The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1894-11-28


shawl pulled over her head, and her
calico skirts blowing in the keen No
" tmber wind.
Cautiously she crept along the line
of the fence, covering behind the
lesRess gooseberry bushes, like some
escaping criminal.
"Iain't daybreak yet" said she TO
herself, "but Deacon Cooper is an aw-
ful early riser ~
She paused beneath the shadow of O
rickety old barn, where the wisps OF
hay protruded through the starting
boards, as you sometimes zee a child's
yellow hair rioting through the cracks
of its ragged straw hat. Her keen
ear had caught a squeaking sound.
"1 knowed it'll" muttered Miss
Hepsy. "That mink trap was always
master good thing to ketchl And
the hinges amt got rusted yet. Ny
do wonder what the deacon'll say ?"
For there, with its parti- colored
wings Topping wildly, and one foot
firmly caught in the iron teeth of the
trap, WAS Deacon Cooper's biggest
turkey gobbler.
Miss Hepsy captured it in an in
slant, loosing the metallic grip with a
deIt movement of one hand, while
with the other she silenced the croak-
ing sounds in the folds of her apron.
''Be still, you creeturl" she nut.
tered, energetically. 81 guess I've
got you at last, arter all them young
daylia plants you scratched up and
the strorberry runners you ruined for
me. And Deacon Cooper standin' ur
Tor t that it was my fences to blame
Fences, indeed when there warn't nc
fence between here an the Connect.
cut State line but you could fly ovei
easy as winkin. guess III hev 6
Thanksgivin' dinner now, and nc
stealth neither, for hain't never for.
got them young ducks O. mine that the
deacon's city nephew shot, maxim out
he didn't know but what they wa.
wild game, and the deacon never
offerin' to pay for 'em. The law
wouldn't do nothin' to help me, bein
they was swimmin' in the deacon's
pond, but I'll be my own law this
time. l set the trap to ketch the
weasels, and if the deacon's gobbler's
walked into it, 'taint no fault O
mine"
Fifteen minutes afterward, the de-
capitated fowl lay on EIiss Hepsy'.
kitchen table.
Its pretty tough" said she, "but
guess l can par-bile it an give it 9
good long spell in the oven. III
change hank o. that blue yarn for a
part o Mrs. Miller's cranbo-ries, an
I'm most sure Desire Hawkins III let
me hey handful o. her summer
savory to flavor the stuffin'. Widder
Halls got more pumpkins than she
knows what to do with, and Sarah
Sklmmer'll be glad to exchange a peck
OF apples for some O. that crochet lace
did last week. Bless me | hain't
had no Thanksgivin' dinner for a
dozen good year--not since mother
died--but it all comes back TO me
now as handy as rollin' off log"
"Why-Miss-Hepsy %
"Land O Goshen, Dulcie Cooper, is
that you?"
Quicker than lightning Miss Hepsy
hung her apron over the defunct tur-
Key gobbler and interposed her gaunt
form between the kitchen table and
the door, in which, framed like some
lovely Gainsb0rough picture, stood a
blue eyed young girl, with yellow hair
ruiiied by the frosty wind and an old
fashioned red and blue shawl wrapped
around her.
Miss Hepsy," said the girl, quick
~, and with certain tremulousness
OF accent, "don't-don't you need
some one to help you? I'd come for
my board only. Please, please don't
say no !"
why, Stammered the spinster, al
was calculatin' to clean house and fix
up things little, but what on earth
does this mean, Dulcie? You an your
pa haln't had words, have you
again?"
"fer, We havel" said Dulcie Coon.
er, breathing quicker than ever. 81
told father this morning that L was
going TO be married, turning her
rosebud of a face to one side as she
spoke), "and he twitted me with in.