Spite o' the grand bloomin' o' the flowers.
I guess 'twas a little mite sad fer him too.
Folks said he 'd bought it to marry on,
An' then he never did marry.

But ther' set the house,

Starin' at him with its white paint

An' sort o' pintin' back'ards.

I guess when he bought it, it told him "Bime-by, Bime-by," all the

time,

But afterwards it fairly hollered, "Too late!"

It stood like a lady all dizened up fer a party

An' carryin' a bouquet,

But when you come to look at her, she was blind.

I mind I used to think 'twas awful creepy

When the moon dazzled it of a June evenin',
An' the flowers was noddin', and jostlin',

An' whisperin'.

I used to commence runnin' at the Court House

An' keep on clear past the church

When I had to pass it.

An' that was queer too,

Fer Joseph Peters, the hired man,

Lived in the back part,

An' I'd go in once in a while with young Joe

An' git a ginger-cookie.

Mrs. Peters liked us to come in.

Maybe she felt lonesome with that great, empty, echoin' house
Behind her.

You see, boys,

So we did n't have to go through the yard at all. Even Joe did n't care about the front after sunset. 'Twas like two houses,

One livin' an' one dead,

An' the dead house meant the most, I guess.

When a new doctor come to Pelham.
He'd had hospital trainin' down to Boston,
An' only fer his havin' a weak heart
He'd never ha' left the city.

'Twas a fine thing fer Pelham to git him.

He was full o' notions 'bout sprains an' fevers,

An' one o' them was that the old doctor's house was a pesky little

place

Fer the likes o' him,

He must have somethin' better.

Well, boys, you know how 'tis,

Most o' th' houses was lived in a'ready,

So Doctor Busby he peered roun' and roun'

But could n't hit on a place to suit him 'Ceptin' James Boott's house,

An' that he fixed his mind to

Till ther' warn't no movin' him.
Folks told him 'twould n't do,

That James would n't sell,

But he only said, "Tut! Tut! We 'll see,'

99

And walked off down the street, steppin' out real jaunty

In a way he had.

One day I was shootin' marbles all alone,

Playin' one hand agin t'other,

In the drive by the Court House,

When I seed 'em comin'.

Doctor Busby was hustlin' 'long with his big stride,

An' James Boott was creepin' toward him

Made me look up.

They stopped jest opposite the white house

An' I thought it 'peared brighter 'n usual

With the big, shiny clouds blowin' over the chimblies.

"Good-mornin', Mr. Boott," says Dr. Busby. "Good-mornin', Doctor," says James.

An' 'twas jest like a little fife

Answerin' a big bass drum.

Well, the doctor started right in sayin' he wanted to buy the house. And James listened to him,

Leanin' on his stick, an' sort o' quiverin'.

Leastways I thought he quivered,

But maybe 'twas only the shadows o' the leaves from the great elm

tree

Dancin' on his shoulders.

"The house ain't fer sale," says James,

Short and quick.

"But you don't live in it," persisted the doctor.

"My hired man does," snapped James,

An' jerked up as though fer walkin' on.

"But, my dear sir," the doctor was al'ays polite Even when he was drawin' a tooth,

"Surely you ain't a-goin' to keep a valuable house empty Jest fer the sake o' your servant?"

Now that's what all Pelham had been saying fer years

But nobody had n't never durst say it to James afore.
"That, Dr. Busby, is my affair," the old man lashed out,

An' I declare he was stan'in' up as straight as a new willer shoot,
An' gimletin' his eyes right into the doctor.

I cal❜late Dr. Busby thought he 'd gone too fer,

For he started praisin' the hollyhocks and dahlias,

An' after a while he got round to the way the house was built,

An' kep' a speakin' o' Doric columns, an' the fan-light over the door,

An' a heap o' things I could n't understan'.

I could see the old gentleman was pleased,

But when the doctor come to money

He shied like a colt

An' turned off on to somethin' else quick as a flash.

I declare I felt as ef I was to a badger-baitin'.

The doctor he up and at it agin and agin,

But James give him the slip every time.

An' all the while the little shadows kep' bobbin' over 'em,
And the great clouds breezin' above.

I call to mind I watched 'em

And tried to figger out how many men like them two
Could stand on one of 'em.

Boys do have queer fancies sometimes.

Well, the long an' the short o' it was

That the doctor did n't git ahead a mite.

It made me chuckle

To think o' that old man,

Teeterin' on his cane

An' not able to take a step without it,

Jest blockin' the way fer that great big doctor.

In the end he give over an' 'lowed he was beaten.

"I see you won't sell," says he,

"But maybe at least you 'll let me see the inside o' that beautiful house,

Mr. Boott.'

I'd 'bout come to believin' ther' warn't no inside.

Old James he stroked his chin.

"It's a handsome house,

A handsome house, doctor,

But I ain't kep' it up inside," he says.

That fair riled me,

Not kep' up the inside,

With all the outside fixed like a parlour!

But the doctor did n't seem to care,

He said the woodwork would be ther'

An' the chimbley-pieces.

'T warn't woodwork an' chimbley-pieces I was set on,

But my ears was fit to bust listenin', jest the same.

I wondered would James hit him with his cane,

Or would he take him into the Court House

An' have the law on him fer trespassin'.
But he did n't do neither.

He jest turned a sort o' dark pink
All over his wrinkled face,
An' then he said, hollow-like,
"Very well, Dr. Busby,

I will take you int' th' house.

Would four o'clock on Thursday afternoon suit you?"
The doctor said 'twould,

An' then they parted.

I heered the tappin' o' that malaccer cane

Fer three good minutes after the doctor's steps
Had stopped soundin' in the other direction.

I guess Thursday was awful long a-comin' ter me,
Fer, you understan', I 'd made my mind up

To see the house too.

So I sized up that yard

Same as though I was huntin' fer a jack-knife I 'd lost.

I squatted behind the flower-beds

An' squeezed under the bushes,

An' when four o'clock Thursday come

I was ther';

But I guess 'twould ha' taken more 'n old James Boott's eyes ter see me

Even with his spectacles on.

I can't tell you how I felt when I heered the key

Strikin' on the lock.

Jest rememberin' the awful moan the door give
When James pushed it open.

'Twas like a livin' thing cryin' out,

An' somethin' come rushin' out o' that door too,
Damp an' musty,

An' ther warn't nothin' at all.