The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-05-02
Seven Pumpkin Pies.

They sat in a row on the but
tery-shelf-seven crinkly-edged, spicy,
steaming pumpkin pies.
They were on the blue earthen plates,
and they had little sugary bubbles all
over their hot faces.
They smelled good, they tasted good,
they were good.
Mother had shut the buttery door,
for she said, " What if old Peter should
get in here and eat my piesl''
Old Peter was our biggest cat, and he
always would steal whenever he was
hungry.
When mother had put the last pie on
the shelf and shut the buttery door she
did not see Lizzie and hiding behind
the flOurbarrel.
All this happened long, long time
ago, when sister Lizzie and were very
little girls. We could not hide behind
flour barrel now if we should try.
When we heard mother hang up the
pie-fork in the cook-room we crawled
out and stood before the seven pies.
How good they did smell
Lizzie reached up and picked tiny
bit of sweet, crisp, golden-brown skin
from the top of one pie and ate it.
Then she picked off bigger piece and
ate that.
Lizzie was older and taller than I.
l couldn't reach the pies, though l
stood on tiptoe and tried to.
Pumpkin pies peelvery easily. Very
little bits of fingers can pick hole in
them and peel them.
When Lizzie had eaten the skin of
one pie she peeled the skin off the
next one, I" to make mates,' she said
to eat. Then she made I" mates" of
the next two pies on the shelf, and of
the next two and the next one. We
wished mother had baked a mate to
that last one.
Once mother had punished our fin
gers for picking off the crust-crinkles
to custard pie. She told us never to
pick off pie-crinkles again. Lizzie re-
membered what she said, and did not
pick one crust-crinkle off those seven
pumpkin pies. All we ate was just
their skins.
Then we came out and shut the but
terry door very softly and went behind
the stable to play in the waterin G.
! troughs. There were two troughs there,
and the water ran through little spout
from the high trough to the low trough.
If we put a chip in this spout the water
would flow over and make little falls.
By and by we heard mother call,
"Lizzie!"
We didn't answer
Mother called again,
"Liz-zie! Ad-diel'
IVa paapo1 oroupJ Tho oo,,,or on
she was standing in the shed door
She saw our pink sun-bonnets and
called again,
"Girls, did you peel my pumpkin
pies?"
ell skinned half pie, mamma y
Lizzie answered, so low that nobody
but mother could have heard her.
Did you peel more than half pie?'
ell skinned one whole pie" Liz
zie's answer went round the stable IS
corner.
odd you peel more than one whole
pie?"
CT did skin three pies, mamma y
Lizzie was brave little girl. She
didn't say ''we," she said 81, :" though
| had helped eat the pie-skins.
Did you peel more than three pies.
Lzzie?" Mothers voice was just as
patient as ever
81 peeled mates, mamma-all the
mates there were and one mate over"
"Then my little girls will come into
the house" And we went in with
mother, but before she shut the shed
door she broke off a tiny switch from
the lilac bush growing near it, bit of
a lilac twig that couldn't hurt fy's
wing, but, small as it was, in mothers
hand it helped us to remember never
again to peel the skins from the pump.
kin pies.-Wite A,oake for april.