The Red Cloud chief., 1884-11-28
MISS LUCINDA'S BROOCH.
How It Was Lost and Fcund-.1
Valuable Reward.

1t was the day before Thanksgiving.
in the kitchen of the Graham farm.
house great preparations were going on
for to-morrow's feast, for all the Ora
hams and their relatives, and many of
the neighbors were coming to eat
Thanksgiving dinner there. and Aunt
Susan. as every body called Mrs. Ora
ham, was one of those hospitable wom-
en- who al never do enough for her
visitors. Already on the pantry shelves
great loayes of cake were ranged, send
ing out tempting odors to tantalize the
children who kept hanging about the
door. for a glimpse Of the good things.
And pies. TOO. cranberry and mince,
and dOughnuts looking as if they were
fairly aching o be eaten, and goodness
knows there were mouths aching to eat
them. '1Oh. my" cried Johnny. more
than once. ''dOnt they look nice? [
wish il was tomorrow now, don't YOU,
Ruth? It's an awful long time to wait.
j don't mean to eat another thing till
Tomorrow"
Eyes. they do look NICE" said Ruth.
sit took me all yesterday forenoon to
stone raisins for the cakes. and | didn't
eat hardly any. either. Aunt Lucinda
says she knows she never made nicer
cakes in all her life. l don't know
which looks incest. the cakes or the
pies. guess they're both good"
I'D like to try 'em, anyway" said
Johnny. "An' l tell you what, the tur-
key will be just boss, for he's fat as but
Z ter"
1T seems most wicked to kill him."
said tender-hcarted little Ruth. IL
don't b'leeve he'd have had such an ap-
petite if he'd only known what was 90
ing TO be done with him"
''But turkeys was made to eat said
Johnny. whose appetite did way with
all tender qualms of conscience.
Aunt Lucinda was sitting pumpkin
for pies. II had been stewcd the day be-
fore, but the pies had not been baked
because Mrs. Graham held firmly to the
belief that pumpkin pies were never at
their best three days after making.
-'iou make them to-day, an I'll tend
10 the rest o the work." she said.
Use all the eggs an cream you
want, Lucindy. L never knew anybody
who could beat you maxim pumpkin
pies. You've got jest the knack, some
how. L remember how Jack Stansbury
used TO say he'd like to live on 'em.
Poor Jack! l wonder what's become
of him.
Lucinda was thinking of Jack. as she
forced the fragrant yellow pumpkin
through the cullender. Jack had been
her lover, years ago. Everybody had
Thought lit would be a match" She
had often thought SO. and SO had Jack.
but often in this world things go wrong
or anyway different from what we
plan or eXpect-and a lovers quarrel
had parted the paths which should have
merged into each other, and Jack had
gone away and for years nothing lad
been heard of him. He might be dead,
Lucinda thought, and / am quite sure a
tear fell into the pumpkin. and perhaps
It was that which gave the pies such a
rich, delicious flavor on the morrow.
Who knOwSp
Like most lovers quarrels, this one
had been about nothing in particular.
She often told herself that she had been
most to blame. But she had been too
prOud-Or stubborn-tO say that when
Jack and she talked the matter over.
and so they separated. loving each other
the same as ever, and he had seemed to
drop out of existence. Poor Lucinda,
Her heart'waS sore yet with its old sor-
row, but she had borne it bravely. and
hidden 1t from curious eyes by a pleas
ami face. eff she is an old maid" the
neighbos said, ''she's as handsome as
most girls. 1t was allus nat raj for the
Grahams to keep their good looks"
Busy with thoughts of the past. she
sifted her pumpkin, and beat eggs and
cream together. and made the savory
filling for her pies.
"There!" h said, as the clock struck
noon, ''they're all ready for the oven. If
SQUIRE going to see to the baking of
them, I'll go and fix things in the par
lor, Susan"
She went up to her room to wash her
hands and comb her hair before she be-
gan the task of sfixing things in the
-'square-room," as good old Deacon
Graham always called ii. As she stood
before the glass, she discovered that her
brooch was gone.
Dear me- what if I've lost it?" she
exclaimed. cit must be somewhere
about the kitchen. I'll run, right down
ARdsee."
Lucinda's brooch was an heirloom in
the Graham family. 1t was an old-fash-
Toned thing of gold that may have come
over in the Maylower. She had heard
grandmother Graham say that it was
old when it came to her. Because of its
age, and because it had been given to
her by her mother in her last sickness,
Ineinda priced it very much. She al
ways wore it "She felt lost without"
che said.
The brooch was not to be found in the