THE DEACON'S MASTERPIECE. PAGE
The Deacon _Frontispiece._
Half Title 11
The Masterpiece 12
"A chaise breaks down" 14
"The Deacon inquired of the village folk" 16
"Naow she'll dew" 18
"She was a wonder, and nothing less" 19
"Deacon and deaconess dropped away" 20
"Eighteen Hundred" 21
"Fifty-Five" 21
"Its hundredth year" 22
"A general flavor of mild decay" 23
"In another hour it will be worn out" 24
"The parson takes a drive" 25
"All at once the horse stood still" 26
"Then something decidedly like a spill" 27
"Just as bubbles do when they burst" 28
"End of the wonderful one-hoss-shay" 29
HOW THE OLD HORSE WON THE BET.
Half Title 30
"The famous trotting ground" 31
"Many a noted steed" 32
"The Sunday swell" 33
"The jointed tandem" 34
"So shy with us, so free with these" 35
"The lovely bonnets beamed their smiles" 36
"I'll bet you two to one" 37
"Harnessed in his one-hoss-shay" 38
"The sexton ... led forth the horse" 40
"A sight to see" 41
"They lead him, limping, to the track" 42
"To limber out each stiffened joint" 43
"Something like a stride" 45
"A mighty stride he swung" 47
"Off went a shoe" 48
"And now the stand he rushes by" 50
"And off they spring" 51
"They follow at his heels" 52
"They're losing ground" 52
"He's distanced all the lot" 53
"Some took his time" 54
"Back in the one-hoss shay he went" 56
"A horse _can_ trot, for all he's old" 57
THE BROOMSTICK TRAIN.
Half Title 58
"Clear the track" 59
"An Essex Deacon dropped in to call" 60
"The old dwellings" 61
"The small square windows" 61
"Dark, dim, Dante-like solitudes" 63
"Norman's Woe" 64
"The Screeching Woman of Marblehead" 65
"It isn't fair" 66
"You're a good old--fellow--come, let us go" 68
"See how tall they've grown" 69
"They called the cats" 70
"The Essex people had dreadful times" 71
"The withered hags were free" 72
"A strange sea-monster stole their bait" 74
"They could hear him twenty miles" 75
"They came ... at their master's call" 76
"You can hear her black cat's purr" 78
"Catch a gleam from her wicked eye" 79
Tail Piece 80
[Illustration]
_The_
Deacon's Masterpiece
_or the_
_Wonderful_
One-Hoss-Shay
_A Logical Story_
[Illustration]