Aunt Harr'et's Samp Pudding

I "I declar' for't," sighed Harriet - sinkiDg wearily into tho tomed rocking-chair, setting her j slippered feet upon tlie stove-hearth . and clasping lier hánds ín front of lier knees - " I declar' for't, if I don't think I this rnakin' Tlianksgivin' day a inatter of cookin' and eatin' is tho most íooíisfi of all our New England notions. Every year since I can remember the , ; gramme has been the sanie. The whole ínonth of November spent m preparin' I for this 'grand gastrenemical exhibij tion,' as Parson Pendl'ton nsed to cali il. I have uevei' in íny life been away from this bo'ise on a Tlianksgivin' day; and evVy Sear we've been -ovdrrun with., comp'ny. Father wouldn'f think "twas Thanksgivin', I s'pose, if the house wasn't full. For my part, I should Bkiá a change ; either to go som'ers Thanksgivin' day, and be waited on, or stay at home by myself." " Oh, Harr'et, I wouldn't talk so," remonstrated grandmother, who was tak1 ing off her faise front and putting on her white muslin night-cap. " Yon ..lqiow the work of preparin' for deur 'ones... is pleasant work. Ouf" ifamily gatherin's make ns all bettef and happier. Yonr father wonld feel dreadfiüly ent up to hear yon van on in tliis comjilainin' way about makin' givin'. Of conrse yon are tired tonight, bnt don't think abont that ; connt j over your marcies, and think how mneh f l you have to be thankful for." " Hum," went on the weaiïed spinster, in her peculiar naealtone, "Ieouldmake ■ thanksgiviiV in myheari so that it would 1 sing for joy withojit makin' .sucli ui ado abput my stomach." Keaching down and opening the oven door, a suggestive and delicious odor, as i i of baking fowls and browning pastry, I burst forth, filling the roomy kitchen. , She peejed . inside thé oven for. a ( ment, turned around one of the puns, , using a corner of her long" straight, ' blue-print' ajiron for :t ïuiltler, .and th'en, ' shutting in 'the culinary Vonders whieh were to. giaca to-inórrow's dinnér, she ; contiiiuedJLulP Jtb% i4LVjvP Vi "Ihave spcnt tliree weeks in house cleaning, only to get ovcrvtliin.C!; in apple-pic order just in time to bu turnod j topsy-turvjT. Evei"y room is full I night,and I nihst strétcli niy tired frame on a lounge. It never makes any difference where Harriet sléeps; site can can be tucked anywhera. Liist-iiight I was up untilll o'cloek to get thcponnd cake baKed. Night before last it was I the minee and pumpkin pies. Tö-night j it will be 11 bofore these chiekèn pies I are browned fit to be secn, and fíat mid! night before I can get to bod. I am tired and sick of the great natioaid. stuffing day, and, for my own parv shan't want a moutliful of the nice food that the pantry shélves.arcgroiiningun; der. I would far rather have a bowl of : samp and milk and a day oi' leisure along with it." The bedroom door just behind the sjjeaker was unlatehed, and John and his wife, who liad late ín the evening driven in from the west part of thu town, so as to btí at lióme to brcakfast on Thanksgiving morning, and whohad been put into Him-iefs room, heard every word of this firaíle. " Ú'e'll have thora all next year if wc get the house fixed over," whispered Jane, under the blue-and-whito cover - lid, and John nodded assent, whispering in his turn : " It's hard on Haferiet,' to be sure." The project was broached next day, was agreed to by all liañda, and tliroughont the year it was talkecï of as a settled thing tliat their next Thanksgiving' reunión shonld be held at John's. " Father and mother are to come over on Monday," said wife, as the festal geasbn drew near, " ai ui on Wi 1 1 1 esday, wlien tEe preparátiofíá aré neajrlyoi quite complete, we irill scnd the team fo'r Hiirrict," " I'll not make that amountof trcrable ïor anyliody," replied the muiden sistei1, wlio was, in fact, the main-stay at the homestead. "If I conclude to join in your dinner, I will, on Thursday morriI in', walk over through the woods in time to go to meetin' with you." Grandpa Buxton's farm eonsistod of a ] long strip lying between two vivers, with ! a wooded hill about . nádway of its j length. Grandpa