Stories - Ezra Pelham (incomplete novel)

 

Ezra Pelham

 

The moment Ezra Pelham left the store naturally the conversation tuned in his direction.

“Mighty strange thing Uncle Ez never got hitched up,” suggested Cap’n Joe Peters, looking inquiringly at Judge Patten.

The Judge, however, remained silent.

“’Tis rather strange,” seconded Jed Martin, the boat builder.

“Bein’ worth a lot of money too,” continued Cap’n Joe.

“An’ good lookin’,” added Jed.

“I’ve seen worse,” went on Cap’n Joe, looking straight at Bill Jones, the grocery man.

“Been peekin’ in the looking glass then, I reckon’,” snapped Jones.

“Ho, ho! Bill’s peppery tonight,” laughed Doctor Bradford, one of the regular store sitters.

“First time I ever knew Bill to give any pepper away,” cackled Cap’n Joe. “Just the same, I think it’s a queer thing that a man like Ezra Pelham never got hitched up. Am I right, Judge?”

Now that the question was put directly to him the Judge felt obliged to make some sort of reply.

“There is a story in Ezra Pelham’s life,” he admitted, “but if Ezra Pelham doesn’t care to  relate it I don’t see why anyone else should.”

“Nor I,” chirped the grocery man, quietly.

“Richest man in this part of the county, without a wife, chick or child to leave his property to. I say it ain’t right,” argued Cap’n Joe. “He ought to be givin’ some worthy woman a good house an’ livin’ as a man of his position ought to live. Them’s my sentiments.”

It was not often that Ezra Pelham was criticized by any of the habitues of Jones’s grocery store, and a feeling of resentment ran around the circle.

Doctor Bradford immediately took up the issue.

“Ezra has long given a worthy woman a good home, and not only that, he has supported and educated the woman’s daughter, who, being his niece, will probably inherit his property some day.”

“An’ a mighty good provider he is, too. I tell you, them women don’t want for anything,” said Jones, emphatically.

“A perfectly happy household, I can testify to that,” added Judge Patten.

But Cap’n Joe was not satisfied. He was having one of his un-agreeable spells”, as Mrs. Peters, his wife, was wont to say.

“Mrs. Holbrook an’ Renie are merely relations. They would be provided for anyway,” he persisted. “I am speakin’ of some good woman who mebbie ain’t well provided for, some outsider.”

“Some outsider! Ho, ho! Imagine Ezra Pelham marryin’ some outsider!” chuckled Bill Jones, “why he wouldn’t dare look at a woman sideways.”

“Wouldn’t hey?” queried Cap’n Joe, “an’ after livin’ (insert cut off) down to New York? I guess you don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout, Bill.”

“I may not know what I’m talkin’ about, but I come pretty near knowin’ that Ez Pelham never’ll git married,” replied the grocery man.

“Then there must be a reason,” said Cap’n Joe, doubtfully, “an somebody round here ought to know about it, seems to me,” and he looked inquiringly again at Judge Patten.

“There’s a reason for everything, Cap’n Joe,” the Judge responded cheerily, “and doubtless Ezra has his. He appears to be pretty well contented with his lot and treats Renie just as though she were his daughter.”

“Yes, but how’ll it be when she goes to another home, an’ her mother goes with her? Ez’ll be all alone, then. That’s what I’m thinkin’ about. What’ll he do then?”

“I guess you’re counting your chickens before they’re hatched, aren’t you? asked the Judge.

“’Fore the eggs are laid, I reckon,” added Bill Jones.

“Well, I go by signs, on land as well as sea, an’ the signs are that Renie Holbrook won’t always be aboard Ez Pelham’s craft,” said the retired skipper, nodding his head knowingly.

“Renie Holbrook? Why she’s hardly more than a child, Cap’n Joe.”

“Children sometimes become men and women in the twinklin’ of an eye, an’ Dave Dean’s already got his eye on her. An’ moreover, she ain’t givin’ Dave Dean the cold shoulder very much. I wouldn’t be surprise if –”

“Renie Holbrook marry a feller like Dave Dean?” interrupted Bill Jones, “why she’s got money, an’ is eddicated beyend all account. You’re on the wrong tack tonight, Cap’n Joe.”

