"Do you see that snug-looking
house there," said he, "with a short sarce garden afore it, that
belongs to Elder Thomson. The Elder is pretty close-fisted, and holds
special fast to all he gets. He is a just man and very pious, but
I have observed when a man becomes near about too good, he is apt,
sometimes, to slip ahead into avarice, unless he looks sharp arter
his girths. A friend of mine in Connecticut, an old sea Captain, who
was once let in for it pretty deep, by a man with a broader brim than
common, he said to me, 'Friend Sam, I don't like those folks who are
too damned good.' There is, I expect, some truth in it, tho' he
needn't have swore at all, but he was an awful hand to swear.
Howsomever that may be, there is a story about the Elder, that's not
so coarse neither.
"It appears an old Minister came there once, to hold a meetin' at his
house--well, after meetin' was over, the Elder took the minister all
over his farm, which is pretty tidy, I tell you; and he showed him
a great Ox he had, and a swingeing big Pig, that weighed some six
or seven hundred weight, that he was plaguy proud of, but he never
offered the old minister anything to eat or drink. The preacher was
pretty tired of all this, and seeing no prospect of being asked to
partake with the family, and tolerably sharp set, he asked one of the
boys to fetch him his horse out of the barn.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51