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Page 70
"Well, yis. I thought yeou'd be speakin' o' that. I'm forty year old
and she's abeout eighteen, or so. Consid'able difference in eour ages.
I told her abeout that t'other day, and she sed, well she didn't see
but I 'peared abeout as young as she did. She didn't see much
difference. So ef she's sahtisfied, I'd oughter be. But Captin,' I'll
tell ye, she's a curus leetle critter as ever ye see. She has spells
of playin' off all kinds o' tricks on me and hectorin' me every way
she ken, but the minit she sees me look sober, as ef I felt any way
bad, she leaves right off, and comes up and kisses me, and ses she
didn't mean anything by it, and is as good as a kitten".
Alas! poor Micah! You see, Miss Ad�le, he is in the meshes, and there
we must leave him for the present. I have taken pains to give you the
above in his own language, as it is so much more graphic than any I
could employ.
My letter of Miramichi gossip has, swollen, unconsciously, to an
enormous size, and I fear I am getting tedious. Be patient a few
minutes longer, dear friends, while I tell you of Mr. John Lansdowne.
I happened in the city of P---- last winter, on business, and just
before leaving town I went to call on Mr. Lansdowne. Aunt Esther, Mr.
John's nurse, an aged negro woman who has been a member of the
household many years, answered my ring at the door. Finding that none
of the family were at home, I was turning to leave when Aunt Esther
begged me to come in, saying she reckoned they would soon be back, as
they had already been several hours absent, adding, good soul, that
"they'd all be dreffully disapinted not to see me."
I knew that several months prior to this, Mr. Lansdowne had been
admitted to the practice of law and had become junior partner in
business, to the distinguished Mr. Eldon of P. And I now gathered from
Aunt Esther, that the Supreme Court was in session, and that a great
criminal case was being tried before the jury. Mr. Eldon had been
taken ill, just before the trial came on, and had urged Mr. Lansdowne
to take his place in Court, saying, he could argue the case as well as
himself. Mr. John, as Aunt Esther informed me, did it with great
reluctance, though she didn't see why. "He always does everything he
sets out to do, 'markable nice. But Massa and Missus felt kind of
anxious, and they v'e gone into Court, with other gemmen and ladies,
to hear how't goes. I feel no concern about it. I know he'll make a
splen'id talk, anyhow, cos he always does".
After waiting half an hour, I was obliged to leave messages of regret
with Aunt Esther and hasten home.
I observed in "The Eastern Gazette" of the following week, a notice of
Mr. Lansdowne's plea before the jury, in the great case of "The
Commonwealth _vs_ Jenkins," in which he was eulogized in the highest
terms. He was said to have displayed "great acumen, extensive legal
acquirements, and magnificent powers of oratory." So, Aunt Esther's
confidence, about the "splen'id talk," was not without a reasonable
basis.
I was highly gratified, myself, in reading the flattering paragraphs.
You know we all greatly admired the young gentleman at Miramichi. He
has a brilliant earthly future before him, should his life and
faculties be spared.
Micah was much charmed with the intelligence I brought him of his old
favorite.
"I ain't a mite surprised at what you v'e sed abeout the young man.
Ever sence I took that trip inter the woods with him, I know'd he'd
the genooine ring o' trew metal tew him. When he gits to be President
o' the United States, I shall sell eout here and go hum to the
Kennebec".
Please let me hear from you soon, my dear friends. It seems long since
I have had tidings from you.
With an abiding gratitude for past kindness, shown by you to a weary
wanderer from home, and with the warmest respect and friendship, I
remain as ever,
Yours truly,
SAMUEL J. NORTON.
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