“The Deans are just as good as the Pelhams or the Holbrooks any day,” declared Cap’n Joe. “When Ez Pelham an’ Hen Holbrook went to the war they was just as poor as the Deans. Hen Holbrook never left Gettysburg, an’ Ez Pelham come home rich, but that’s no sign Renie Holbrook ought to feel sot up over Dave Dean. She’s only Ez Pelham’s niece, anyway, an’ there’s many a slip ‘twixt relations when it comes to money matters. Dave Dean is poor, but I tell you, he’s all right,” an’ Cap’n Joe emphasized his concluding words by banging the arm of his chair,

“Course Dave Dean’s all right, but –”

“But what, Mr. Jones?”

The words came from David Dean, who during the heated talk had quietly entered the store. Bill Jones was too astonished to make reply. He mumbled something about being too young to be out after dark, and began fixing up his windows for the night. Judge Patten came to the rescue, as he invariably did, and headed off any approaching calamity.

“How’s the weather outside, Dave?” he asked, in a loud voice and cheerful tone.

“Wind has shifted and it looks like snow, Judge,” he replied.

“Whew! That so? I guess we Youngsters better be getting out of here then or we may be snowed in. What do you say, Doc?”

“Well,” replied Doctor Bradford, “I wouldn’t fancy grocery store diet for a steady thing.”

“Might make your business better, Doc,” squeaked Cap’n Joe.

“Possibly, but you see my medicine case is at home.”

“For which we orter be truly thankful,” said Bill Jones as a parting shot.

When the little group of villagers emerged from the store there were serious indications of a snow storm.

 

                                                                                                       1280

                                                                                                       words.

 

Scenario, “EZRA PELHAM”

(Typed – typos replaced)

 

Chapter I.

Scene, Bill Jones’s grocery store. Place, Hadden, on the banks of the Connecticut River. Time, early winter. Spicy dialog between the nightly “sitters”. Cap’n Joe Peters, Judge Patten, Doc Bradford, Jim Weeks the fisherman, Jed Martin the boat builder and others. Bill Jones leaning over counter. Uncle Ezra Pelham criticized and defended. Entry of David Dean interrupts the conversation. A heavy fall of snow predicted. Villagers depart for the night.

 

Chapter II.

Brief description of town and surroundings. Hadden in the grip of a blizzard. The fourth day of the digging out process began. Forty yoke of oxen and half a hundred men and boys breaking out the roads. Blizzard stories in order. Jim Weeks holds his end up.

 

Chapter III.

One story leads up to another. Some blow along the shores of Long Island Sound. A corn house that proved to be a corn “sheller”! David Dean wonders about Renie who lived two miles “further out”. No word from Willer Road since the blizzard. David determines to foot it alone the Renie’s home. Ezra Pelham meets him half way. David tries to hide his motive.

 

Chapter IV.

Ezra Pelham, village sage and philosopher. Loved by all. A kindly, cheery soul, yet a man of mystery. Well-to-do, generous, yet loved to drive a sharp bargain. A close bargain with Bill Jones. His New York neighbor to leave on the first boat down in the spring. Blizzard too much for the city bred man. “Let his grass stand so’s to cure it on the stalk.”

 

Chapter V.

The “Weekly Advocate” and William Williams the village poet. The blizzard brings out a poem. William declaims the grocery store. Uncle Ezra appreciates genius. “Lines to a Tea Kettle”. “Even Longfellow and Tennyson had to start.”

 

Chapter VI.

The home of Cap’n Joe Peters. The rag bee. Cynthia Jones, daughter of the grocery man in her element. David and Renie discussed. Cynthia declares there’s something in the wind.

 

Chapter VII.

Arrival of Renie at the rag bee. Uncle Ezra is going to dance with the woman who sewed the most rags. Sloky the village fiddler. The kitchen dance. David and Renie partners. The stolen hand pressure. David’s hope takes a bound.

 

Chapter VIII.

Tom Barry the New York drummer blows in. Steel meeting steel around the stove in Bill Jones’s store. Barry discloses his tender side. “All drummers ain’t as black as they are painted.”

