[...]... Portland I had heard a good deal about Portland, what a fine place it was, and how the folks got rich there proper fast; and that fall there was a couple of new papers come up to our place from there, called the "Portland Courier" and "Family Reader," and they told a good many queer kind of things about Portland, and one thing and another; and all at once it popped into my head, and I up and told father,... have no morbid interest in the affairs of my neighbors They behaved like a pair of lovers who had run off and got married clandestinely I willingly acquitted them, however, of having done anything unlawful; for, to change a word in the lines of the poet, "It is a joy to think the best We may of human kind." Admitting the hypothesis of elopement, there was no mystery in their neither sending nor receiving... good of you yet." He turned and walked across the room, but I could see the tears start into his eyes And mother sat down and had a hearty crying-spell This made me feel rather bad for a minit or two, and I almost had a mind to give it up; and then again father's dream came into my mind, and I mustered up courage, and declared I'd go So I tackled up the old horse, and packed in a load of axehandles, and. .. lived, and went there, and put the old horse up, and eat some supper, and went to bed And the next morning I got up, and straightened right off to see the editor of the "Portland Courier," for I knew by what I had seen in his paper, that he was just the man to tell me which way to steer And when I come to see him, I knew I was right; for soon as I told him my name, and what I wanted, he took me by the hand... perceptible means of subsistence, and manage to live royally on nothing a year They hold no government bonds, they possess no real estate (our neighbors did own their house), they toil not, neither do they spin; yet they reap all the numerous soft advantages that usually result from honest toil and skilful spinning How do they do it? But this is a digression, and I am quite of the opinion of the old lady... names.) It was clear that, for the present at least, their own company was entirely sufficient for them They made no advance toward the acquaintance of any of the families in the neighborhood, and consequently were left to themselves That, apparently, was what they desired, and why they came to Ponkapog For after its black bass and wild duck and teal, solitude is the chief staple of Ponkapog Perhaps its perfect... burst into the library with their eyes sparkling "You know the old elm down the road?" cried one "Yes." "The elm with the hang-bird's nest?" shrieked the other "Yes, yes!" "Well, we both just climbed up, and there's three young ones in it!" Then I smiled to think that our new neighbors had got such a promising little family MY FIRST VISIT TO PORTLAND BY MAJOR JACK DOWNING In the fall of the year 1829,... notions; and mother fried me some doughnuts, and put 'em into a box, along with some cheese, and sausages, and ropped me up another shirt, for I told her I didn't know how long I should be gone And after I got rigged out, I went round and bid all the neighbors good-by, and jumped in, and drove off for Portland Aunt Sally had been married two or three years before, and moved to Portland; and I inquired... quite early in the spring, if I remember, when they moved into the cottage—a newly married couple, evidently: the wife very young, pretty, and with the air of a lady; the husband somewhat older, but still in the first flush of manhood It was understood in the village that they came from Baltimore; but no one knew them personally, and they brought no letters of introduction (For obvious reasons, I refrain... any more than the man in the moon "Why," says he, "they go ahead And you must drive about among the folks here just as though you were at home, on the farm among the cattle Don't be afraid of any of them, but figure away, and I dare say you'll get into good business in a very little while But," says he, "there's one thing you must be careful of; and that is, not to get into the hands of those are folks . class="bi x0 y0 w0 h0" alt="" The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wit and Humor of America, Volume III. (of X. ), by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost. or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www .gutenberg. org Title: The Wit and Humor of America, Volume III. (of X. ) Author: Various Editor:. Edition THE WIT AND HUMOR OF AMERICA In Ten Volumes VOL. III