St. Landry democrat., 1890-02-08

Let fortune smile or frown, whiche 'er she will
1t matters not; scorn her tickle ways.
never shall be quite bereft until
Hose my mothers honest blame and praise!
Nary Riley Smith, in WI SD'ing.
How the Bears Ate the Squash Pies.
1t appeared large, round and golden in
the moonlight.
What The moon?
Dear young people, who was talking
about the moon? | referred to a squash
pie. Can't one tell story in ones own
way7 1T
It was in one sense pie Of a Thousand
that is, for excellence. Numerical dae }
WAS one of six baked during the after ,,,, tt :
Of the day before Thanksgiving byro,D' a. 4
Samuel Parmenter, who lived in a III and
ship of northern Maine, surrounded ,o--
pine woods and by the society of Mr.. F, . 3,
menter and the children. These wei~
Jack, who was twelve years cd, Benny
and Bobby, the twins who were six years
of age, and dear little wo-year-old Luella
Adeline Amelia.
Jack and Benny ard Bobby and Luly
had watched their mother make that noble
squash pie and its fellows. They had
hindered her-they called it helping her
willie Slc LsuC G1o pASLlys SIG hai
pared and boiled and slicsd the squash,
and J SEX helped her sift it, and Bobby
stirred in the milk while she beat the eggs
and Benny suggested an extra spoonful
of sugar to eaoh pie, and Luly in hsr high
chair by the table, looked on, laughing
with pleasure-which was perhaps the
BEST help of all. By twilight the pies were
baked, and set away in the little pantry to
cool. When Mr.. Parmenter came home
from the woods with his axe over his
shoulder, everybody told him, from Luly
mp to mother that the pies looked ro-
mark ably good.
The kitchen was small, and the FIRE in
the oven had besn hot therefore the little
pantry which opened into the kitchen
needed current Of fresh air, sud Ms.
PsrmeDter sent Benny to raise the window
and keep it open By ssttickiaa > nal MO
the woodwo Of it's frame When the
family went upstairs to their bedrooms
under the roof, the window was forgotten.
However, it was unlikely that any United
States bank cashier would come down sll
the way from Canada for the purpose of
making forced loan on Mis-. Parmenter's
pies; and on the other hand, if no robbers
were to be expected, neither were any
guess to be looked for, This being q
story for Thanksgiving Day, it seems
almost Incredible; but so it was. M.
Parmenter had no vagabond brother;
Mrs. Parmenter no rich uncle in foreign
parts they never had disowned child.
or qusrrelled with relative. Reconcilia-
possible nobody was angry, and all were
there, cheerfully awaiting the dawn OF
Thanksgiving Day.
The twins were soon asleep. Jack lay
awake, fer the golden orb or the Novem-
Der night--the moon | mean this time, nns,i,
the squash pie-c&st beam of light ACT toSci
his pillow. ms tht
"Hope l shan'5 be moonstruck, ~ 10 "f q z
thought to himself. Then he heal eight
noise out-of-doors on the turf, sometiecttvs
like the heavy steps of a stout person
walking with clumsy rubber boots. Jsc'a 6
was out of bed in a minute, and at the lit--~
tie gable window. Putting forth his head
be could see large black figure that re-
senbled d fat man in fur coat. peeping
in at the window of the pantry, which was
directly beneath the window where Jack
was watching. He looked beyond q few
yards away from the house were two
smaller personages, similar in shape to the
intruder at the pantry. The visitor leaned
in at the window, then took out the best
Oh buOSS pies, du1 UEOppSu III upoh tAO
ground, where it broke in pieces. Now
the smaller creatures came running and
each possessed himself of part of the pie.
1t was black bear with two of her littl -
cubs.
Bears in northern Maine ar rather good
natured neighbors. They have way, it
is true, of borrowing ears of corn and
honeycomb and fruit, and they are forget
full as to repaying of the loan but every
one has known that sort of neighbor upon
two feet instead of four. Thssx>, bears
rarely attack any person un1sss provoked
and who would think any Batter OLA bear
who would see his wife shot, ana. his
babies carried into captivity without using
his natural weapons of defence2 NJ
But Mrs. Bear should have asked leave
of Mis-. Parmenter b-fore borro wing those
pies. So thought Jaak and he fastened
to awake his father, who, having heard
the story, came fro N his bedroom with his
gun, and, followed by the boy went noiss-
lessly down the stairs into the kitchen.
By this time The bear hsd divided two pies
between her cubs before helping herself
to any. She heard tfs~ footsteps ON the
kitchen floor, and made with ope paw an
odd signal to the cubs anG the chubby
little fellows toddled and tumhled away
as fast as they were able. This mother
bear did not follow them Immediately.
there was chance of danger che knew;
but there was alsos, chance for more pie.
When she saw Mr.. Parmenter and his son
she began to think the situation serious.
She dropped upon sllfours and moved of
with her numbering gait distance Of
about dozen PAGES. There she paused,
stood up again upon her hind legs, and
thrust her paw-which must have been
strongly favored with SO nash pie-into
her mouth, and sucked it vigorously.
Then dropped both pa VS. in a comical atti
tude, she looked squarely in the face of
Mr.. Parmenter, as il to say "Here [ am,
caught in the act of stealing pies for my
cubs. You are witness, Judge and jury.
plead guilty, with extenuating circum-
stances"
Mr.. Parmenter ra sed his gun, aiming
at the besr. Then he lowered it. ''Jack,"
said he, l have a great mind to let her
go. You say she fed these pies to her
cubs. l guess mother would feel
sorry if she hadn't piece Of PIE TO give
the twins tomorrow. And it don't seem
hardly right, when we are about to thank
Providence for mercies received. to kill
creature for taking bit of what had been
provided. guess when the governor APP
pointed Thanksgiving Day for folks, there
was nothing said in the proclamation about
it being fast day for bears. Jacky, Pm
going to spare the old creature"
Jack took pie-tin plate and all-and
81 81 49,, &-.x, IL