Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1878-03-27
Nanny Downey's Pies,

The pes aud cakes made by the
old woman were, think, remarkable
rather for their inducing the same 10y
al and generous spirit than for thell
intrinsic excellence, aud 1t may bt
said appealed more strongly TO tho no
bier aspirations OF humanity than IL
vulgar appetite, llowbcit, everybody
ate Mammy Downey's pies, and
thought OF hIs childhood, "Takc
EN-, dear boys" the old lady would
aay ut docs INC good TO sec you cal
em reminds me kinder Of my pool
Sammy, that, Of he'd lived, would hcy
been o. strong and big ez you be, but
was taken down with lung fever, at
Sweetwater | Kin see him yet
that's forty years ago, dear comm
out o the lot to the bake'housC, aud
smilin' such beautiful smile, like
yours, dear boy, Us banded him q
mincc or lemmlng turnover Dear,
dear, how ! do run on aud those
days IS past ! but | seems TO live in
you again !" The wife OF the hotel
keeper, aetuatcd by u low jealousy,
had suggested that she "seclacd TO
live of them," but as that person
tried TO demonstrate the truth of her
statement by reference to the cost OF
the raw material used by the old lady,
il was considered by the camp rs too
practical and economical for consider
ton. Besides" added Cy Perkins,
"ef old Nanny wants to tuin an hon
est penny in her old age, let her do it.
How would you like your old mother
to make pies on grub wages ch T.
A suggestion that so affected his
hcarer (who had no mothcD that he
bought three on the spot. The quail.
lty OF these pies have never been dis
cussed but once. II is related that q
young lawyer from San Francisco,
dining at the Palmetto restaurant,
pushed away one Of Nanny Downey's
pies with every expression Of disgust
and dissatisfaction. AT this juncturc,
Whisky Dick, considerably affected by
his favorite stimulant, approached the
table, and, drawing up a
chair, sat uninvited before him.
"Mebbee, young man," he began
gravely, "ye don't like Nanny Down
eys pies ?"
The stranger replied curtly, and in
some astonishment, that he did not
as a rule, "eat pie"
"Young man." continued Dick, with
gravity, "mebbee you're ac-
customed to Charlotte rusks and blue
mango mebbee ye cant eat unless
your grub is got up by one o them
French cooks =? Yet ace-us boys var
in this camp--calls that pie-a good
"A competent pie y
The stranger again disclaimed any
thing but general dislike of that
form of pastry.
young man, continued Dick, ut
Iery unheeding the explanation,--
young man, mebbee you onct had an
ole-a very ole mother, who, tottering
down the vale o years, made pies.
and it's like your blank epicu-
'ean soul. yc turned up your nose on
he ole woman, and went back on the
pies, and on her She that dandled
Ge when ye woz a baby,-a little ba-
oy Mebbee ye went back on her,
md shook her, and played off on her,
md gave her away-dead away! And
low, mebbee, young mani wouldn't
,urL We for the world, but mebbee,
lfore ye leave this var table, YELL EAT
THAT PIE J!
The stranger rose to his feet, but
he muzzle Of a dragoon, revolver in
he unsteady hands of Whiskey Dick.
'aused him to sit down again. He
tie the pie, and lost his case likewise,
'efore a Rough. and Ready jury
Bret Harte's "Two Saints of the Foot
Ills" Scribner for April.