Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1920-11-25
THE NUTMEG MAN.


Peter and Jane liked the story Of
the One-Eyed Cow very well. You
could tell this from what they said
and did. Peter said the story was "all
right" and Jane kissed Uncle Tan
for it and gave him a hug. Besides,
they came back early the next evening
for story number two. They did not
come to supper, for that would hardly
have been polite. But they came as
soon as supper was over, and helped
Uncle TaH's son wash up the dishes.
When they were all settled to hear
again about the Easily-Lost Children,
Uncle Tan said, II shall tell you to-
night of how the children visited the
nutmeg man."
Jane did not hear the last words
very well, and so she said, "What kind
of man, Uncle Tan?"
''The nutmeg man."
Jane very much wanted to ask what
a nutmeg man was, but she didn't ask.
She wanted to know whether the man
made nutmegs or was made of a nut
meg; maybe he sold nutmegs or was
sold for a nutmeg. But she didn't ask.
The reason why she didn't ask was
because she would rather guess at 1t
as the story went along. 1t was
more fun to wait and see.
OF course, she knew what nutmegs
Fare. Jane was nearly eight years old,
and big enough to help her mother.
When her mother made junket for
supper, Jane was always allowed to
get out the nutmeg and the nutmeg
CRATER and CRATE the nutmeg into fine
brown specks all over the sweet, white
julket. When Jane was six years old
she never pronounced the word nut.
meg" right. She always got 1t turned
round. She always called it "meg-
nut" Sometimes she forgot and called
1t that way even when she was nearly
eight years old.
SO Jane did not interrupt Uncle
Tan, and Uncle Tan told the story of
the visit of the Easily-LOst Children
to the nutmeg man. And now comes
the story.
once upon time the two children
went blackberrying in Connecticut.
Aristotle went with them. Each of
the children had a tin pail, but Of
course the poor dog had none.
They all went along the road out
into the country till they came to the
Great Woods. The Great Woods Is a
place in Connecticut where the trees
are very old. In most places IN Con-
necticut and every other state the
trees are not allowed to get old, but
are chopped down and used for fire
wood or boards. But the Great Woods
belonged to man who liked old trees
IN great quantities-liked 'em much
better than fire wood or boards. So
this curious owner of trees let his
trees grow until they were very big,
o and then chopped down only a few at
a time.
So the children came to this woods,
and went in and soon came to the
blackberry patch. Blackberries don't
grow right in the woods among the
trees, but they grow in fields and
clearings. But there was clearing
IN the Great Woods, near the edge. A
clearing is a place where the trees are
all chopped down.. This clearing was
made by the owner when he was
young man, and had to have some
wood in a great hurry TO build himself
"a house. That was when he got mar
Eied. This was the only clearing in
che Great Woods, because he had
never got married again.
The children got into the clearing
and found it full of blackberry bushes,
and the bushes were covered with
ripe fruit Those were the incest kind
of blackberries. They were large and
black and soft and sweet and firm
and almost free from seeds. If you
bit one you would not notice any
seeds. And when the berries we're in
the pals they smelled sweet, some
thing like flowers. And they were very
juicy.
The children picked and picked aad
their pals were half full by lunch
time. Then they ate their lunch in
the woods. For lunch they just had
chicken sandwiches and blackberries
and cocoa. Do you ask me how they
could have cocoa? They had 1t cold.
,rNey had brought 1t in a bottle. Arts
totle ate a sandwich and dog biscuit.
After lrnch they sat In the moss and
leaned against tree and listened to
8 cicada. Some people call the cicada
q locust. It's all the same, whatever
you call it. II is bigger than grass
hopper, and 1t AS up high in the tree,