The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1909-04-09
A SKUNK DINNER.

| things IN TINS WOTlu, ~ was uHcAPecoeuy
thrust upon them. While Mrs. Higgins
found herself, when warm weather came,
quite 'put to it, to manage the meat
question without ice, still in her most
despairing moments of what to have to
eat, she never thought of resorting to
| skunk. Likewise it never occurred to Mr..
| Higgins to get out some night and exc
out the provisions with skunk meat. They
both knew that skunks lived on their
hill not that they had seen them, it had
not been necessary So far, however, the
idea of eating skunk meat was thought
which had never entered the heads OF
this Young city couple who were spending
their first year in the country. The one
definite idea that they both had about
this animal was to keep as far from it as
possible. They did not know what
Their noses gave them all the information
that they wanted. Every time they
rushed out to see if one was hanging
around the chickens, they shivered to
think what they should do If they actual
ly found one.
Mrs. Higgins, she knew she should run,
chickens or no chickens, as fast as she
could for the house and lock the doors
and leave me all alone Mr.. Higgins
had asked.
"To kill the skunk. What else would
Mr. Higgins did not know of anything
else to do, but he wondered to himself
how he would kill the enemy.
1t remained for Mr.. Higginss sister
and the early peas, both nice things in
their different ways, to. precipitate the
youthful Higginses into that game dinner
wherein the skunk furnished the game.
The first of June brought Mr.. Higgins's
sister from Boston to spend the summer.
bo Ett1o o1dar Than Mrs HlppIps
and had that air of distinction that an
unmarried woman gets who is still young,
good looking and who might have been
married several times if she had wished.
There is something in this atmosphere
around the unmarried woman that makes
the young married woman feel little
uncomfortable as if she had been too
hasty, perhaps, in marrying. Mrs. Hlg-
gins had this uncomfortable feeling now.
She felt sure that Helen, on principle,
would not have married the first man who
proposed to her, even if it had been Tom.
Perhaps she had been hasty and she be-
gan to look at Tom from quite critical
point of view. Incidentally Mr.. Higgins
began to feel uncomfortable
"What's the matter?" he broke out
one day '1'm the same as ever so far as
l know but something seems wrong about ut
me to you most every day. What's up"
Nothing was up, Mrs. Higgins assured
him. She could not very well tell him
what was the matter, and he with his un-
elastic man brain, never thought OF con-
Meeting his sisters coming with the crop
of faults that seemed suddenly, and to
him unexplainedly, coming out on him.
Then Mrs. Higgins looked upon her sis
ter-in-law with awe because she was such
fine cook She surely was. Tom had
always talked of Helen's cooking ever
since Mrs. Higgins could remember. This
had been worse than listening to tales of
mothers cooking because mothers-in
law are so much older that they ought to
be able to cook better, but Helen was not
much older than she. And Helen was
certainly fond of cooking. She loved
kitchen among pots and pans Like all
born cooks, Helen liked to experiment
and never felt obliged to hold to cook
books. And herein lurked one of the pos
sibiities of the skunk dinner, towards
which circumstances were driving the
Higginses. Helen liked not only to cook
old things in new ways but to cook new
things in new ways, and best OF all, to
discover new articles which could be used
for food. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins had al
ready had taste Of this as she had
cooked about all the green things growing
on the hill for greens" singly and in
combinations. Then she began on the
weeds in the garden. Mr.. Higgins, al
though dubious as to their food value, did
not think it bad scheme for wedding;
but Mrs. Higgins looked on, sweetly on
the inside and firm determination new
err to eat these weeds, boiled, fried or
fricasseed. So, Helen went on in her ex-
periments, and, at least, none OF them
was poisoned, which went in negative
way to prove that they were articles of
food, such things as plantain, sorrel, pig
weed, dock, dandelions, etc. They could
all be eaten as soups or greens Helen
had reached live-for-ever, the stuff you
blow the leaves up into balloons if you
are an inquiring youngster, when the
beautiful rows of early peas that were
growing so finely was discovered one day
to have the appearance OF having been
cut across the top, so evenly were the
vines nibbled off leaving symmetrical
looking row, but promising alas! no early
peas. if this unknown primer kept up his
work.
This diversion was a fortunate thing,
although. unseen to the Higginses the
skunk dinner was to come out OF 1T. Mr..
Higgins had gotten so sick of the sight
of anything green on the table that he
had declared himself quite regardless OF
words that night to his wife after the day
on which Helen had discovered hve-for,,
substitute for asparagus. Mrs. Higgins
had had worried dreams all night OF an
gry brothers and sisters, and live-for-ever
asparagus salad and weed purees, but
walked to find the East Hartford peas the
main worry after all In a day or two
several more inches had been nibbled or
cut off by some unseen animal.
at must be a woodchuck," said Mr..
Higgins.
..Or rabbit said Helen.
"Or skunk said Mrs Higgins with
SILVER. Poor soul, if she could have
foreseen.
Anyhow, it calls for a trap said
Mr.. Higgins decidedly, and straightway
brought out from the city 25-cent trap
and next day there was skunk in the
trap! They all went out to view 1t.
Like a coarse black cat with white
stripe" was the verdict, and the women
were going back into the house when a
thoughtful look came over Helen's face.
''Why not cook it," she said. Seems as
if ! ought to be able to make some pal
atable dish out of it"
Cook it, gasped Mrs. Higgins.
Cook skunk Holy Smokesl" elacu
er furtively Who'd cook a skunk
'eWhy. / shall. of course. Tom. I'll get
you up game dinner that will be better
than any you ever ate. I've heard that
it's really fine meat and nicer than
chicken"
Mr.. and Mrs Higgins looked at her in
establishment But Helen was obstinate.
She wanted to try cooking something she
never had cooked. She knew that II had
been served at game suppers and was CON
sidered fine dish "Whv they say no