Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-03-14

l S~0
whse Jon dtsgs.4 .ssk seate yoa easAs 70 choose.
/ 1oe strong oose ~ too valuable to lo6a. ~
P0LLY's PIES.
! The clock struck three, and like ,
punctual fate, Polly, with shovel ii
hand, flung wide the oven door. Fo1
hours that laboratory had been q work
! unseen OF mortal eye, and the fragrance
: compounded Of spice, Of sugar, Of crust
ed loat and savory fowl, which nov
Aoated forth and filed the kitchen, told
the result Far through the house
spread the delicious Whit, and = stii
and hustle overhead announced, that
some ono recognized the signal and
knew that the baking was done. -.
In and ont travelled tho busy shovel,
! TIL the inner depth, whore yet.a red
! glow fingered, was reached, gave up ita
last treasure, and Polly, making . fan
Of her rapron, stood before the table to
inspect tho Iesnlts. There they were
arranged in due order, the loaves brown
and white, the rolls, tho cracking pork
and beam, tho election, cake, that dihl-
cult dainty over whose precarious for
tunes she mad watched till midnight
the twenty pies, gold, brown and
cranberry red, toothsome, miqoe and
translucent apple, custard fiecked with
cinnamon, tarta, open-m0uthed and
gaping for the friendly jam and in
the midst, its disc like yellow chicken,
pie, to whose composition had gone
such wealth of cream, Of celery, of fat
ted pullets, as is not often met with
outside the Pursa1l farm. With some
thing Of . feeling Of q general at the
head Of his battalion, Polly reviewed
her forces, noting here and there q
specially crisp edging. and in her own
Uncle Nathan or Aunt Sapphire, and
"to:molrow" was Now :England's
specia! day-that ''great day of the
fesst"-in behalf of which Governors
are wont to make proclamation; and
neighbors to vie in friendly zeal of
houseWifary, and kind remembrance
OF those who have no portion of their
own. :
Yee, said Polly, half alosd, that
will be best for the Bp1ger children, 1
guess. The crust is little too brown,
Init they ;vont mind that; and ia's 20
big. Then old Aunt Piggett shall have
| this and that one I'll send +
An; approaching sfootstep cut short:
the sohl0quy, and 'blushing rosy red,
she caught up one special pie and hur.
ried it into the table, drawer. Next
moment her mother entered.
'Wen,, Polly donel"
Ves, mother, come and look at
them. !" :t ';'.| ..':' =
| They made . pleasant picture, that
mother and daughter, ~ they stood side
by side before that long ironing table.
Mrs. Pursall wis tan and erect, the
very model OF q farmers wife. 9tronp.
sweet with face 'unfurrowed BY the
wheels Of that light team, care and
worr9 who drive 90 heavily over female
good looks in our country, and smile
undimmed and. bright it was easy to
vision forth the bonny bride who thirty
years before had passed through that
door, on her wedding morning, to be
henoeforth the Joy and comfort Of all
within. And beside her stood the
vision renewed in her early youth, the
same eyes Of happy blue, the same
dimpled cheeks, the same capable
hands; for Mrs. p. was 4 noted house
wife, and Polly inherited the gift in
full measure. Il was with . little heart
beat that she now watched her mothers
critical survey, and the nod with which
First-rate, dear; I never saw bet-
ter. And what = lot of them Some
are 70 seed away, I suppose - o%
"Oh yes, indeed; il would take US /
month to eat them all. See, mother,
these are the ones I picked out for our
sslves-.for TO- morrow and Sunday, you
know. And The others are for different
folks old Kate, and uncle Nat, and
the Bnigers, and 30 on. Don't you
think was lucky in my loaf of cake 7"
"1ndeed You were, and it's trying
cake, too. Suppoee you frost a couple
OF the loaves Tor tomorrow evening.
and put the others away in the tin. You
must be sure and wrap them up we'll.
Ibid You ask anybody to come in the
evening besides the Watson's and Jim9"
"No ~ma'am-that is-yes," began
Polly, dushing and flustered, st mean
didn't ask, but when Phil Ralston
was here in the summer, he said he
should drop in if he could, and I told
| AAAAA W0 O0 0oPpy " ooo uA1U
"Oh, we'll" replied Mrs. r., too in
tent upon the pies to detect the weak
points Of this lucid explanation, "that
was 10 long ago that very likely he's
forgot all about it. But Phil is always
welcome anyhow
Polly said nothing. In her secret
soul she did not really believe Phil had
forgotten.
How distinctly she remembered about
that promise. All through that vaca-
ton SO vaguely alluded to Gas in the
summer" they had been together, Phil
and she, gardening at q rate of q mig
nlonette seed to twenty minutes con-
versation-" bot4nizing;" Heaven save
the mark Polly hardly knew the dif-
ference between pistil and a pistol :;
dawllng at the gate under the pink sun.
set until the moon rose shy and silvery
above the pink, and Mrs. Pursall's
voice addressed them from an upper
window under the subject of "danlp -
"trapesing, to use the language of the
same authority, in wet grass of evenings
to search out glow worms-all of these
and similar pursuits had made it a time
Of enchantment. Phil was an old play
mate and neighbor; nobody thought
much Of their being together, but Polly
thought d great deal. And the last
day OF al, when she supposed him gone,
he had stolen away an half an hour be-
fore train time, and, surprised her in the
cool we'll room, her sleeves rolled up,
her slender waist enveloped in white
apron, making pies all Unconscious OF
his proximity.