 

Chapter IX.

Abe Crockett, the “Four Corners” song and dance artist appears on the scene. “Jones’s store the hotbed of whopper-telling.” Jews-harping for peppermints. David Dean lends to the gaiety. “The girl I left behind me.”

 

Chapter X.

(Davi) Sunday in Hadden. David plans to see Renie home for the first time. His great disappointment. His mother worms the truth from him. A loving mother’s advice – and worry.

 

Chapter XI.

Out of the throes of the great blizzard. Worshippers out in full force. Jim Weeks, the worldly fisherman, converted. Jim orates. “It all came about through the Lord and the blizzard.”

 

Chapter XII.

Warm days approaching. Signs of freshet in the river. Hadden in a dangerous bend. Such a body of snow was bound to put the river above normal. Talk of a “surprise party”. Renie Holbrook’s home life. The party materializes. Nip and tuck between David Dean and William Williams, the village poet.

 

Chapter XIII.

What happened at the party. William wished he were a singer, and David wished he were a poet. Renie neutral. Uncle Ezra contributes some humor. Cynthia Jones and Sloky the fiddler.

 

Chapter XIV.

Uncle Ezra begins to smell a rat. “Poetry is all right, but shad is more fillin’.” Strange noises after the party. “The river is breaking up!” David Dean alarmed. His fishing partner, Jim Weeks, asleep in a shanty down by the river. Hadden threatened by the ice jam. David’s heroism and the rescue.

 

Chapter XV.

The freshet brings some changes. Bill Jones and Sloky have an(d) “understanding”. Sloky enters upon a grocery store career. Cynthia’s first kiss. Renie also thaws out considerably.

 

Chapter XVI.

David and Jim Weeks prepare for the spring’s fishing. Hadden bestirs itself. Sloky does something besides fiddle. Cap’n Joe tells a good one. The stuttering Swede.

 

Chapter XVII.

Jim Weeks recovers. The New York steamer begins its regular trips. Hen Billings at last has a chance to relate his fish story.

 

Chapter XVIII.

Shad fishing begins. Predictions of a big run. A big night’s haul. Nearly caught by the steamer. David wonders. Dreaming and drifting.

 

Chapter XIX.

Landing a sturgeon. Excitement at the wharves. Another fish story comes to light. Uncle Ezra helps things along.

 

Chapter XX.

Renie’s dreams. Gabe Perkins’s horse creates some talk. Renie falls into the trap. Meeting David under peculiar circumstances. The young fisherman gains courage. The proposal. Renie flees, and forgets her errand. “Nothin’ so uncertain as a girl in her teens.”

 

Chapter XXI.

June comes, and with it, summer boarders. George Montgomery makes his first visit to Hadden. Dan Holden, the innkeeper, sizes him up. An accidental meeting. Taking Renie’s picture. Disturbing thoughts.

 

Chapter XXII.

Montgomery seeks information. His interest in Renie increases. A meeting by appointment. Delighted with her pictures. More disturbing thoughts.

 

Chapter XXIII.

Gabe Perkins, the village politician. “Born to command men instead of horses and cows.” His daughter in New York. Jane Perkins “A fine lookin’ woman back to.”

 

Chapter XXIV.

Gabe Perkins bags the only hotel boarder. Dan Holden up in arms. Thinking of writing to Horace Greely about it. Uncle Ezra chances upon Renie and Montgomery. David’s first letter. Montgomery’s first meeting with David. Jim Weeks soliloquizes.

 

Chapter XXV.

Montgomery plans. Renie’s bewitching song. David misses a night’s fishing(.) to attend a prayer meeting. Montgomery decides to go. David sees Renie home. Discussing the boarder. Renie’s praise and David’s irritation. A slight quarrel.

 

Chapter XXVI.

An early pickerel trip. Judge Patten and Uncle Ezra. Catching a whale. Another meeting. Montgomery’s flattery. The serpent and the defenseless bird.

 

Chapter XXVII.

Jane Perkins, of New York City. Feathers, fuss and frills. Meeting of old friends. Discussing old times. Jane Perkins’s secret. Rube Ellis, the “wrassler”. Montgomery regrets the coming of Jane Perkins. Monopolizing his time.