lived!ina-TÍ .oíd farmliouso in the eastern meadöw; and John ! had fitted up an elegant ïicw residence on the bank of the west river. Ko the old couple were not to leave the ancestral acreSj although it was fpur miles i'rom one house to the otlicr, aroundtMe i point of the hill, and two miles by the I foot and bridle path across the woods. On the suuny, emoky Monday ing preceding Thanksgiving grandpa and grandma started with $ld Dobbin aud the chaise to jog arcmnd themömi.tain road to John'n. And on that same Monday morning in the far West a prctty, plump little woman, with her husband and five children, started in an ox-cart to go the fifteen or twenty miles to the nearest railway station where six of thern were to take the cars for the East to spend Thanksgiving, ■hile the fathor retraced his wearisonnTVay to the i lonely log cabin on the forest'prairie. It was a rather dowdy and old-fashioned company, as might have been exI pected, so far as clothes were concerned, but attractive in their rosy, healthy, i buoyant good-nature. They were all as ! naPP.y as happy could be- -f rom 12year-old Johnny to baby Hat - for were they not journeying to the wonderful homestead where mamma lived when she was a little girl? and where the scènes of all mamma's stories were laid - " mamma's splendid stories, whieh were better than any fairy stories, or any stories printed in books or papers?' Ou, on they whirled, and it was Wednesday afternoon; yct these childieii, who liad never in their lives been flve miles from their own clearing, were not cross, or sonr, or out of patience, although they were dreadful y tired, and oh, so hungry! for the sizeable lunch basket, well filled wBeü they started from home, had quite given out, and the reinforcements bought in liaste at wayside restaurants not very filling.. "Only flfty miles from grandpa's now," and the jilump little woman marshaled i her brood about her as tliey made the laat change of cars. " Only two hours oí precious time." But, alas for human calculations, there was a connection to bo made at an of -the way juilction on the line. The eastern train was late. Traína ahvays are late the night before Thanksgi-ing, there are so many happy soiils going home. " These trains are mail trains, they must meet, and our .train muat waif' " 'Twill make a pretty late supper time, said úname, i " I should tldnk it was srtpper time npw," eried Mary, pbking aroimd in the j bottom of the-empty liampcr. ] " I siippose there is some place near . by whère I can get a lunch for the dren," said the pleasant mamma to i ble Conductor Carroll, who carne through the car just then. i " I'm sorry to teil you, madam, that 1 the restaurant has been discontinued, i and tho hotel burned down a week ago (ir so. You can see the ruins just over the brook there.". A glance at the ashes and embers of what was once a hotel was not very satisfying to fivé liüngry juveniles, and mamma, for the first time since she bade her Irasband good-by, with almost a cloud on her brp.w, said : " We will play we have got tö grandpa's, and soe hw nearly our real getting there will be like our plftj'. I will begin - now - ' What would I like for supper,- Sister Harr'et? O b, a cup of tea tor me, and plenty of milk and bread ! for the children.' ' ' Wall, I declar' fort, Sister Susan, I guess these children wo'n t eat bread and milk at grandpa's, Xhankgivin', aiter travelin" three mortal days and nights.' " And the plump, little mamma changed hej; ypice in the last qlause in a.droll, nasal imitation of her Bister, which made tiit c.hildren laugh. "What would you like, my dears?" . "I can smell all sorts 'of goodies," said i Mary, snüfing until her little pert nose grew red, "and I should like pumpkin pe, if it's agreeable." "Chicken for me," pnt in Jöhimy, promptly. "Minee pie," said quiet Jane. ''Pudding, t-ake, cookies, apples, mits, ! popcorn-balls, roast beef, roast pork, spare ribs, quail, hum, ducks ; most anytning .ypu have 'in -the house," cried Charlie uproariously - while thcy all laughed, and little Hat shouted, " Goo, goo," and made her little fat hands fiy in i)atty-cake, bulirs-nian," The three or f our .pasáengers in the farend of the car lpokcd up from their 'boots aüd papers and smiled at the merry little group. Meanwhile Aunt Harr'èt, ih the great old i;rk of a farm-house by hcrself, talked to the dog and-the cat. ? She had loaded the hired man off home to his íather's with a big basket packed full of Tlianksgivin' ñxins'. .