THE OLD HOMESTEAD. 29 



aroused all my patriotism when still young. It repre- 

 sented the early Revolutionary days. A soldier on 

 horseback, with a drum, had hurriedly come to a settler 

 in the fields, to announce the war and to ask for volun- 

 teers. The farmer was leaving his team and his plow 

 at the call of his country, and one or two others were 

 hurrying up also with their guns. I suppose it was 

 meant to suggest Lexington times, but I used secretly 



THE PARLOR IN SUMMER. 



to hope also that perhaps the patriotic farmer was 

 really General Putnam himself. 



The big, cool double parlor, as well as the sitting- 

 room, has a huge open fireplace at each end, in front 

 of which, when unused, lie deer horns and various 

 shells. Heavy wide-opening doors separate the two 

 rooms in the parlor from each other when wished. 

 Grandfather and grandmother celebrated their golden 

 wedding in this room, and on its walls are the family 



