'What! will no one be bail for you to save you from priso1?' asks the stern creditor. 'I have told you I have W a friend on earth,' was my reply. But just as I was uttering the words I saw a sailor iu the upper gal'ery springing over the railing, letting himself down from one tier to another, until he bounded o ear over the orchestra and foot-lights, and placed himself beside me in a moment. 'Yes, yon shall have one friend, at least, my pojr young woman !' said he, with the greatest expression in his honest, sunburnt countenance. (I will go bail for yon to any amount ! And as for you, turning to the frightened actor, 'if you don't bear a hand and shift your moorings, yon lubber, it will be the worse for you when I come athwart your bows.' Every creature iu the house rose ; the up roar was perfectly indescribable peals of laughter, screams ot terror, cheers from his tawny messmates in the gallery, preparatory scraping of violins in the orchesta; and .amid the universal diu tram stood the unconscious cause of it sheltering me, 'the poor distressd young wom an,' and breathing defiance and destruction against my mimic pros ecutor. He was only persuaded to relinquish his care ot me by the manager's pretending to arrive and rescue me wih a profusion of theat rical bank note,' " lady raudon-R ladying Hate. Ill the will of the Countess of Loudon, who died iu England re cently, was found a clause directing that her right hand be cut off and lamed iii the park at Castle Den ningtmi, at the bend of the hill to the Trent, with a small cross over it, hearing the motto, "I byde my tyme." The explanation of this sin gular request shows that the Court tess, who had been a life-long enemy of Queen Victoria, desired to carry her implacable hatred ot Victoria lieyond the grave. The place of burial im tinned overlooks one of tlie Queen's country seats. The skeleton hand with its threatening epitaph was meant to point its slow unwavering finger at the Queen, reminding her of the injustice done long years ago to a yout.ger sister of the Countess. In the early queenhood ot Victoria the sister mentioned was a maid ot honor. Gay and thoughtless, the yonng girl had a freedom of manner which gave the gossips of the day an op portunity, all too well abused, of blackening her fame, which had been tarnished by no criminal acts of hers. The Queen barkened to the slander, and banished the beautiful but indiscreet girl from Iter household. The falsity of the scandal was shown, but not until the poor, dishonored maid ot honor had died of a broken heart. The Countess of London blamed the Queen for her sister's untimely fate, and determined to revenge that sister's wrongs. Never after did she appear at court, and upon every royal fete day kept closely immured. Her (Mst-mortem pur suit of the Queen is ghastly but im potent. Queen Victoria Indorses nr. Bar torwt The Washington correspondent of the N. Y. Journal of Com merce writes: "Mr. Sartoris is a descendant vof the Huguenot refugees. His father, a conservative and one of the best known members ot the Carlton Club, is a promient merchant, and does a large East Indian business. His uncle, Mr. Samuda, M. P., also of the Huguenot refugees, it known as the largest ship builder on the 1 hames, and an authority in the navy debates in Parliament It is not geuerally known that Queen Victoria, as soon as she heard of the proposed marriage, made in. quiries regarding Mr. Sartoris, and wrote a letter to the President in which she confidently indorsed him. The letter probably arose from the sincere personal attachment which the Queen felt toward Miss Grant, and the esteem she felt for the Pres ident of this republic iu his official capacity. It is hinted by those cognisant of the situation that the royal heart Will he moved to some especial mark of approbation in con- tuft Si tit Until tia inflMiarta ft im jvri rvivn mm init l Ufcv, aw id believed among Euglismneu who know, or anW to know, a little about the court, that the Queen will invite the couple to visit Wind. W"B v srVJV M w". DV'HV WW VI nobility upon the bridegroom There is a confident belief that President Grant will visit Europe after his presidential term ; and the idea of tendering him the freedom ' of the City in such event is already favorably talked of in the London 1 elubr,"