My Boyhood and Youth 



week, were the hours after Sunday church serv- 

 ices. I remember hearing long talks on the 

 wonderful beauty of the Indian corn; the won- 

 derful melons, so wondrous fine for "sloken a 

 body on hot days"; their contempt for toma- 

 toes, so fine to look at with their sunny colors 

 and so disappointing in taste; the miserable 

 cucumbers the " Yankee bodies " ate, though 

 tasteless as rushes; the character of the Yan- 

 kees, etcetera. Then there were long discussions 

 about the Russian war, news of which was 

 eagerly gleaned from Greeley's "New York 

 Tribune"; the great battles of the Alma, the 

 charges at Balaklava and Inkerman; the siege 

 of Sebastopol ; the military genius of Todleben ; 

 the character of Nicholas; the character of the 

 Russian soldier, his stubborn bravery, who for 

 the first time in history withstood the British 

 bayonet charges; the probable outcome of the 

 terrible war; the fate of Turkey, and so forth. 

 Very few of our old-country neighbors gave 

 much heed to what are called spirit-rappings. 

 On the contrary, they were regarded as a sort 

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