Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1883-01-11
Among the Apennines.
b. Harriet w. Preston.

b. Harriet W. Preston.
A good test of the equality" of a
country should be the manner in which
her lowliest give hospitality. Let me
tell you of visit which i paid, on a
regularly received and accepted invita-
ton, bien entendu, to one OF the little
freeholds on the hillside aforesaid. Our
hostess-for we were party OF three
was also our guide to her friendly
bower; and needful one, for | have
seldom seen, off the mimic stage, n
more blindly romantic little foot-way
than the one We followed. Plunging
suddenly into the widest of our tributa-
nv valleys, that of the Camajore, it led
us a may dance, through thickets bit
ter-sweet with clematis, and over slip
perry stepping-stones; bade us walk a
tighrrope between the bed of the brook
and miniature flume, scale perpen-
dicular precipice, happily short, and
cross most distinctly precious" little
log bridge, ten inches wide, and about
twice as many feet above the water, all
sodded by time, and waving with teath-
cry grasses. The home of our hostess,
which had looked so insignificant from
the opposite side of the valley, and
which, in the color of its gray stone
walls and its tiled roof, rich with lchen,
bore so strong a protective resem-
blance" to the mountain side on which
it leaned, proved to consist of four con-
tiguous dwellings, forming two sides OF
a square, which braced themselves, so
to speak, against one another, and turn
81 ~ -, |. hn ctr yUhilp
they were entered through the triangu-
ar space which they partially inclosed.
They had also little threshing-floor in
common. which five small gypsies were
vigorously sweeping; while the steep
grade thence to the house door was be-
set by thrice as many more infants, all
more or less Peruginesque in their style,
and by the stately and slow-moving
figure of domestic pet, pink-skinned,
black-haired, gruff-voiced, but immacu-
late, con reSpecto pdridndO. as the natives
are wont to say,-a pig.
But what a room was that into which
we were ushered!-the huge projecting
fireplace with its pyramidal ilue, the
the iron dogs and crane, the oaken
benches and table, the dull red line de-
signing wainscot on the smoky wall,
the antique earthen and copper vessels
nameless, the dresser with its unclassiii-
able bits of ugly faience. We were po-
litely requested to seat ourselves in the
gentle draught of air between the door
and the open easement, where we could
see the green tree-tOps far beneath us
moving in the summer wind, and where
the bdmbini and the respectable one
could have a good view of us from the
threshold. Meanwhile. our hostess
briskly proceeded TO the preparation OF
the dainty which we had been specially
invited to partake. She tossed fagot
into the gaping fireplace, and kindled
it. She fetched chestnut flour from a
loft overhead, and sifted and swiftly
kneaded and shaped il into flat. round
cakes. Memories of King Alfred in the
neat-herd's hut assailed us, as she with
drew from a sort of iron plate-warmeT
by the tireside sundry Hat stone and
shards, and threw them upon the blaze.
And then she stirred, and then-ah
then!-she bleU the fire; not with that
bourgeois instrument, n bellows, nor
even with japanese fan, but through q
Gamma, or dry, hollow reed some -four
feet long. King Alfred yielded prece-
dence to Promotheus, whose myth van
ished in smoke. as so many others have
done, and escaped by the chimney.
They thought that the fire was in the
reed, and that he blew it forth. as one
blows an egg-how very natural! Some
body will of course dispute the merit OF
the discovery, but at least ! call the
whole aesthetic world TO witness the
noble generosity with which
offer to enthusiasts in household
art everywhere a new tn in Q
in sincere decoration. If | can but see,
some day, beside the reformed firesides
of England and my native country, a
tall reed leaning against the mantle
piece, and adorned with broad bow OF
blue or crimson ribbon, | shall not have
lived in vain. And now the hot stones
and shards are being deity withdrawn
from the fire and ranged upon the
hearth, and the great fresh chestnut
leaves come into play, which our host
ess kept stripping from the overhanging
boughs--idly, we fancied-as we came
along. Two leaves are laid upon each
heated disk, then chestnut cake, OIL
necce, then two more chestnut leaves,
then another disk. The pile. when com
plete, is restored to the plate-warmer,
and set aside to cook comfortably in a
corner. BY the time that our Caterina
had spread over her oaken table home
spun table-cloth, of fine ecrU shade,
and set forth her miscellaneous faence
and flask of pale red wine, the necc,
were done. Light brown. piping hot,
and beautifully printed by the chestnut
leaves, they were tossed upon the table
out of the plate-warmer, received with
gratitude, and tasted in faith. They
were sweet; little tough, but no more
so than the average ''buckwheat.' and
the juices of the fresh leaves added a
slightly astringent but not unpleasant
flavor. BY the help of bit of Bologna
sausage and sip of sour wine, they
made an excellent lunch-such an one
as may have been discussed upon this
hillside any day since the age of stone;
precisely such an one, no doubt, as
Hannibal's scouts RECALLED themselves
withal, when he descended out of Csal-
pine Gaul into italy proper, by the val
ley of the Serchio, two thousand years
ago.-January atlantic.
Two young ladies of nv acquaintance.