Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1915-02-19

O. stransel,ke, and stopped and hoi.
Tered: Whats tho matter OF ye,
Tod?' and he ups and hollers back:
'Stumpt my toe, durn ye!' and thinks
I, My youngster, they'll be a day o
reckonin' fer you'll"
The old world worried on, till July
came at last and with it that most
glorious day that wrapped the baby
nation in its swaddling clothes CT
stripes and stars and laid it in the lap
of Liberty. And what day that was!
And how the birds did sing that morn
Ing from the green tops Of the trees
when the glad sunlight came glancing
through the jeweled leaves and woke
them! And not more joyous were the
birds. or more riotous their little
throbbing hearts to pipe the trail and
cheep and twitter twenty million
loves" than the merry children that
came f1uttering to the grove to join
their reVelry.
o brighter than a dream swept
the procession of children from the
town toward the boy that swung his
hat from the tree top near the brook.
And he flushed with some strange &C.
stasy as he saw a little girl in white.
with a wreath of evergreen, wave her
crimson sash in answer to him, while
the column slowly filed across the
open bridge, where yet again he saw
her reappear in the reflection In the
stream below Then, after the dull
opening of prayer, ard the more tedi-
Gus exercises following, how the woods
did ring with laughter; how the boys
Wed with one another in their labors
of arranging swings and clearing I'M
derbrush away preparatory to day
of unconfned enjoyment; and how the
girls shrieked to "see the black man
coming" and how coquettishly they
STRUGGLED when captured and carrie
off by that dread being, and yet what
eagerness they displayed in his be-
half! And "Ring"-men and women
even Joining in the game, and kissing
one another's wives and husbands
like mad. Why, even the ugly old
gentleman with a carbuncle on the
back of his neck, grew riotous with
mirth, and when tripped full length
upon the sward by the little widow in
half-mourning, hustled nimbly to his
feet and kissed her, with some wicked
pun about grass" widows, that made
him laugh till his face grew as red
as his carbuncle. That bashful young
man who had struggled of alone, sit
ting so uncomfortably upon log, kill
ing bugs and spiders, like an ugly
giant with a monster club-how he
must have envied the airy freedom OF
those "cld boys and girls"
Then there was group OF cider
men talking so long and earnestly
about the weather and the crops that
they had not discovered that the
shade of the old beech they ct be-
meath had stolen silently away ana
left them sitting in the sun, and was
even then performing It's refreshing
office for a big, scre-eyod dog, who,
with painting jaws and telling tongue
was winking away the lives CT a
swarm of gnats with the most stoical
Indifference.
And so time wore along till dinner
came, and women, with big open bas'
kets. bent above the snowy cloths
spread out upon the grass, arranging
"the substantials" and the dainties
Of a feast too varied and too tooth.
some for anything but epicurean mem
cries to describe. And then the aban'
don of the voracious guests! No
dainty affectations-no formalltles--
no etiQuette-no anything but the full
sway of healthful appetites melted Dy
the exhilarant exercises of the day
into keenest rapacity and relish.
Don't you think it's goin' to rain"
asked someone suddenly. A little
rosy-gilled gentleman, with the aid OF
a chicken leg for lever, raised his
fat face skyward, and after a serious
contemplation CT the clouds, wouldn I
say for certain whether 1t would rain
or not, but informed the unfortunate
ouerist, after pulling his head into It's
usual position and laying down the
lever to make room for bite OF
bread, that ii it didn't rain there'd be
long dry SPELL" and then he snorted
mimic snC"storn of breadcrumbs
on his vis-a-vis, who looked wronged,
and said he guessed he'd take an
other piece OF that-air pie down
there"
1t was looking very much like rain
by the time the dinner things were
cleared away. Anxious mothers, with
preserve stains on their dresses, were
running here and there with such ex
carnations to the men folks as do
hurry up!" and For goodness sake,
John, take the baby till find my para
SOL" and There, Thomas, don't lug
that basket off till I find my pickle
dish"
Already the girls had left the
swings, which were being taken down,
and were tying handkerchiefs over
their hats and standing in despairing
contemplation of the ruin of their
dresses. Someone called from the
stand for the ladies not to be at all
alarmed, it wasn't going to rain, and
there wasn't a particle of danger OF
-. but thera clan OF thunder in