Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-01-13

- - pispIsrsd u 800 . thsI
misoreants WheE they arrived.
IL Was warm cvon therein the shade,
and Il puzzled mo 20 think what finn
those boys could find out on the lake
clustering their faces and likely enough
catching no fish; for il those fish were
anyway human, they would be too hot
and lazy to bite. Between the music
of the mosquitoes and q katydid, I had
almost snoozed of into Fijiland, and
was presiding over . state banquet Of
raw fish and slices Of ironwood, when
I heard the boat CRATE on the beach,
and heard the boys voices, loud and
clear and cross. slipped quietly
through the kitchen. When the
hungry crew came in, it almost ap-
peased them to find all symptoms of q
good dinner, and such sweet pleasant
hostess. ..e
Jack Macdonald and Tom Scott
were tneir guests. I welcomed them
warmly and told all the boys to hurry
up before their dinner would grow cold.
Soon they trooped in about as hap
Ply as boys generally are before dinner,
all declaring they were as hungry as
hawks. Harry said he had felt ike
dining on his bait. Dick announced
that his internal arrangements were
sad void; the general opinion was that
good dinner would make each more
than happy, and didn't Just smoker
in my sleeve! 1t did seem rather hard
on the poor fellows, but desperate dis
eases require desperate remedies.
When came in with the teapot full
of clear, cold water, Harry said.
''It did seem kind of mean in us,
Biddy, to 60 off leaving no wood for
you. didn't mean to break our prom
Use, but you see these fellows came in,
and we didn t have time to wait. - Fact
is, I forgot all about it. How did you
get on without wood?' - ::
"Oh, managed first-rate. l never
had such an easy time getting up a din
ner. 1 had a lovely walk down town.
and good snooze in the hammock;
so you see got on famously."
Harry took the head of the table and
l asked him to serve the meat, while l
poured the tea. He lifted the cover
and disclosed the raw beef steak ly-
ing in state on the white platter.
"Christopher Columbus!'' cried Har.
ry, with his face almost rivaling the
meat in its bright hue. ''Say, Biddy,
seems to me this meat is kind of rare
"Why, I thought you liked meat
rare," answered sweetlY, while
poured out the very weak tea.
well. yes, rare but not raw said
Harry, angrily.
bage," I asked.
The astonished boys gazed from the
raw NEST to the equally raw cabbage,
Dick sat with open mouth and eyes
gazing blankly at the spoonful of fresh
green peas he had just lifted. Every
face was full of anger and perplexity.
''By George! this is q mean trick
Biddy," said Tom, vicious with hunger
as he dug his fork into a carrot. zach
; Macdonald sat staring stupidity into q
dish of raw potatoes.
"Will you have some tea, gentle
men?" l asked pleasantly, as l passed
round the cups. .'Or perhaps YOU
} would prefer it little stronger?''
My guests stared, and my brothers
scoldcd, but l was delighted.
"Well,you may take this stuff away
said Harry, in high dudgeon, ''anc
we'll dine on pie and milk. see YOU
have some there on the sideboard. y
l set down pie before him, but
when he withdrew his knife from i
the whole lid of the pie hung attached
to it.
T "Oh, confound it, Biddy!' he sale
savagely, This goes beyond joke OF
fellows as hungry as we are"
Iquietly suggested that with a din
ner to cook without fire, I was il
much the same fix as little Tomm,
{ Tucker of Rymeland extraction, VIII
, sang pathetically over his supper:
Show shall cut it without a knife. 49,
Then 1 limited that q good roarin,
p fire would cook this dinner II
half an hour, the boys trooped GU
angry and sulky leaving me will
their guests, to whom I told the stor.
1 of the broken bargain. The,
thought it q great joke, and Scott mad
some very silly speeches, to the effec
that if she had as nice a little sistel
he d not leave her without wood whe>
l knew he'd act just the same; at leas
he would not be human boy if h,
didn't. Just then Harry looked in t.
7 say that big fire was burning and II
7 better get dinner.
, Alta o'clock we all sat down to tn
, jol]iest of meals and before these boy
had cleared out those very hot pies
they vowed q vow which they have
} kept to this day. Isabel Gordon