The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1892-11-26
4 THANKSGIVING GUEST

|
"A THANKSGIVING GUEST
NO" said Mrs. Abigail Nail, speak
ing emphatically to her hired help, Il,
| Brown, Il amt got nothin' agin Mary
Duncan 'ceptin' that affair o the COB
! bier but | FAY thisaway: woman who q
make the rousin' furse she did bout
sech a pesky trifie as that would be eka
| TO a'mCst anything body was TO look
| fur, / say, too, Liz Brown, an nc
hind the flour bar'l -mutterin'-I say,
| too, 1t would be very pleasant fur my
| sons little boy to 90 a-visitln' over To
| Mary Duncan's, she bein' his NAV 5
| mother. but as things is it's ort o the
| question: he'll hev fur 10 content him
| self on the one farm an let the other
alone. No, YOU amt -goin' 10 take him
over 10 Mary Duncan's to spend the
| evenln'."
Mrs. Abeail's brisk little body wai-
| died across the clean. swept kitchen
| floor, and a pan .! grote.quely fash.
| Toned glnger-cukea Was thrlst quickly
| into the heated oven.
Liz Brown tipped up 10 take curious
| reep. There Was wonderful alertness
| in the movements of Mrs. Nails hired
| help, for by the time The oven doors
| were closed she was back at her old
stand by the flour barrel.
Now | reckon" she exclaimed, in
an ingenious and sim ple-mlnded way,
las his NAV and paw don't know
notEin' bout the iurse 'IHlXt you an
Mis- Duncan %
a flush OF honest pride mounted to
her mistress plump, good -natured
| face.
II amt never fetched On the subject
| TO Hershali once," she said, AN it's q
| gOin' Gu to four year now Gence
fetched my gobbier down from the
corn-teId a most tore 10 pieces"
In Mis- Duncan SAID it were
| hern 81
Liz Brown had heard the story quite
| often enough 20 be satisfied on ali points
| but there was curiosity in her voice ard
a due degree o. interest IL ner BLACK
eyes. En- the dead one wsre yourn p
An that gobbler o mine" ex-
claimed Mrs. Nail. indignantly, chad
| done fought with Robison's Bronze an
4
john Viewers Shanghai outright fore
| it ever got 10 wanderln' over t0warc
/ Duncap's. As soon as heerd that the
two OF them was stretched ont tur deaG
up in the COrn-feid. | grabbed my
bonnet and run, ! was purity certain Z
one Of them turkeys was alive it / be
| claimed Ell sure nOCgh.-'
Here Liz interrupted the flow Of tall
! by making a dash at the stove Thi,
time she got a very good look at the
| grotesque cakes before she put then
back, declaring she had smeiIed then
burning
I'm you said the dead one wer.
| hern?" Liz inquired, stepping bach
| fIom the oven, bet keeping the cloth il
her hand ready for another venture.
1T were hern," repeated Mrs. Nail
eff ! WAS 10 bin set before the Judge
an made to swear on It, Id "a done it, :
En- Mis- Duncan got mad, en- sale
YOU might have it -
Il could "a set before the Judge an
with sudden blaze Of righteous indig
nation.
it was gall and wormwooa to her tc
remember a certain sunny December
| afternoon up in the corn field in the
| shadow OF one OF the shocks. At frs
| size and Mary Duncan had argued
| quietly, afterward angrily. The hired
men had been called in, and refused t
| give q decision, though there were the
three bright feathers on either wing OF
| the houndering fowl, which Mrs Nal
| said, were peculiar mark of her own
gobbler. Than Mary Duncan had
stood up. tail and majestic and hidden
| the resentfui Mrs. Nail take it and
I. f., IL L,
sEeaked oil witt smiles on their faces
Take II 1n' keepit.' The cnntemp-
| tuous words had never been forgotten
| one knew ANYTHING about exceptin.
| Mrs. Nail herself, wien, as she was out
IN the woodshed washing the clotted
| blood OFT the wounded warrior, with q
| sudden sickening feeling she thought
| that she was washing the brightness Of
| the three feathers too.
Mrs. Nails habtual smile returned to
| her face, however, ;is, with Liz Brown, :
unsolicited assistance, the glnger-cake
men and women were lifted carefully
| oIt of the long pan.
Il reckon little Hershali'll think he s
! fell on his feet when he sees 'ern," she
said, laughing heartily THEN she
| plunged her hand down in her pocket
under her big apron, and taking out hei
! sons letter, slowly read aloud:
! Il said 10 Becky, Wen send the boy
! Fast to spend THANKSGIVING with his
/ grandmother. knowing it wonld please
] her Becky thinks him quite man
enough to make the trip. He'll gel
there in the morning train on u ednes.
! day. | hope You'll like him. and con,
| slider him as fine hoy as We do
Il was a strange thing that, over in
| the other farm house across the fields
! another woman was making prepara.
tons ior the same little boy. There
was plateful of tatfv ducks cooling in
the pantry under the sitting room step s
i and there Was pile OF cookies on the
/ turkey dish that would surely make .
boy glad before ii made him sick.
This busy woman vas tall and calm
! with a superior air about her that irri
tated not lew of her ueighbors. That
she had been Hamilton and married
Il Duncan was not sufficient excuse tol
her 10 hold herself above those VIII,
| were III every ether respect as good as
OF perhaps better than. she.
Mrs. Duncan garfield the dish Of cake:
into the pantry, and placed them CT
the shelf beside tie ducks. Then sht
went and sat down ny the sitting-roon
window, and took up rom her Work
basket her daughter Berky's letter
| Two or thee times she read II over,
soft light creeping into he eyes.
Putting the letter down, she allowed
her gaze to wander over across thu
white fields aud on where the smoke
bulged freely from the chimney top 0
the house on the next farm.
Her daughters letter said that LITTLE
| Hershall was coming on to spen,
| Thanksgiving with his grandmother
that he would arrive on WednsGa,
morning, and that he was sure to max,
them all fall in love with hlm before h,
returned home.
she amt bad woman" though
Mrs Duncan, drawing her proud lip
into hard line, ZEN | ain never writ
word to Becky bout the .urse: but I.