Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-12-06
Deacon Pitkin'SFar
BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.
CHAPTER l.

The Governor proclamation had been
duly and truly read from the pulpit the
Sunday be ore to he great CONSERVATION
OF Miss Briskett the ambulatory dress
maker, who declared cOnhdentially to
Deacon itkin's wife that she didn't see
nOthin no she was gon' to get through
things and there was Saphiry gown
and Miss Deacon Irowbridge cloak, and
Liza James new merino, not a str Ike done
on t. The Governor ought to be ashamed
OF h m-elf for hurry.n matters So
IL was a very rash step for Miss Brs-
kett to 20 to The length Of such remark
ablut the Governor, but the deacon's wi
was one of the few women who are nom
conductors of indscretion, and so the
Governor never heard of it.
This particular Thanksgiving tide was
marked in APPLETON by exceptionally
charaing weather. Once in great while
the Indictment New England skies are
taken W tn a remorseful twlnge and for
get to ri their usual snap of September
frost which generally bites of al The
pretty flowers in so heart-breaking way,
and then YOU can Ia lovely times quite
down through November
1t was so this year at Mapleton. Though
the Thanks living proclamation ha been
read, and IL was past the middle of No
vember, yet mariCOlds and fOur-o' clocks
were all alba in the gardens, and the
golden rod and purple as CIR were bloom
ing over The ielis as ii they We're expect
ing to keep it up all winter.
reilly is.G Getting, the jolly good
heart wi h which tn Sc bright children OF
the rainbow flaun, and wave and dance
and go on budding and blossoming in the
very teeth and snar. cf oncOming winter
An autumn & lden rod or ast2r ought o
be the symbol for pluck and courage, and
might serve a New nglanl crest as the
broom flower did the Old lantaGenets.
The trees round Mapleton were looking
like gantlc tulip beds, and breaking
every hour into new phantasmagoria of
color; and the great EN- that Overshad-
owed the red Pi;kn farmhouse seemed
like a dome of gold, and sent yellow
raj ance thr ugh al the doors and win
dOws as lie dreamy autumn sunshine
streamed through it.
The III kin elm was noted among the
trees OF New England. Now and then
nature asserts herself and does sometl ing
so astonishing and overpowering "a actu-
ally TO strike through the crust of human
stupid " and convince mankind tina. a
tree is something greater than they are
AS a general thing the human race has Il
stupid hatred of trees. They embrace
every chance to cut them down. They
Ia no idea of their fitness for anything
but frewoOd or fruit bearing. But Il
great cathed al elm with shad wy aisle5
of bOughs its choir of whispering winds
and chanting birds, its hush and solemn
ity AMI majestic grandeur. actually con
Ques the dull human race and asserts IFS
leave 10 be i'm a manner t. which all
hearts respond; AMI so the great
elms of New England have got
to be glrdcd with sort of
prize as among her vey few crown Jew
els, and the Pitkin elm as one of these.
But WASH t it a busy time in Mapleton!
Busy is no word for it. Oh, the chopping,
the pounding the s'on'ng of raisins, the
pro ections of pies and buildings, the kill
ing of turkeys who C n utter it? The
yer chip uirrclS in the stone walls
who have family custom of making a
market basket of their mouths, were rush
ing about with chops incredibly distended.
and their tails had an eAta whisk of
thanksgiving alertness. a squirrels
Thanksgiving dinner is an affair of mo-
ment, mind you.
in the great room, clean kitchen OF
the deacon's house might be seen the
1.-the, comely form of Diani pitkin pre-
sizing over he roaring great oven which
was to engulf thearmies of pies and cakes
which were in due ,urse of preparation
on the ample tables.
OF course you want TO know who Diana
Pitk II was 1t was general fact about
this young lady that anybody who gave
one look at her, whether at church or az
home, always in uiIed at once with cfTu-
sion, ''Who is she?'-particularly il the
in luirer was one Of the masculine gender.
This was to be accounted for by the fact
that Mis- LLAMA presented t. the first
view of the gazer daz ling combination
of pink and white, flashing air of black
eyes, ripple of dimpleS about The pref.
tiest little rosy molth in the world and a
frequent somewhat saucy laugh which
showed a set of teeth like pearls Add
TO this quick wit, a generous though
spicy temper, and a nimble tongue. and
you will not wonder that Miss Diana was
a marked character at Mapleton, and that
the inquiry who she was was one of the
most interesting facts of statistical in
formation.
Well she was Deacon Pitkn's second
cousin, and of course Just in that convent
ent relationship TO the Pitkin boys which
has all the advantages of cousinship and
none OF the disadvantages, as may be
plain TO an ordinary observe. For If Miss
with any o. the Pitllin boys why
shoudn she? Were they not her cousins!
But II any of these aforenamed young
fellows ad yanced on the strength Of these
intmacies presumptive claim to nearer
rela' onship why, then Diana was aston
ished-of course she had regarded them
as her cousins! and she was sure she
couldn't thing what they could be dream
ing of-"A cousin Is Just like a brother,
you know"
This was Just what James Pitkin did
not believe in. and now as lie is walking
over h II and dale from Cambridge col
lege to his fathers house he is gathering
up decided resolution 10 tell Diana that
he Is not and will not be to her as a
brother-tbat she must be to him all or
nothing. James is the brightest, the tall
est. and, the Mapleton girls said the
handsomest of the Piikin boys. He was
strong-heart'd, generous, resoute fell
low as ever undertook to walk thirty-hye