Thomas County cat., 1886-12-09

WulttlcS Iuc OiO OfOOm-0S0Ole UOIe
ham picked up in Packard's store
an brought along jest to keep tally on.
1t is great game of ball; the bats are
broad and light and the ball is small
and soft. But the Enfield boys beat US
at last, leastwise they make seventy
tallies to our fifty eight, when Heman
Fits knocks the ball over into Aunt
Dorcas Eastman's yard and Aunt Dor
cas- comes out an takes it into the
house an we have to stop piayin'.
Then Phineas Owens allows he can flop
any boy in Belchertown, an Moses
Baker takes him up. an they w-assle
like two Tartars, till at last Moses
fuckers Phineas out an downs him as
slick as whistle.
Then we all 60 home, for Thanks
givin' dinner is ready. Two long ia
bles have been made into one, and one
OF the Of tablecloths gran'ma had
when she set up housekeepin' is spread
over 'em both. We all set around
father, mother. Aunt Lydia Holbrook.
Uncle Jason, Mary, Helen, Tryphena
Foster, Amos and me. How big an
brown the turkey is. and how good it
smells! There are bOunteous dishes OF
mashed potato, turnip an squash, and
the celery is very white and cold, the
biscuits are light an hot, and the
stewed cranberries are red as Laura S
cheeks. Amos and 1 get the drum
sticks; Mary wants the wish-bone to
pat over the door for Hiram. but Helen
gets it. Poor Mary, she always did
have to give up to 'rushin' Helen, as
we call her. The pies-oh, what pies
mother makes; no dyspepsia in 'em.
but good nature an good health an
hospitality! Pumpkin pies-mince an
apple, too-and then a big dish of pip
pins an russats an bellhowerS, an
last of all, walnuts with cider from the
Zebrina Dickinson farm! l tell ye,
there's Thanksgivin' dinner for We!
That's what we get in old Belchertown,
an that's the kind of livin' that makes
the Yankees so all-fred good an
smart!
but the best of ALL" said Ezra,
very softly to himself, ''oh, yes, the
best scene in all the pictur' is when
evenin' comes, when the neighbors
come in, and when there is music an
singin' an games. An its this part of
the pictur' that makes me homesick
now an fills my heart with longln' l
never had before-an' yet it sort O.
mellows an comforts me, too. Miss
Serena Bidwell, whose beau was killed
in the war, plays On the melodeon, and
we all sing-all on US; men, women
folks an children. Sam Merritt is
there, an he sings tenor song about
love. The women sort of whisper
round that he's goin' to be married to
Palmer lady mex spring, an l think
myself l never heard better singin'
than Sans. Then we play games
proverbs. buzz, clap-in-clap-out, CO.
penhagen. fox-an' geese, button-but-
ton who's-got-the-button. spin-the-
platter, go-to-Jerusalem, my-ship's-
come-in and all the rest. The
OF folks play with the young
folks just as nat'ral as can
be, and we all laugh when Deacon
Hosea Cowics hez to measure six yards
of love ribbon with Miss Hepsy New
ton, and cut each yard with a kiss; for
the deacon hez been sort O. purrin'
round Miss Hepsy for goin' on two
years. Then. later on, when Mary an
Helen bring in the cookies, nutcakes,
cider an apples, mother says: Il don't
blieve we're goin' to hev enough
apples to go round; Ezry. l guess I'll
have to get you to 60 down-cellar for
some more Then says: 'All right,
mother, I'll go, providin' some one'll
90 along an hold the candle An
when | say this l look right at Laura
an she bushes. Then Helen jest for
meanness says: Ezry, 1 s'pose you
amt willin' to have your fav'r rite SIS
ter go down-cellar with YOU an catch
her death o. co!d?' But Mary, who
hcz been showin' Hiram Reabody the
photograph album for more'n an hour.
comes to the rescue an makes Laura
take the candle, and she shows Laura
how to hold it SO it won't 60 out.
"The cellar is warm an dark. There
are cobwcbs all between the rafters,
an everywhere else except on the
shelves where mother keeps the butter
an eggs an other things that would
freeze in the butt'ry upstairs. The
apples are in bar'ls up against the
wall, near the potater-bin. How fresh
an sweet they smell! Laura thinks
she sees mouse an she trembles an
wants to jump up on the pork bar'l,
but l tell her that there sha'n't no
mouse hurt her while I'm around-and
l mean it, too. for the sight of Laura
a-tremblin' makes me as strong as one
of fathers steers. What kind of ap-
piles do you like best, Ezry?" asks
Laura; 'russets or greenin's or crow
eggs or bellfiowers or baldwins or pip
pins9' 1 like the baldwins best says
i, 'coz they've got red cheeks just like
yours Why, Ezry Thompson! how
you talkr says Laura. You oughter
be ashamed of yourself!' But when l
get the dish filled up with apples there
amt a baldwin in all the lot
that can compare with the bright
red of Laura's cheeks. An Laura
knows it, too, an she sees the mouse
again. an screams. and then the cam
die goes out, and we are in 4 dreadful
stew. But /, bein' almost man, con-
trive to bear up under it, and knowin'
she is an orph'n. l comfort an encour-
age Laura the best / know how. and
we are almost upstairs when mother
comes to the door and wants to know
what has KEEP US SO long. Jest as if