Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-11-30

A TURKEY HUNT.

By Linda Woodruff Beach.

We came very near not being thankful
at all this year-for how was it possible
to be thankful without turkey? And this
desirable bird so pertinaciousiy lodged
our earnest attempts to apply the pos
sessive pronoun that we began to despair
of ever owning one, and, unfortunately,
we wanted three. ..s. .
Any one could spend the summer in the
country-that was commonplace enough
but Thanksgiving and Christmas would
be a new revelation of beauty and COM
fort to people accustomed to confined
views and brick walls. So we stayed and
c~hestnutted, and gathered stacks OF
bright-hued maple leaves, and wrote such
glowing accounts of the good times we
were having to all our friends and rela'
tives that two or three of them, without
ceremony, invited themselves to spend
Thanksgiving with Us. We then conclud-
ed that we might as well make a merry
party of it, and invited a number more,
until about eighteen or twenty people had
promised to eat their Thanksgiving dinner
at our table.
A lovely day in Indian summer, and
with that soft haze over the purple-tip-
ped mountains in the distance, two WON.
en- Of US drove off in a most unromantic
expedition after turkeys. We had been
furnished with a regular list by the neigh
Dor, and we agreed first to attack a GER
tain Mrs. Shines. A woman in a sun
bonnet issued from the gate as we drove
up, n in answer to our inquiry, in
formed us that Miss Shines was jest set
tim to-" AS 1t was approaching the hour
of noon, this probably meant that Mrs.
Shines was on the eve of dining.
Thu house looked Theoretically sealed.
The door was opened by the very lady we
were in quest of, a motherly looking per-
sonage who appeared to have been try
ing to do half a dozen things at once, as
her hands were foury, the bosom of her
dress was stuck with pins, while the skirt
was wet with recent dabbling in the
water, and she was hastily disposing of
some edible which had evidently been pop-
ped into her mouth just as she came to
the door. ..
Having told her where We lived, how
long we had lived there, how long we ex-
pected to live there. and various other
things relating to our domestic matters,
we worked our way gradually to the tur-
keys, and modestly asked her if she could
accommodate us with three.
Passing through the doorway that open
ed into the kitchen, Mrs. Shines threw her
voice upstairs, and shrieked
"Emmerline! Em-mer-Rnc!"
"Haow?' was the reply, in a voice that
seemed to break the drums of our ears.
How nan turkeys can we spare to
sell?'
Can spare any," said the dredful voice.
"Sho ~ eturned the old lady as she
a-lol tho ooI1nn,,r- <sy,racu yua ION M ro
one. How'll that do?"
We informed Mrs. Shines that it
wouldn't do at all. The offer of one tur-
key in place of three was a perfect insult,
and rather indignant that our time had
been wasted for nothing, we left our
hostess to finish her ~'settin' to-"
Thu second one on the list was of the
male persuasion, land as great an old
screw as ever lived" we we're confidential
LIP informed. We found him at work in
the barn, a very hardlooking specimen
indeed. When he was made aware of the
nature OF our GRAND Ire eyed us suspi-
%ciously. Seemed to him we were takin'
time by the forelock it wanted three hull
weeks to Thanksgivin' yet"
We were taking time by the forelock,
we admitted, because people made such a
rush for turkeys at the last that we were
afraid of not getting any then.
That's jest it." he %rejoined, with a
shrewd grin, land I guess I'll keep mine
till they 60 up"
Several people in succession. who had
refused US their own turkeys strongly ad-
rised a visit TO Job Ti!ler." He had no
end of a flock, n maybe we could make
q trade.
To Job Tiller We accordingly went.