Thomas County cat., 1886-12-09

he'd come OH, the feet wud ma come
with 'em! An now away we 60
Laura an me. Around the bend-near
the mcdder where ST Barker's dog
killed a woodchuck last summer-we
meet the rest We forget all about the
cold. We run races an play snap the
whip, an cut all sorts of didoes. an
we never mind the pick'rel weed that
is froze in on the ice an trips us up
every time we cut the outside edge, an
then we boys jump over the air-holes,
an the girls STAN by an scream an
tell US they know we're agoin' to
drowned ourselves. So the hours go
an it is sun-up at last, an Sister Helen
says we must be gettin' home. When
we take our skates off our feet feel as If
they were wood. Laura has lost her
tippet; lend her mine and she kindo
bushes. The old pond seems glad to
have us 90. and the fre-hangbird'
nest in the willer trees waves us good
bye. Laura promises to come over to
our house in the evenin', and SO we
break up.
"Seems now," continued Ezra.
musingly, ''seems now as if l could
see US all at breakfast The race on
the pond has made us hungry, and
mother says she never knew any
body else's boys that had such ca
pacities as hers. 1t is :he Yam
kee Thanksgivin' breakfast-sausages
an fried potatoes. an buckwheat
cakes an sirup-maple sirup. mind
We, for father has his own sugar bush
nI H. ~ lac ct
season. Mother says: 'Ezry an
Amos. won't you never get through
eatin'? We want to clear off the table,
for there's pies to make. an nuts to
crack, and laws sakes alive! the tur-
KEYS got to be stuffed yit!' Then how
we all fly round. Mother sends Helen
up into the attic to get squash while
Mary's maxim the pie-crust. Amos
an l crack the walnuts-they call en-
hickory nuts out in this pesHy
country of sage brush and past
ure land The walnuts are hard
and it's all We can do to crack
EN-. Ev'ry once n while one on
'em slips outer our fingers an goes
dancin' over the floor or flies into the
pan Helen IS squeezin' pumpkin into
through the coiander. Helen says
we're shift an good for nothin' but
frivolin'; but mother tells us how to
crack the walnuts SOS not to let 'em
fly all over the room, an SOS not to be
all jammed to pieces like the walnuts
was down at the party at the Peasley's
last winter. An now here comes
Tryphena Foster. with her gin CHAM
gown an muslin apron on; her folks
have gone up to Amherst for
Thanksglvin'. an Tryphena has come
over to help our folks get dinner. She
thinks great deal of mother, cause
mother teaches her Sunday-school class
an says Tryphena oughter marry Il
missionary. There is hustle every
where, the rattle of pans an the clata
ter of dishes. an the new kitch'n stove
begins to warm up an git red till
Helen loses her wits an is fiuStered,
an sez she never could git the hang O.
that stoves hampers.
"An' now," said Ezra. gently, rs a
tone of deeper reverence crept into
his voice, Il can see father sittin'
all by himself in the parlor. Fathers
hair is very gray, and there are
wrinkles on his honest old face. He
is lookin' through the winder at the
Holyoke hills over yonder, and l can
guess he's thinkin' of the time when
he wuz boy like me an Amos. an
useter climb over them hills an kill
rattlesnakes an hunt partridses. Or
doesn't his eye quite reach the Hol-
yoke hills? Do they fall kinder loving
1xy hat hn in
ground jest beyond the village-ah,
father knows that spot, an he loves it,
too, for there are treasures there
whose memory he wouldn't swap for
all the world could give. So, while
there is kind O mist in fathers eyes.
| can see he is dreamin' like of sweet
an tender things, and communin'
with memory-hearin' voices l never
heard. an feelin' the touch of hands l
never pressed-an' seein' fathers
peaceful face find it hard to think of
a Thanksgivin' sweeter than fathers is.
1.-The pictur' in the tirclight changes
now," said Ezra, ''an' seems as if l
wuz in the old frame meetin' house.
The meetin' house is on the hill, and
meetin' begins at half pas ten. Our
pew is we'll up in front-seems as if
could see it now. 1t has long red
cushion on the seat, and in the hymn
book rack there is Bible and couple
ofpsalmodys. We walk up the aisle
slow, and mother goes in first, then
comes Mary, then me, then Helen,
then Amos, and then father. Father
thinks it is Jest as well to have one O.
the girls set in between me an Amos.
The meetin' house is full, for every
body goes to meetin' on Thanksgivin'.
The minister reads the proclamation
an makes prayer, an then he gives
out psalm an we all stan up an
turn round an join the choir. Sam
Merritt has come up from Palmer to
spend Thauksgivin' with the OF folks.
an he is singin' tenor to-day in his OIL
place in the choir. Some folks say he
sings wonderfully well. but don't like
Sans voice. Laura sings soprano in
the choir. and Sam stands next to her
an holds the book.
'.Seems as if could hear the minis
ter's voice full of earnestness an mel
ody, comm from way up in his little
round pulpit He is tellin' us why we
should se thankful. an. as he quotes
scriptur' an DR.. Watts, we bows won.