Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 July 1869 — Jeans Lincoln. [ARTICLE]

Jeans Lincoln.

Afcfctdf IfeetoOOlknaylMd old Windham county ni a oerUln Eeto srsssrazrjsr i£& £.£l XSL, S;kw« -vUtad. Indeed, he waa one whom the wnrfead ao onaetUed that he to never at rad except when tnmptng eronnd end *hrlm about." He wee a hermleee, geedwetoired, cider-drinking, etory -tailing old Mow, whom everybody wee dad to Me, bon with, chatted with, laughed at, m? petted, for he we* alone In the world; a end condition, which he however took very philoeophically, ooneollng htmeelf by o. aU the ilia which roamed men and heedi at hnQiv are . heir to. ; y

Though unueualy idle and vagabondieh in hie habits, he wee a man of wonderlh) energy andpereeverance when once hie spirit wee np. On one occaaion, when be had extended n ramble to the vicinity of Hartford, he fonnd himself at the ferry, op potato the city, without a shilling in his {33*. He proposed to the ferryman to allow him a free passage, wropitangto pay on his next visit. But the Yankee Oharon n foaed, - with a churlish “No,miatar, ] dbn*t take you nor no other old tramp for nothin’! So deown with your rhino, or cleereoutt” “ Waal, thou,” exclaimed the old Soldier, “you go to thunder with your old skeow 11 won't be beholden to yon, or anybody of your sort; for 11l Jest go mound yer darned old river—st* if I don't! ” The ferryman laughed at what he took for an idle threat; but some week* later he waa accosted at the citr-landing by the same red-cheeked, roughly-clad old soldier, who triumphantly exclaimed : “ Weal, 1 Asm been roonnd yer old river; and here I am, in spite of you, old skinflint.” It proved that he bad actually performed the exploit of following the Connecticut river to iu head—of going round it, in fact, with no other incentive than the desire to show himself independent of the ferryman. On another occasion, he appbed for the loan of a scythe, at the house of a neighbor, who was a bridge-buildef. * Ito rely sorry, Mr. Lincoln,” said the wife of the mechanic, “ that I cant accommodate ye; but my husband ain’t to hum, ye see, and he says to me, jest before he went away: ‘ Betsy,’ says he, 'don't you lend nothin’ of mine to nobody, not on no account, while lam gone.’ So, Mr. Lincoln, ye see 1 can’t let that scythe go, even to ' where bouts it yeur hu*bsndj mafm?" “ Oh, he’s way deevn in Pennaylvany buildin’ a bridge.” “ Waal, I guess, if I go deowa to where he’s to work, and git his consent, ye'll lend me that are scythe.” “ bartin, Mr. Lincoln. But man alive, what on airth do you mean ? I tell ye he’s way down in Pennaylvany.” The old soldier laughed in his droll, knowing way; then questioned her aim | the exact locality of her husband’s bridgebuilding operations, and took his leave. That very afternoon he departed on one of his “ grand tours,” with only * change of linen, tied in a blue checked handkerchktufitfnging from a stick over his shoulder, and whistling cheerily aa he ]sft tbedXll old town behind him. About ten days or a fortnight later he appdUridbefore the astonished mechanic, exclaiming: “Hullo! Billina, will yeon laid me yer scythe for a spell ? That are wife of yourn won’t let it go without yeon say ao. Got her pretty well under your thumb, hain’t ye ? Or, mebbe she’s afeared SS&SESSKr® Wan days later Mistress Billings was astonished to see her eccentric neighbor appear, all dusty and travel-worn, at her door, and to hear him aay, quietly: “Yes, mam, your man says I may take that are scythe; and its high tirfitf that lee tie medder of mine was mowed.” It was a peculiarity of the old pensioner that he could never be told any news, though himself a great newsmonger. He alwura professed to knote. everything h i ttfltrmiebefore his enterprisihjpinfomer. He was onee very neatly caught by a waggish neighbor, who suddenly opened upon him with the startling intelligence WWB rttMnflgl through Windham. “Du tell, neow. When? Where ia the critter?” he exclaimed, quite thrown off his guard. But the next instant, dropping his look of wonder and surprise, for his usual knowing expression, he added: “I heerd they were arter kirn : but I didn't know they’d ootehed him yit”— Eastern Paper.