QUINCY
ADAMS
SAWYER

AND

Mason's Corner Folks

A PICTURE OF NEW
ENGLAND HOME LIFE

BY

CHAS. FELTON PIDGIN

B   o   s   t   o   n
C.  M.  CLARK
PUBLISHING COMPANY
1  9  0  5

Respectfully dedicated to the Memory of the late HON JAMES RUSSELL  LOWELL the perusal of whose f a m o u s   p o e m "T h e   C o u r t i n" supplied the inspiration that led to the writing of this book.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

QUINCY ADAMS SAWYER'S

only title was plain "Mr." His ancestors were tradesmen, merchants, lawyers, politicians, and Presidents. He, too, was proud of his honored ancestry, and I have endeavored in this book to have him live up to an ideal personification of gentlemanly qualities for which the New England standard should be fully as high as that of Old England; in fact, I see no reason why the heroes of American novels, barring the single matter of hereditary titles, should not compare favorably as regards gentlemanly attributes with their English cousins across the seas.

C.F.P.

Gray Chambers,
Boston, October, 1902.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
CHAPTER I. THE REHEARSAL
CHAPTER II. MASON'S CORNER FOLKS
CHAPTER III. THE CONCERT IN THE TOWN HALL
CHAPTER IV. ANCESTRY VERSUS PATRIOTISM
CHAPTER V. MR. SAWYER MEETS UNCLE IKE
CHAPTER VI. SOME NEW IDEAS
CHAPTER VII. "THAT CITY FELLER"
CHAPTER VIII. CITY SKILL VERSUS COUNTRY MUSCLE
CHAPTER IX. MR. SAWYER CALLS ON MISS PUTNAM
CHAPTER X. VILLAGE GOSSIP
CHAPTER XI. SOME SAD TIDINGS
CHAPTER XII. LOOKING FOR A BOARDING PLACE
CHAPTER XIII. A VISIT TO THE VICTIM
CHAPTER XIV. A QUIET EVENING
CHAPTER XV. A LONG LOST RELATIVE
CHAPTER XVI. A PROMISE KEPT
CHAPTER XVII. AN INFORMAL INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER XVIII. THE COURTIN'
CHAPTER XIX. JIM SAWYER'S FUNERAL
CHAPTER XX. A WET DAY
CHAPTER XXI. SOME MORE NEW IDEAS
CHAPTER XXII. AFTER THE GREAT SNOWSTORM
CHAPTER XXIII. A VISIT TO MRS. PUTNAM
CHAPTER XXIV. THE NEW DOCTOR
CHAPTER XXV. SOME PLAIN FACTS AND INFERENCES
CHAPTER XXVI. THE SURPRISE PARTY
CHAPTER XXVII. TOWN POLITIC
CHAPTER XXVIII. THE TOWN MEETING
CHAPTER XXIX. MRS. HAWKINS'S BOARDING HOUSE
CHAPTER XXX. A SETTLEMENT