■ ""X'll see," she said as slie put in the. last mihee-pie and loaf of cake. "if I can't have just .as thankf ni a heart as I could if the house was full of goodies. I mean to try it for onco, and eat pudden' and milk, as I have so ofton wishod I could, and see if 1 don't enjoy it just as well." So she sifted a great quantity of cornmeal of the kind that Southern people cali hominy and New England folks cali samp, and, putting on the big dinI ner.-pot, proceeded to make a pudding. 1 It reijuired a -gool deal of stining and ! skimming, and kept her pretty busy for two or three hours. The moal swelled and swelled until the kettle was nearly full. 1 "I declar f'or't," saïd she to the cat, "I don't know what possessed me to make such a lot of pudden'. But, if I don't want ' it all myself , the hogs will ; i 'twon't be wasted " - and, fetching a bowl of milk from the pantry, she sat. down.iu the splint-bottomed rockingchair, set her felt-slippered feet on the fore-piece of the stove and proceeded to eat bet supper. " I declar for't," said she to the dog, who lay on the rug at her i'cet, '" I feel exactly as if sumbudy was dead, or as if ev'rybu'dy was dead, and I was left on airth alone to keep tavern. I should like a, little bite af sunthin' to top off with, bnt I wouldü't öwn it to anybudy that could talk ; but you won't teil no tales. I'm as ashamed as a whipped dog, and feel as cheap as dirt every time i I think what dayit is, and . how we've been prospered iñ 'every w"ay through the year, and yet here I be, no coiupiiy ib the house, and none likely to coiuc, and nothin' cooked up, and no Thanksgivin' smell about the house, and, worst of all, father 'n mother sent off out from und(ir their own rufl'. Harr'et, yöu're a sour, selfisn, crábbed old muid, 'nd I'm ashamed on ye. ïake the Bible and see if ye can't flnd sunthiu' to git ye Ínter a better state o' mirid. So she strode. into " mother's room " af ter the faraöy Bible, and, behold ! it was ione. They've taken it wi,th 'em to John's, and all the Thánksgivin' feelin' lioiif with it." She took a look at the made-up bed, witli its pieced-up quiltj and said agnin, '" Jt seeins as if i ev'rybudy was dead," and went out and ■ simt the door behind her. i - Vh;it if sumbudy shoittó come?" she soliloquized next, taking np tho ! cat, " but there won't. Thero ain't . nobody to come, only what's invited to John's, excepting Sister Susan, poor, dear, precious child, away off tliere in the wilds; she'll never como home agin, I presume," and Harr'et laid her lmiids on he; knees . and thouglit of the day tf usan was born, and of the day wlren she was marrjed, and cried a little, and then dropped ofl'intoa nap, fromwhich she was aroused by a subdued bustle noar Hio back door. Getting up and lifting a comer of the cui tain she peoped out, and saw, by the light of the full moon, a wagon driving out of the yard, a trunk - or basket - a tallish boy, a shortish girl, two more hciidren coming up the walk, and a plump, little woman, with a baby in her anus, just stepping upon the doorstone. " Susan," gasped Harr'et, quickly 1111buttoning and opening the door, and catehing tlie surprised, rosy, little woman in her arms. They both cried a little, but Harr'et meanwhile put Susan into thé splint-bottomed chair, took ofl' her bonnet, and smoothed Her haiv. Then she wiped lier eyes, afckèd after the absent husband, kissed the children, took oft' their things, making a mental calculation of how she sliould manage to get them all dressed before Sunday. ; " I knew we should find you up," said Susan, looking around the familiar . kitohen. "I remember how tlic baking ■ used to drag the night before," and she j gave a little sniff. Smclling noVÜing suggestive of