The Newtown bee., 1898-12-09

help to any community, and my mind 10
made up. sLan'L help nobody ter tut
keys ter set up Ter be shot at. 1t makes
white folks wuss'n lnjuns, il my opinion"
But everybody likes Ter manage some
how ger get wild turkey fur Thanks
giyin', an shoOtln' matches is one way"
Eyes, but there must be other ways,
an / reckon your mar Will lind one,-
g right smart-minded woman your mar
Isl"
The talk at the meetin' was repeated
as the large family Of boys and girls sat
about the long table, regaling themselves
with turkey stew, one OF the boys having
succeeded in knocking one OF the birds
over"
"Ot course nobody hain't no right to
claim VIVID turkeys said the mother,
| "but we amt ter blame tor owning The
turkey roost tree, ana If we git the tur-
keys we won't be selfish about 'em, aid
I've been a-thinkin' that we can make
pit for 'em in the side hill down below
the tree. We will feed them with corD
soaked with cider brandy, and when they
are as tIpsy as old Crocker's cow when
she stole the parsons apples, Wen lug
them to the top of the mil and tumble
'em over into the pit"
"We might smother 'em with smoke
in the nignE."
Eyes. and set the woods on fire.
The chores were disposed of, and as
soon as the sun was down The whole
family set to work by the light Of the
full moon.
lie wasn't a hard matter to dig out the
gravel, to build stockade, lncIoslng a
bend of the brook, or TO clip the wings OF
the stupetied turkeys and tumble Lhem
over the bank. 70 be sure they worked
most of the night, but it didn't matter,
folks worked night and day almost in the
olden times.
Then the boys had great fun going
stealthily by night and leaving pair or
fat turkeys at the doors of their neigh
bors In anticipation OF the approaching
Thanksgiving festival, and sucn fun az
it was, at meetin', when the tithing man
wasn't around, to hear the conjectures
that were interchanged as to the source
of such wonderful supply.
These gifts thinned out the flock, and
to help feed the remainder. the children
picked up and stored away chesEnuts and
acorns, SO that the great BIRDS lived all
, winter scratching gravel and grew TO be
as tame as the barnyard fowls. 1t ia safe
) to 80 that the table of the Eldridge farm
house was not stinted for roast tur key
that winter, and If any one was ailing OF
having an uncommon hard time to get
along, they found their supplies supple
menLed by a plump turkey upon the
doorstone when they looked out upon the
world some morning, and naturally these
timely mysterious gifts strengthened the
bonds of harmony in the little commun.
ity.
When, toward spring, the marr iage OF
Elijah, oldest son of the Eldridge family
and Hannah Taylor, was published
and some one said In surprised wills
per ssWe didn't know they were &C.
ouainred," one of the little Taylor boys
. let out the whole secret by piping up,
before the tithing man couId reach hin
, with his long stick :-'They want, till
mar was sick ana Lige kept comm over
TO bring her turkey fur soup"
/ "Guess the tur key-roost tree bore its
usual harvest" said Freeman, setting
mis- stick in corner, and q murmur oil
assent ran over the house, to the confus'
ion of the Eldridge family, although the
women all told Mother Eidridge at the
close of the service that she had been &c
generous there was no occasion for hei
luok so beat, especially as they had not
only kept the whole community In fresh
food, but helped Lige, who was sort OF
bashful, to wife.
That spring so many families received
gilt OF PAIR of clipped turkeys that
the wild ones we're no longer in such
great demand.
The old oak tree, however, grew and
! fiourished and continued 60 be called the
J turkey roost tree, although the great
fiocks no longer came to feed upon its
bushels Of sweet acorns or 60 roost upon
its low far-reachi ne branches.
The next year in the late autumn q
wise old bear came marauding around.
killing the sheep and calves and pigs
and so frightening tine women and child
rem that they dare not venture far from
their own doors, and so cunning withal
that he eluded every effort of the hunters
to kill or to trap him. That had been a
year of drought nothing In the way OF
crops bad fiourished, and the grumblers
among the people were wondering what
they had to be thankful for; what they
were TO live upon through the winter,
and OF more immediate interest how was
Thanksgiving to be observed.
Il That year the Eldridge father and
sons, always industrious and thrifty,
had occupied their leisure in building Q
piece Of stonewall, the first stone fence
In the township, where 30 years later
they outlined the different fields OF every
farm and bordered all the highways.
i One November day Elijah's new wife
was left alone In the farmhouse, Weav.
!. ing cloth for the family use. and going
to the attic for yarn and CHANGING 70 look
ont the west window she saw, under the