The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1861-12-31

noauced the Judge.
Gong 70 Rome means % kiss every gin
IL the room. ! hc knife was Jared Wi
e0x's 50 he arose, looked carefully aroan,
Is il 10 see which Was The best end Of "a,
rpon 70 commence on, aud choosing ia,
Carrie Brooks side. be went III. Ihl
arsl two OF three he 20, pretty we'll ihi
next one was harder, and by the time b.
got through bis hair WAS railicd, bis dickej
broken down, and The low Of bis cravW
under his lefl car, and huge drops Of per
spirslion stood upon his forehead. III,
had done his work nobly, and kissed ev
cry girl in the room.
The next forfeit was Joe Budd's, 10 re
deem which, he was ordered 70 stand out
10 The room, and repeat verse Of poetry
Now, Joe was not man OF letters, al.
though he was clerk ia the post Office, and
he knew nothing about poetry. He hesi-
tated and then went forward, and after
scratching his head 4 moment, delivered
the following;
''fle Pilgrim Fathers, where are they.
IL silence aud 10 fear
They stll roll 10 the bay, rs they did that day,
with their hymns Of lefty cheer"
In early childhood, Budl had learned by
heart the TWO poems by Mrs. Hemans ON
the "Pllgrim Fathers, bu, in hi, confusion
get the two mixed together.
A loud burst Of minh from assembly
caused lie discounted Budd 10 rcueat ID
lhis seat 4isesiriea OF She Pilgrims -sli
rolling in Massachuset Bay was sufIici t
10 keep the company merry for some time.
Then Susy Clark had 10 make a plow =
with George Dewey, aud Mark Adams
was bidden 10 read one Of ARENAS Wards
letters aloud, uitho It laughing, which of
course he couldn't DO, 80 the Judge eA-
cused hun, after few attempts.
All this time Eli sat in fear and trem-
bling, his red bandanna remained unionch-
ed, and he hoped that something would oc-
cur to disturb the game before the forfeit
was proclaimed. AT length all were dis
posed Of bul his. Carter held it up and
said -
"IIis is the last forfeit a gentlemaa's
what shall he do TO redeem ii Z"
Now, Seth Pike, the judge, had been
wondering where Eli Goddard's handker-
chief was so when lie heard thal this was
the last forfeit, he felt very sure il was
Ellis. He had reserved for him a task
which he knew from experience was
hard one TO perform, especially for any
one disposed TO diilideuce, so he sentenced
Eli 10 "boY 10 the wtticai, kueel 10 the
pretliest and kiss the one lic losed best"
Ellis heart beat violently. How could he
perform such task before such room
full? How could hc dare 10 kiss Carrie
Brooks in public assembly, when be hid
never been Courageous enough TO attempt
such thing in private; and lie would
kiss no ono else, for that would not be
acting The truth. He did not know what
10 do All eyes were turned towards him.
and every one was calling for him TO re.
deem his pledge. lie made an effort AMI
stood up, wishing Himself anywhere but
there, when to his delight servant an
nounced that supper was ready. Mrs.
Baldwin requested gentleman to take part
ners for the supper-roon, and it was de-
eidcd that Eli should redeem his forfeit
afterwards.
As usual On such occasions, all the pretty
girls were secured by the experienced
party-goers, and the young. timid gentle
men had TO put Up with what there was
left. fortunately Eli vas quite near to
Carrie, and to her lie oatred Lis arm
On their way to DE rom lie loaa4 that
they were out Of step; il making . bop 10
get into step, he trod on Sarah Biake's
dress, who was III front and tipped il near
y of the waist, While stopping 10 apollo
gize, and find a pin to repair the damage,
the crowd passed on, and when Eli reached
the room with his fair companion, they
were Obliged 10 station themselves on tie
outer edge Of the circle, ncar the door
Tile table presented dazzling appear
ance. Pyramids of blanc-mange, and
monuments Of ice-cream lowered above
rampart7 Of nice Jelly and charlotte rssse---
sponge cake, stewed oysters, nuts, apples
aud oranges were placed in admirable con
fusion. The gentleman were expected TO
help their partners. Carrie said she would
like some oysters and some frozen pudding.
Pool Eli was completely nonplus cd. lie
had Heard OF oystorstews, aud knew them
by sight, but as for frozen ppddig lie
didn't know What in the wo5h thai could
be; but he decided 10 DO hi, best, SO he
elbowed bis way 10 the liable, and after
some vain attemps be contrived 10 fll a
saucer with oyster-slew--and finding that
it took all his skill 10 keep II from spilling,
he thought il best 10 return with that and
lhen get The pudding, 50 he started for bis
partner. lie was soon wedged IN between
q ia. man and pretty large sized ladyi
lie waited little Tor them TO move, but
as they did NOT, lie made bold push, and
would have got through nicely had not the
exertlJn caused him 70 spill some OF the
hot oysters down tie back Of The fat
lady's dress. She screamed and started
Ell so lliat lie iumped and Knocked the