Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-02-13

usual, came to the rescue.
There. there, Milly, don't you cry.
Grandma'll fry you some pretty nut
cakes-birds and little men and wo-
, men. There'll be a Thanksgiving din
ner. Don't you worry mite
Thanksgiving day came. The
| turkey,-a little smaller than in
! former years, when there were men
| folks to help eat it, but dignifed
stable bird, nevertheless, brown
| ing in the oven. Every now and then
delicious whiffs of him, mixed with
summer-savory, came across the hall
into the sacred parlor. where Mark
and Mellicent, dressed in their Sun
day clothes, sat in state.
| The children believed in that par
! lor. 1t was a very large. white
, wainscOtted room, with high futed
ceilings. In long-vanished days of
| family greatness it had been a gov
errors receptiOn-rOOm. The paper on
the wall had been brought from Eng
| land hundred years before The
| figures on that paper always pleased
| children. From out Chinese pagoda
| of gorgeous COlOrs stepped a young
man and woman, presumably on their
way to lake near by, where long
necked swans were swimming. At
one end of the room hung a heavy
| gilt mirror, with a huge and most
| realistic pineapple at each corner.
| On the high, narrow mantel above the
| great fireplace, with its big, shining
| ball andirons, stood a lamp between
| two tall brass candlestiCks The
| lamp had beautiful pendant prisms
! To both children this lamp represented
the acme Of earthly splendor. On &C
count of the threadbare old Brussels
carpet, which had already Outlasted
three generations of careful house
| wives, Bruno was never allowed to
enter the best parlor. But today two
or three cats had sneaked in. and
were tip-toeing about, their curiosity
| evidently tempered by the imminent
| fear of being seated" from the room
| One kitten, holder than the others.
was trying to play with the balls held
between the claws OF the ancient furni-
ture. An oil painting of the chill
drenS t-great-grandfather in wig
stock and small-clothes, with knee
buckles, hung upon the wall. He was
a red-faced, ugly man. MeIlicent was
glad he was dead There were other
works of art-diplomas from Dart
mouth and Harvard colleges. Grand
mas sampler, and The Death-bed of
of
unframed, had just been added 1t
was picture of a tall. awkward man.
with large hands and feet. His face
was very plain. yet, somehow, Melli-
cent liked it. He looked, she thought
like man who would trOt babies on
his foot She was almost sure he
would carry peppermints in his pOck-
cts for little girls. His name. printed
underneath in large letters, was
A. R A H AN LING COLIN.
! There was another picture of MI Lin
| coin in the sitting-rOom,-a large steel
| engraving, showing just his face, sad,
rugged, noble.
Their great-grandfather's old ma
hOgany desk was open today. There
was a secret drawer in it. Grandma
kept the Henry Clay letters in that
| drawer. She was very proud of the
close friendship between her father
and the great whig. BY the side of
| the desk hung an old watch that had
belonged to the children's father. A
gold dollar which had always been at
tached to the chain was missing to-
day.
Mother bought the turkey with it,
whispered Mark. Then Inefficient
knew what her mother meant the
night before when, coming out of the
parlOT with red eyes, she had said to
Aunt Matilda: Edward would want
me to. 1t would break his heart to
have his children go without a thanks
giving dinner"
After Melliceut had repeated this
| conversation to him Mark shut the
secretary with bang and went and
looked out of the window for a long
time. The trees were bare. The lake
was frozen. The mountains were
covered with snow. More snow was
softly falling.
Before their own dinner was served
Mellicent and her mother carried d
basket of good things, including
generous, tender slices of the turkey.
to an old man and his son who lived
farther down the road. The son was
a wounded, convalescent soldier. The
room seemed very cherries when they
entered it. But in a few minutes Melli-
cents mother completely changed the
place. She swept the floor. replenishedI
the fire, bathed the sick boys face and
hands and set the table daintily.
The best woman God ever made"
murmured the soldier, fixing his hun
CRY eyes upon the feast spread before
him.
That's what everybody says about
my mother" said Mellicent, looking
at him rather contemptuously, for
having just discovered fact patent
to all
When they got home they found
dinner on the table. Aunt Matilda
had placed the turkey on the platter
in such way that all mutilations were
hidden. He looked brown and hand
some. A dish of grandmas delicious
nut cakes stood by MeIlicent's plate.
They were so crisp and good that
nobody missed the usual plum pud-