Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-05-15

uuoV udu SOllCSUOos " AA0 OuV INV
many pies had been made, and to Judge
accurately whether they were
made as they ought to beP l over
heard one decfepit old woman. who re-
manned behindin the house ofmourning,
say to another, as the two tottered
along the narrow entry through which
the coffin had Just been borne:
II call it odd that Miss Ewell should
a had them two gals as walters; my
gals would a'been glad to come. What
do they know?" jerking her head back
in our direction.
Oh, how hot it was! It was fervent
as a day in Massachusetts, will some-
times be in the summer, the heavens
being o%verspread by a thin. coppery
haze, and without a breath of air. It
was the third day of such heat, and
every n foretold that the ''spell
would break before night" Mean
while it had not broken, and we wero
in the kitchen brewing coffee and tea.
We put two tables end to end in the
"settin ROOM" and fastened to spread
them with crockery, cake and pie,
stacks of bread and of cold-boiled
ccrned beef.
The cemetery was not far, and We
were barely ready, when carriage after
carriage drove back from the grave.
and their occupants poured into the
house. Where do the men get those
curiously shaped sack coats which bag
so in the back and sleeves? But that
the days of %peripatetic female tailors
are over, we should say that these gar
ments were their work. These men
SLOUGH in and out of doors, talking in
mumbling voices, while their women
in prim dresses pat their hair before
the little looking-glassia the bedroom,
then come out one by one, and peer
over the table at us. They talk, too,
and discuss how well, or how i'll the
minister did. One thinks he did not
improve the occasion correctly, n
other that he WAS not sufficiently
''feelin' in his prayer for the widder."
.'Widders is 'customed to bein' prayed
fur more particular" said Nancy Hol-
land, who spoke, I suppose from expe-
rience, she having been a widow twice
before she married her Robert.
Though they all talk, they are evil
IDENTIFY impatient for the feast. Noless
than ten carriage loads have como.
We learn from the remark of one thin,
pale-faced woman that it is . distinc-
ton to have a good many come back
from the grave and partake of the fes-
tival.
"When Miss Martin was buried they
only had six carriages to supper" she
says, in a congratulatory way to the
bereaved woman, as if in Mrs. Ewell's
case sorrow had its compensations.
"Warren, he had a good many
friends" replied the widow, a glimmer
of complacency on her face, which 10
careworn and sallow.
In a few minutes we have the first
tables full, including the minister, who
is in a hurry, having another funeral
to attend at three o'clock. He drinks,
thirstily, three cups of tea, and is hus.
tied off after a handshake and gentle
murmur of coincidence to the widow.
For the next hour my sister and I
might have been walters in a crowded
restaurant. We find the feasters very
particular about their coffee and tea,
and very copioks in their consumption
of those beverages. We have cut the
third stack of cornedbeef, of bread and
of cake. We have emptied one pickle
jar, and [ am going down cellar after
q second; for one c~adaverous woman,
in a blue and green gingham dress,
seems to subsist on pickles, and is very
arbitrary IN her remarks to me con-
corning those relishes. She appears to
think that, in some mysterious way, 1
ameresponsible for the fact that there
;c n vp1itsch roo111I IN ~ IS kL@--
preserved cucumbers. When I hand
her the dish the third time she says in
a husky whisper:
There ought to a. been baked
beans. Why didn't We see to ite Hand
me them cakes. Amt there no beans
in the house anyhow"
81 saw a bushel of raw beans in the
shed,"I car not help saying. She
tossed her l.h head, pointed to her cup,
1 hurried off cravenly to obey her.
We washed dishes furiously between
whites, so that.the supply might not
fail. After the first tableful had been
fed, l ran down the cellar for more
pies. / fell. against the woman in
checked bingham, who was leisurely
4OOhlIS StOOOO. A4OOdU1y SIG was
convincing herself that really there
was no beans.
"It's a good suller," she said, calm
ly. 81 alters did want ter see Mss
Ewell's suller. She says it don't
freeze; but l DIN know bout tibet.
How much pork hev they got pu'
DOWN." l did not answer her; ! may
have laughed in her face. She seemed
thoroughly contemplate.
Mounting the stars with three tiers
of pies in each hand, whom should |
meet but the new-made widow. She
caught hold Of my sleeve, and asked,
excitedly:
''Whar's that Miss Skies? I knew
she was a pryin'! Jes' get her out o.
there!' L left Mrs. Ewefl hurriedly de-
scending the stair. How the encounter
ended l neverknew.
The afternoon wore away in melting
heat and increasing work. At last
the slow-motioned men brought round
their horses and covered wagons, those
big carriages that, in childhood, we
used to call ''bed-rooms." Deliber-
ately the women mounted into these
vehicles and were carried off. Ex-
hausted, faint, not having had time tc
eat a morsel, we walked homeward,
accompanied by Nancy Holland, who.