The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1882-03-11
now AUNT ORPHA cAsE TO Us.
BY SARAH DE WOLF aAMwE11.

ing turkey this year, and We all said she
did It to perfection. We all know, for
we were oil there. We are always all
there with the Thanksgiving turkey;
we pass ourselves around at Thanksgiv-
1 ing time like choice fruit. Last year,
| we all went down to Nantucket to visit
brother John Brewster. (He was named
from second cousin of our mother, and
we always call him. John Brewster.
The year before Aunt Filura invited us
to Brooklyn. Two years ago the lot fell
on me, and where live is Of no conse-
quence. Next year we are going to
Mates. Mate lives in Kansas City. Het
lives in Berkshire. There were 20 of US
in oil at table, including brother John
Brewsters wife's sister, and Crete's duet
that means Crete's twin 12-years-old
| girls,-and Aunt Orpha, who is Charles
aunt and lives with Het. Charlie is
Het's husband, and drives killing busi-
ness in the pill, and scalpel line. Clayte
had the seat of honor this year. It is
way we have, when any of us has done
anything little better than ordinary, to
give him or her the best seat at table.
| Art had it the year he took the first prize
for scholarship at Harvard, and Ray (she
is the soprano in Crete's duet, and short
! for Rachael) had it the year after she
saved all her pin money to buy reading
blocks for the deaf and dumb daughter
| of colored washerwoman. AS for
Clayte it would be quite as much to the
point to tell what he had not done, as
what he had. Negatively then he had
| been out in Chicago one year and he had
not smoked one cigar, he had not once
as much as Cooked upon the wine when
| it is red, )" he had not once forgotten to
write to his mother every Sunday, Tex
cept when he had the measles, and then,
he wouldn't give Joe any peace till he
| had written for him-Joe is fellow
| boarder,) he had not once failed to keep
an appointment with his employers, or
| to tender them the full measure of
| honest, faithful, cheerful service, every
| time, full, pressed down and running
over. And so it came to pass that just
before Thanksgiving time they had sent
him home for week, with a promise of
very honorable promotion on his re-
turn. Positively he was taller, broader
shouldered, fuller chested deeper voiced;
he bore his IL years with the dignity of
man who looks the whole world in the
face out of honest eyes, who means to
serve his day and generation faithfully,
and so successfully Of course we made
| him our king, pro TEN. l learned that
last at q woman's convention, and I like
it, it sounds judicial. After the turkey,
came chicken-pie. Het's cookery bore
the charm of novelty to us, because there
had been kind of family tradition
which had its root in actual demonstra-
ton, that when she married she could
not do anything but "hasty pudding" !"
and some of the mora critical among us
had been known to affirm that even here
her efforts were not always crowned with
the highest success, But it must be con-
fessed that the very first meal in her
! house was q disappointment to the
member had even the melancholy salts
"I told you so.''
Speaking of chicken-pie," said Uncle
Philetus, passing his plate for the sec
ond time, speaking of chicken-pie, Me-
hitable, (he was Aunt Filura's husband,
and always gave Het the full benefit of
her name,) seems to me have heard
that your first efforts in that direction
were attended with an amount of uncer-
tainty as to results"
mo uncertainty about it," replied
Het with laugh. "In the first place it
never aspired to be anything but meat
pie, and as to results-it was most per-
feet failure, the fiattest, deadest failure I
ever saw, as Aunt Orpha or Charlie here
can testify. But the story of that meat
pie is so mixed up with smallpox that I
will defer it till after dinner,
Smallpox and meat-pie! How queer"
said Ray.
"How queer, echoed her second.
''That reminds me, said Clayte, "of
the time we had up in Chicago, this fall,
vaccinating church full of people"
there? ''Did you have anything to do
with that?" Why, read about that in
the papers," from chorus of voices.
.tOh, yes, / was there. We locked the
doors and charged in upon them right
and left; not one man, woman or child
escaped"
Clayte suddenly doubled himself up
and grew very red in the face.
wall I never would believe it of you,
Daniel Clayton Doolittle," groaned
grandma, with all we have heard and
believed of your steadfastness, that you
would go gallayanting around with a set
of scape grace doctors, and disturbing
people at their worship on the Sabbath
day. 7 wonder the minister did not have
you arrested.
"Oh, as to that. we did not go till after
the service, and the priest was with us.
He ordered every soul OF them to pre-
sent arms, and pointed as many as
forty. Oh, it was time to be remem.
bered" And Clayte doubled himself up
again.
s'But thought your business was in a
store" said Aunt Filura.
"Not being a heather or Jew, dc
not follow my business on Sunday"
.Well, tell us about it do tell us about
it. How came you along with those
ioctors?"
There isn't much to tell. was in
with some members of the health depart
ment, and they invited me to go over
We went and saw, and conqnered-thai
is about all there was to it.
wall, must say when / saw it al
pictured out in the pictorials with those
rowdy looking doctors. and the people
most scarf to death, [ never could be
lieve, Clayton. that you were among
them," said grandma, betaking hersell
. to her rocking chair and snuff box.
It was evident that "Rex" had soiled
his plumes a little with grandma. Wher
she had made it all up in her own mind
she would call him Clayte, again. and
!; not before.
"Come Het," said John Brewster, "lei
us have the story of the meat-pie."
We had returned to the parlor, and
: Art had distinguished himself at thu
fire place, which was of the old-fashioned
generous kind It is q theory of Arts
} that no man ought to be an artist or Al
: architect who cannot build handsome
wood fire in fireplace. Aunt Olphi
) had gone down to Widow Penthouse
} with Thanksgiving basket, and Charli,
) had driven off to see patient. The res