fancy cookery, she, said she.beh'eved she hadmanaged to a coid in some way. At tliis the enildren, cach in turn, sniffed aud loóked curiously at each other. "' o won't let any one know that you have come until morning,"' said Harr'et, iii her decided way, " and then we will have a general surprise at breakfast." "They are all well - fathcr and mother?" asked Susan, anxiously. ■" Never better ! Now what will you have for supper?" That was just what had been said iii their play, in the car, and the chiidren prieked up their ears. " Oh, a cup of tea for me. and plenty )f milk and broad for the children, 1 ;aid the plurnp and rosy mamma, i lig on her part of the play accordingto i .irogranime. But Aunt Harr'et, instead f asking tliem wtat they would like, ■ soized upan the idea of milk, and : ilaimed : . " Yes, yes, milk for the children, tobe .; mre ; of course it will be the very best ■ ;hing for them after theirjourney. You isoil to be fond of samp, Susan." " I shoiild think so, and I have nevev ieen any since I went away." The children looked disappointed, but they enjoyed tlioir supper, and :hought and said they had never tasted mything so delicious as that first meal it grimdpa's. f You see," said Aunt Harriet, as she was preceding them uij to bed just as the clock struck 11, "it is a good appetite and a thálikful lieart that makes a Thanksgivin' rappfer, after all." " Yes," agreed Johnñie, " tliat's so ; luit, after all, I"m glad Wre going to j have the turkey, goose, ducks and chicken fixiïils to-morrow." " Beginnüig with stewed chicken and pumpkin pie for breakfast," said Mary. "You see I have told them all about it," said Susan apologetically, as she carried the baby up the stairs she had last come down as a bride. " If yo'u're crowded, Harriet, you can make np a bed on the floor for the boys." " There are two beds in this room ; eau you manage here? " replied Harriet, opening the door of one of the spiek and span front chambers. " Oh, certainly." " Then go to bed and to sleep, and don't hurry up until I pall you in the morning;" and, bidding the little. group a loving good-night, she lnirried down stairs, quickly donnod walking shoes, shawl and bood, slipped out the back door, loeked it securely after her, put the key under the door sill, and started across lots for John's. " It's lucky I haven't been baking for a fortnight," she said, and then she continued, " if I had, the folks would all be at home, whero they'd orter be, and I shouldn't have ter go prowling off after 'eni. I don't see's I've made muoh." Jane was taking her last chicken pie out of the oven, and the clock was striking 12 as Harriet stalked into the kitchen. John heard her voice and got out of bed and camo out in his night-gown to hear the good news, for Susan was the youngest sister and the pet. " I'll go over and bring them all around here to breakfast," said John, eagerly. "It don't seem as if I could wait until morning." " ƒ will teil you what shüll be done," said John's wife. " Wewon't saya word about it, but will carry our fixings all over home. Do you suppose I'm going to have that dear child and tliem children come half across the continent to Thanksgiving at grandpa's, only to be sent away from tho old homestead to one of the neighbors? By no means." Tlien, indeed, Harriet broke down and cried in good earnest. And, what was a wonderful thing for her to do, she put her arms around her sister-in-law's ïieck ánd kissed her heartily. Thanksgiving morning opened bright and. fair. "When Aunt Harr'et, in a pretty, flowered wrapper, ])oke(l-in to awake the travelers, she found them up and dressed. Grandpa and grandma, John and his wife, and all the rest were waiting to receive them at breakfast, and everythiug went on just as it was set down in the " play.'" ' There are Thanksgiving smells enough this morning," said ÍÑIrtry; "I guess we did all have colds last night." J!nt all Bept their own counsel, and the plump little mother has not yot ceased wondering how it happened that Harr'et should have been making that immense samp pudding on Thanksgiving evo.- Sjir'tntjjifíld liepublican.