The Opelousas courier., 1886-02-27
THE HUSKING.

The corr had all been cut and piled
away in great stacks in the huge barns.
The Canadian landscape had been clothed
several times in silvery frost. The rye
was peeping up through the upturned
fields, and the first week of the farmers
season of leisure had passed. In that
great stretch Of level country about STRAIT
ford, where farmers reap as rich harvests
as are garnered anywhere in the Domin-
ion, a programme of fun had been pre-
pared by the young men and m
There were corn huskings where red ears
brought kisses, surprise parties where
nobody was surprised, straw rides, apple
pairing parties, and gatherings where the
staid c~otillon was danced to the music of
o violin. The first event of the fall was
an apple pairing. This whetted the APP
petites of the country folks, and every
body vas eager for the big husking that
was to bring all the beaux and bellies into
the big barn of Farmer Treuette. 1t was
known to the young, hard isted farmers,
that Sally Treuette, the only daughter Hf
the old farmer, was to guide the course
Of events during the husking, and that a
great many red grains of corn had been
dropped in the corn hills in the spring.
Every red grain of corn meant an ear of
the same color, and every ear meant one
kiss to the finder, and perhaps more if he
could smuggle the ear forward again.
There was another circumstance that
added an unusual excitement to the husk-
ing. Sally Treuette was a rosy-cheeked,
plump, raven-haired lass whose roguish
eyes had made sad havoc with the hearts
of nearly all the young men for miles
around. There was hardly one of them
whom she had not smiled upon at various
times, and whom she had not snubbed
numerically afterward. Red-haired Jim
Radford, who owned forty acres of fine
farmint land near st. Mary's, and Owen
Jones, a sharp-featured chap, who had
opened q country store near the railway
station In Stratford, had each sworn in
the most solemn manner to marry Sally
or prevent her from marrying anybody
else. Radford was tall, broad-shoul-
dered, and strong of limb, with muscles
hardened by work. Jones was tall, slim,
and angular, with hectic cheeks, and a
sharp cough that told of weakness and
disease, but lied every time they told it.
He was like many of the old stone houses
in the neighborhood. The more they
settled and the worse they appeared the
stronger they were. Radford was al
ways nervous and i'll at ease when he was
In the presence of Sally, but Owen was
always able to talk a streak and tell mar
velous tales and interesting stories of
adventure that were very entertain
ing To the unsophisticated Sally. She
liked Radford for his worth and Jones
for what he seemed to be.
The night of the husking came at last.
The silver crescent of the new moon hung
in the west. The air was just frosty
enough to be invigorting. "A String of
twsnkling lanterns hung across Farmer
Treuctte's barn yard. Lanterns swung
from rusty nails all over the interior Of
the barn. The anhusked ears of corn had
been torn from the stalks and heaped in
d great pile In the centre of the barn.
Store boxes, upturned nail kegs, and
rough benches formed a circle about the
pile. The old rambling farm house a
II was crowded with elderly men and
women preparing in a bustling, %garrulous
way the refreshments. Sally, clad in the
brightest calico purchasable in Jones'
store, with lunches of bright ribbon at
her throat and ID her hair, fitted about
like q speck of color in al ocean of SOM
breness. Canadian farmers always make
as much noise as possible when they are
out for i jollification, and the jingling of
bells, the gathering of wagons, and shouts
from vigorous lungs made the night air
quiver. Young men and women soon
appeared in the farm yard, and peals of
laughter were heard coming from the
barn. Sally shook hands with everybody
who appeared and welcomed them all in
q sprightly fashion. Then the work Of
husking began at once, for both men and
women were eager for the dancing that
was to follow it. Radford seated his big
form, adjusted a hickory corn peg on his
strong right hand, and soon d stream
Of glistening ears was flying over his left
shoulder. Jones sat right opposite him,
where the ears bulged out as il to
meet him. The others sat wherever
they could find seats, or stood back and
dragged little piles of ears toward them.
Almost the frst ear that Jones husked
was a red one. He arose deliberately.
walked over to where Sally was sitting,
and kissed her beforeshe knew what his
intentions were. She uttered 4 little j
scream and Radford half sprang from his
sent.
Watcher doin'2n he asked, angrily.
Keep cam, said Jones, smilingly:
ssyar's a red car.
Everybody laughed uproariously ex-
cept Radford. Jones had hardly seated
h2awerrf -. - 80 - tMz24