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Mis’ Elderkin’s Pitcher
by
“Wal, arter sermon the relations all went over to the old house to hear the will read; and, as I was kind o’ friend with the family, I jest slipped in along with the rest.
“Squire Jones he had the will; and so when they all got sot round all solemn, he broke the seals and unfolded it, cracklin’ it a good while afore he begun; and it was so still you might a heard a pin drop when he begun to read. Fust, there was the farm and stock, he left to his son John Brown over in Sherburne. Then there was the household stuff and all them things, spoons and dishes, and beds and kiver-lids, and so on, to his da’ter Polly Blanchard. And then, last of all, he says, he left to his da’ter Miry the pitcher that was on the top o’ the shelf in his bedroom closet.
“That ‘are was an old cracked pitcher that Miry allers hed hated the sight of, and spring and fall she used to beg her father to let her throw it away; but no, he wouldn’t let her touch it, and so it stood gatherin’ dust.
“Some on ’em run and handed it down; and it seemed jest full o’ scourin’-sand and nothin’ else, and they handed it to Miry.
“Wal, Miry she was wrathy then. She didn’t so much mind bein’ left out in the will, ’cause she expected that; but to have that ‘are old pitcher poked at her so sort o’ scornful was more’n she could bear.
“She took it and gin it a throw across the room with all her might; and it hit agin the wall and broke into a thousand bits, when out rolled hundreds of gold pieces; great gold eagles and guineas flew round the kitchen jest as thick as dandelions in a meadow. I tell you, she scrabbled them up pretty quick, and we all helped her.
“Come to count ’em over, Miry had the best fortin of the whole, as ’twas right and proper she should. Miry she was a sensible gal, and she invested her money well; and so, when Bill Elderkin got through his law-studies, he found a wife that could make a nice beginnin’ with him. And that’s the way, you see, they came to be doin’ as well as they be.
“So, boys, you jest mind and remember and allers see what there is in a providence afore you quarrel with it, ’cause there’s a good many things in this world turns out like Mis’ Elderkin’s pitcher.”