The Gentleman from Indiana | Page 2

their teams to the fence, for there were usually loafers
energetic enough to shout "Whoa!" if the flies worried the horses
beyond patience. In the yard, amongst the weeds and tall, unkept grass,
chickens foraged all day long; the fence was so low that the most
matronly hen flew over with propriety; and there were gaps that
accommodated the passage of itinerant pigs. Most of the latter,
however, preferred the cool wallows of the less important street corners.
Here and there a big dog lay asleep in the middle of the road, knowing
well that the easy-going Samaritan, in his case, would pass by on the
other side.

Only one street attained to the dignity of a name--Main Street, which
formed the north side of the Square. In Carlow County, descriptive
location is usually accomplished by designating the adjacent, as, "Up at
Bardlocks'," "Down by Schofields'," "Right where Hibbards live,"
"Acrost from Sol. Tibbs's," or, "Other side of Jones's field." In winter,
Main Street was a series of frozen gorges land hummocks; in fall and
spring, a river of mud; in summer, a continuing dust heap; it was the
best street in Plattville.
The people lived happily; and, while the world whirled on outside, they
were content with their own. It would have moved their surprise as
much as their indignation to hear themselves spoken of as a "secluded
community"; for they sat up all night to hear the vote of New York,
every campaign. Once when the President visited Rouen, seventy miles
away, there were only few bankrupts (and not a baby amongst them)
left in the deserted homes of Carlow County. Everybody had
adventures; almost everybody saw the great man; and everybody was
glad to get back home again. It was the longest journey some of them
ever set upon, and these, elated as they were over their travels,
determined to think twice ere they went that far from home another
time.
On Saturdays, the farmers enlivened the commercial atmosphere of
Plattville; and Miss Tibbs, the postmaster's sister and clerk, used to
make a point of walking up and down Main Street as often as possible,
to get a thrill in the realization of some poetical expressions that
haunted her pleasingly; phrases she had employed frequently in her
poems for the "Carlow County Herald." When thirty or forty country
people were scattered along the sidewalks in front of the stores on Main
Street, she would walk at nicely calculated angles to the different
groups so as to leave as few gaps as possible between the figures,
making them appear as near a solid phalanx as she could. Then she
would murmur to herself, with the accent of soulful revel, "The
thronged city streets," and, "Within the thronged city," or, "Where the
thronging crowds were swarming and the great cathedral rose."
Although she had never been beyond Carlow and the bordering
counties in her life, all her poems were of city streets and bustling

multitudes. She was one of those who had been unable to join the
excursion to Rouen when the President was there; but she had listened
avidly to her friends' descriptions of the crowds. Before that time her
muse had been sylvan, speaking of "Flow'rs of May," and hinting at
thoughts that overcame her when she roved the woodlands thro'; but
now the inspiration was become decidedly municipal and urban,
evidently reluctant to depart beyond the retail portions of a metropolis.
Her verses beginning, "O, my native city, bride of Hibbard's winding
stream,"-- Hibbard's Creek runs west of Plattville, except in time of
drought--"When thy myriad lights are shining, and thy faces, like a
dream, Go flitting down thy sidewalks when their daily toil is done,"
were pronounced, at the time of their publication, the best poem that
had ever appeared in the "Herald."
This unlucky newspaper was a thorn in the side of every patriot of
Carlow County. It was a poor paper; everybody knew it was a poor
paper; it was so poor that everybody admitted it was a poor
paper--worse, the neighboring county of Amo possessed a better paper,
the "Amo Gazette." The "Carlow County Herald" was so everlastingly
bad that Plattville people bent their heads bitterly and admitted even to
citizens of Amo that the "Gazette" was the better paper. The "Herald"
was a weekly, issued on Saturday; sometimes it hung fire over Sunday
and appeared Monday evening. In their pride, the Carlow people
supported the "Herald" loyally and long; but finally subscriptions began
to fall off and the "Gazette" gained them. It came to pass that the
"Herald" missed fire altogether for several weeks; then it came out
feebly, two small advertisements occupying the whole of the fourth
page. It was breathing its last. The editor was a clay-colored gentleman
with a goatee,