304 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



just such a spring day as Wealthy came there. The kitchen shone 

 clean and bright, a bowl of pink arbutus blossoms made its atmos- 

 phere freshly sweet, and the fire was laid ready for her to light, 

 ■ the shining teakettle filled, and the pantry held such stores as 

 Amasa's masculine knowledge of household wants could suggest ; 

 flour, butter, eggs, sugar, all were in abundance, and no feast of 

 royalty ever gave more pleasure to its most honored guest than the 

 hot biscuit Mary made and baked for their supper, the stewed dried 

 apples, the rich old cheese, and the fragrant tea gave Amasa this 

 happy evening. Next day they took their wedding trip to Feet's 

 Mills in the new and sensible farm wagon Amasa had just bought, 

 with a strong spirited horse to draw it. 



" I want you should look around, Mary," he had said the night 

 before, " and see what is needful here. I expect most everything 

 is wanting, and we can't lay out for finery. But first of all get 

 what'll make your work easy. Your wedding present will come 

 along to-morrow; to-day we'll buy necessities." 



Mrs. Peet had not sent her only girl empty handed to the new 

 house. A good mattress, two pairs of blankets, fresh, light com- 

 fortables, and some cheap neat white spreads; a set of gay crockery, 

 a clock, and a roll of bright ingrain carpeting had all come to the 

 farmhouse soon after the bride's arrival; her ample supply of 

 sheets and pillow-cases, strong towels, and a few tablecloths had 

 been sent the day before, so this sort of thing was not needed; but 

 there was a new churn bought, and altogether new furnishings for 

 the dairy, several modern inventions to make the work of a woman 

 easier, a set of chairs, a table, and an easy lounge for the parlor, 

 some cretonne covered with apple blossoms and white thorn clus- 

 ters, and pails, brooms, and tin-ware that would have made 

 Wealthy a happy woman, crowded the over-full wagon before 

 they turned homeward. 



The old house began to smile and blossom under this new dis- 

 pensation, and the new mistress smiled too. 



Amasa milked the cows for her, and lifted the heavy pails of 

 milk to strain into the bright new pans; he filled the woodbox by 

 the stove twice a day, put a patent pump into the old well, and, as 

 it stood above the house, ran a pipe down into a sink set in the 

 wood-shed, and so put an end to the drawing and carrying of 

 water. 



