The weekly standard. (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1865-1867, 1865-12-23

~]oAf oestso i<e@sst ~ " oe@sso foDfOeFec Ass'
Unexpectedly returned on short fur
loughs.. The tour spinsters of on
chateau( Onie, Ellen, Minnie and you
humble subscriber) were. of course. OF
the qui Uivet After carefully exami
ming our larder, we found it, much t.
our dismay, strikingly like old Mothel
Hubbard's an ancient lady, whom
history tells us, fourished in days O
fasting and abstinence-yery similar
to the times of our beloved Confedera-
cy. Nothing abounded but sorghum
sorghum in jdgsl sorgum in jars sor-
ghum in bottles sorghum partoutt
simultaneously the question arose from
the spinters four in despair: What
shall we do with it2 Bulwer filed
hundreds. Of pages ere he could salts
faetorily solve the question. But our 81
superior genius decided simultaneous il
ly upon good old time sscandy-pull-
ing" No sooner had this important
point been agreed upon, than we all
discovered that we were ''maidens for
lorn," and yeritable Flora McFlimseys.
with nothing to wear, Sherman hay
ing kindly disposed Of our wardrobes
ere our flight from our dear old home home
steads on the coast, Being rather du-
bious about beauty unadorned being
adorned the most, we set our wits to-
gether to manage our scanty ward
robes as becomingly as possible, in or
.derto appear as bewitchingly In the
eyes Of the lads in grey, as possible.
Hasty little coifures and neckties we're
fabricated from various odds and : ends
of laces, ribbons and flowers, &c, in
discriminatory, from band-boxSes and
parcels, which had escaped the peering
eyes of Yankee officers. After a
general borrowing and exchange
of the remnant Of our finery, a
practice frequently used IN our our sane aih
tum. commonly called by us the spin spin
ters bower, we concluded that. all
obstacles being removed, the invita-
tons could be issued Accordingly, an
ebony knight was summoned, and we vi
quickly dispatched our Hermes. :
e Scarce had he vanished before an IN
other insurmountable difficulty presen-
ted itself, ii the form : Of lights. OF
course, We knew all about the un-
quenchable slight that lies in ], w,aoman's
eyes" &c, but that would never snffiice
to boil the delicious sorghum candy.
Whatwas to be done now? No candles,
no tallow to be had in or around the
village; communication cut off with
Columbia, there was no possible means
of procuring any. We had been using
light wood, but we must have a better
light for such an occasion. In our di-
lemma we flew to our old Maurnee, ho--
ping she.could assist us, knowing that
she healways had something useful hid
away in her calabashes. Imagine our our
unmitigated delight when, after rela-
ting our trouble, she brought forth
from out ofthe depths Of barrel, care
fully tied up IN a handkerchief, an old
gourd, containing -think ofiti picture
It'll perfect treasure troveiA several
pounds of beeswax. After presenting
her with an unanimous vote Of thanks,
and several grateful demonstrations in
the shape of love-taps on the shoulder,
and promising to give her after the war,
innumerable pipes, headkerch'fs, noun
tains Of tobacco, and glass beadsof ev-
cry hue, sufficient to bedeck an Ethio-
plan princess, we bore our precious
gift off IN triumph. The whole even
ing was employed in metamorphosing
it into Confederate candles, called
witches, which we twisted round can
dle-sticks and bottles.a After placing
them in advantageous positions in the
parlor, we retired to our fsbower, z to
talk confdentially over our anticipated
frolic, and arrange the ehiidren's
Christmas stockings. The little ones
and old folks were sleeping peaceably,
the little head, no doubt, full of vis-
ions of Santa Claus of long ago. ere
he had cast his fortunes with the
South, and become poverty stricken in
his old age; while the old folks dream
ed Of the noble soldiers the soldiers
in their blankets on the ground Moth
ing but tour ineessant chatting enliyen-
ed that "6ve of ewes. After laughing
heartily over our days trials, we acov-
cred the embers, put out the light, {
and soon experienced "thattoil comes
with the morning and rest with the
night Z Scarce had an hour passed in
sleep and oblivion ere the village bell
rang out an alarm, and the cry Of "the
raiders are coming seemed taken up
hxr fI1a ats In q caoesra1 s4svc ae.ys$syz