Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-06-03
HE ASKED FOR BUTTERMILK.

And the Weary Waiter Lived Over
Again tho Joys Of tho Farm.
"How's the buttermilk" asked the
sired man: and the weary waiter looked
the ennui he felt as he answered;
"Churned fresh every hour"
"Well, now. give me a glass from the
last hour, and let her be full" said tho
nred man. Then he unfOlded the mid
light edition, smiled as II memories
haunted him, and never seeing line Of
I'll the black type which tried to startls
ated humanity. He was thinking OF
buttermilk fresh from the churn, and
he big, staring headlines were as blank
,aper before him. The weary waiter
disturbed his reveries.
"Buttermilk's all out. sir.'
He said the 'sir" as one VINO follows
vacant form, and meant nothing by
t.
I'm sorry" said the tired man, TAX
ng coffee and sandwich-of course
md still conjuring up pictures Of the
Ountry.
"Great thing when you're tired" said
e. smiling. and looking past the weary
faiter and the coffee urn, and the
blank wall beyond La! can hear the
loft chug of the churn dasher yet when
he butter is coming. Gets lighter then,
md splashes inside, and the yellow
lrifts wash down from the hOllOws in
lhe lid, and you hit twice halfway
and once clear down, and-butter's
tome"
Tho fknr 1o1 xv,ifln,rf
easing his stare at the street, silent in
midnight darkness.
And they put the buttermilk down
h the springhouse in a great big Jar,
and the water swishes around 1t, and
there's board on top, with n stone to
teep 1t down. And Sunday morning
you curry the horses and turn them out
IN the clover pasture, and dive off
The bank In the river and take wash.
Ind put in clean hickory shirt and
FOUR Sunday clothes, and lay down in
the shade of the apple tree in the long,
loft grass, and catch the wind from
The woods and the music of the cow
bells far away-and then you think Of
the buttermilk'
nat . thC "taAs Nei'
er, as he rearranged the sugar bowl and
spoon holder.
And you go down and dip 1t up with
4 big tin cup, and drink 1t in great big
Bwallows, and the other boys come in,
and we all sit there and drink and talk
Of the tough times we are having, and
chatter about the girls, and josh each
,ther about going home with them from
meeting, and after a while dinner is
ready. and we go in and eat fried chick
en- and mashed potatoes, and biscuit
and custard pie"
"U-m-m," said the weary waiter, fer
GENTLY.
"And then again along in the after
Aoon," resumed the tired man, 1--WE get
Dut there when the sun Is down, and
we have another cupful, and the whip
poorwill is booming from some place up
In the clouds, and the katydid Is telling
If the frost just six weeks ahead, and
The cattle are standing along the barn.
vard fence, with the smell of fresh
milk In the mellow air, and the tin cup
has yellow fiecks all over the sides, and
We fill 1t again and drink"
''Or In the harvest field" said the
weary waiter.
Eyes, when the women folks send 1t
out in jug, with slab of gingerbread
In the long forenoon, and we take great
swallows@"
"And sweat"
"And sweat, and buckle down with
the cradle and the rake, and set up o
shock to shade the buttermilk-"
"And a rain comes up and we run for
the barn." The weary waiter stood
erect, and smiled delightedly.
"Ah, yes! All, yes! That was life,
lfter ALL"
The tired man took his check to the
desk and waited outside for an owl car
10 come along; but all the time he was
thinking Of that mellow nectar, which
ningles the acids and sweets Of rural
ecstasy, and all the tired insistence of
his journey home could not impress the
hty's hOpelessness upon him.-Chicago
Times Herald.