 

Chapter XXVIII.

David broods over his trouble. Uncle Ezra suspicious. David writes. Summer visit arriving. Mrs. Montmorency Dunkirk. She and Uncle Ezra have a “tilt”.

 

Chapter XXIX.

Jane Perkins watches Montgomery. Learns of his meetings with the little country girl. Threatens exposure if he doesn’t give her all his time. Counter threats. An accident on the river. Montgomery and Renie upset. David and Jim Weeks to the rescue. The revelation. Cynthia comforts the wretched.

 

Chapter XXX.

Uncle Ezra inquires into matters. Cynthia promises assistance. Montgomery visits the fish house. Jim Weeks advises a hasty departure. David misses another trip. A secret trip to “Four Corners”.

 

Chapter XXXI.

Sunday morning and a bank robbery. Hadden agog with excitement. David Dean’s marlinspike found under the bank window. Judge Patten gets busy. David away from his usual occupation. More evidence in David’s direction. David arrested.

 

Chapter XXXII.

Joel Mason at last gets a case. Hiram Hutchings’s home made jail. The trial in the town hall. David admits ownership of marlinspike and ball of tarred twine. Jim Weeks tries to have the crime fixed on himself to clear the boy. David goes to jail a second time.

 

Chapter XXXIII.

The hint of a New York detective. Montgomery pricks up his ears. An after dark accidental meeting. Renie tries to prevent Montgomery from catching the boat. Uncle Ezra in pursuit. Montgomery gains the steamer. The pursuit by land. A wild ride.

 

Chapter XXXIV.

Steamer overtaken at landing below. Montgomery found. The battle on the steamer. Uncle Ezra and Montgomery overboard. Hadden followers to the rescue. Montgomery taken back to the village.

 

Chapter XXXV.

Renie prostrate. Montgomery’s belongings overhauled. Discovered, Renie’s watch and one thousand dollars from the Hadden Savings Bank. A procession to free David Dean. Swapping places with Montgomery.

 

Chapter XXXVI.

Uncle Ezra puts out a restraining hand. “Sho, Dave, you understand catchin’ shad, but not women!” Jim Weeks too happy to talk. David about to leave Hadden. Renie sent to the fish house on a second errand. “Don’t forget what you went after this time, little gal!” David’s customer. Reconciled. Sloky suggests getting married before any more sleek New Yorkers come to town. Cynthia agrees.

 

Chapter XXXVII.

Hester. A hint of Ezra Pelham’s past. Uncle Ezra visits Montgomery. Disclosing his real identity. Uncle Ezra weakens. His struggle. Montgomery escapes. Everybody surprised – except Ezra Pelham.

 

Chapter XXXVIII.

Montgomery disappears. Uncle Ezra has a sudden business call to New York. A few weeks after Renie and David’s wedding day Ezra Pelham furnishes a worthy woman a good home. Bill Jones: “Cap’n Joe, you had all your words an’ worry for nothin’.” “I surrender,” said Cap’n Joe, meekly.

 

The End.

 

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Remarks: There will be three additional chapters to “Ezra Pelham”. Many of the present chapters will be lengthened and strengthened. Some of the characters will have to do with Black Point people, and Fenwick people at the mouth of the Connecticut River, the scene of my next book, “The Coasters”. Then, of course, in my next book, some of the “Ezra Pelham” people will appear. I am going to make Black Point the scene of Ezra Pelham’s romance. As I have it in mind there will be three romances running through “Ezra Pelham”. Uncle Ezra’s, David Dean’s and Sloky’s. Sloky’s love affair with Cynthia Jones will furnish some of the humor.

      My choice of title, up to date, are: “Ezra Pelham”, “River Folk”, “The Early Seventies” and “Hadden”.

      You will note I am changing the name of the town from Narrowville to Hadden. East Haddam is the town’s real name.

 

 

The way this first chapter and synopsis is written it’s a fair guess that it was done as a ‘special student’ at Harvard in the 1890’s and formed, in part, an earlier version of what became ’The Waybackers’ not long thereafter.