Stories of “Lord Timothy Dexter” and old New England Ghost Stories were among the interesting narratives that had entertained the society. We give two of these,— Blingo the Blacksmith, or Lord Timothy Dexter’s Poet and The Darby Ring.
THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING.
BLINGO, THE BLACKSMITH.
Tommy Topp sat sunning himself in the wide open door of Blingo’s blacksmith shop, when a cloud of dust appeared in the highway; a chariot presently broke into view from the dusty cloud, and four black horses stopped under the golden elms that shaded a rustic watering-trough near the rural smithy.
This was a strange event. People did not ride in “chariots” in Massachusetts during the last century, as a rule, and never in a chariot like this.
MACMONNIES (COLUMBIAN) FOUNTAIN.
The vehicle was not of the classic Roman pattern, such as swept under the triumphal arches in the purple days of the emperors; nor, indeed, a state coach like the disjointed affairs of the days of good Queen Anne. But it was as lively and picturesque in color as a band carriage of to-day, and it was ornamented with a very curious coat-of-arms, the design of which was mysterious, and probably was intended to be so.
Tommy Topp started up with eyes wide with wonder. Blingo dropped an iron whiffle-tree that he was making, and ran to the door, shading his eyes with his sooty hand.
THE PERISTYLE.