Short &
Tall Tales
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A L S O B Y L I L I A N J A C K S O N B R A U N
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Short &
Tall Tales
Moose County Legends Collected by
James Mackintosh Qwilleran
Lilian Jackson Braun
G . P. P U T N A M ’ S S O N S
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Short and Tall Tales: Moose County Legends A J O VE Book / published by arrangement with the author All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005 by The Jove Publishing Group.
This book may not be reproduced in whole or part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission.
Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.
For information address:
The Jove Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is http://www.penguinputnam.com
ISBN: 0-5151-3635-2
A JOVE BOOK®
J OVE Books first published by Berkley Publishing Group, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
JOVE and the "J" design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.
Electronic edition: May 2005
Dedicated to Earl Bettinger, The Husband Who . . .
J A M E S M A C K I N T O S H Q W I L L E R A N
W I S H E S T O S AY:
“Let us give credit where credit is least expected.
To the automated coffeemaker that did yeoman duty during the preparation of this book. To my trusty typing machine, older than I am and still clicking. To Kao K’o Kung and Yum Yum, who sat tirelessly on my desk, supervising. Koko, as he is known, was ever willing to stare at my forehead when I was slow in thinking of the right word. Yum Yum, my official Muse, inspired with her mere presence and never once caught her whiskers in the typewriter platen.”
Contents
1. The Legend of the Rubbish Heap
2. Secret of the Blacksmith’s Wife
3. Housecalls on Horseback
4. Hilda the Clipper
5. Milo the Potato Farmer
6. The Little Old Man in the Woods
7. My Great-Grandmother’s Coal Mine
8. The True (?) History of Squunk Water
9. Whooping It Up with the Loggers
10. “The Princess” and the Pirates
11. Wildcattin’ with an Old Hog
12. The Scratching Under the Door
13. The Dimsdale Jinx
14. The Mystery of Dank Hollow
15. Tale of Two Tombstones
16. The Pork-and-Beans Incident at Boggy Bottom
17. At Last, a Hospital in the Wilderness
18. Emmaline and the Spiral Staircase
19. The Curious Fate of the
20. A Scary Experience on a Covered Bridge
21. A Cat Tale: Holy Terror and the Bishop
22. Those Pushy Moose County Blueberries
23. The Curse on the Apple Orchard
24. Matilda, a Family Heroine
25. How Pleasant Street Got Its Name
26. The Noble Sons of the Noose
27. Phineas Ford’s Fabulous Collection
Introduction