FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 8, 1893. 



DANVIS FOLKS.— VII!. 



The Paring Bee. 



On the evening appointed for the entertainment the full 

 moon was seen, but as a jpale and dimly defined blotch 

 behind the gray veil of cloud that overspread the sky and 

 blended with the vague i"im of the horizon. 



There was a dull, sullen chill in the air, which was 

 motionless in the expectancy wherewith nature so often 

 awaits her changes. The night was jarred by the rumble 

 of wagons jolting over the frozen roads and piei'ced by the 

 merry voices of coming guests. 



Some of these were occupants of the wagons, above 

 whose rumble and clatter they strove to make each other 

 heard between abrupt breaks of the thread of conversa- 

 tion when a wheel struck a stone or dropped into a rut. 

 Some were coming across the fields on foot in couples and 

 squads, but it was noticeable that the couples emerged 

 from tlae half gloom before their voices were heard, while 

 the gabble and laughter of the groups ran far before them 

 to herald their coming. 



Beams of light shone hospitably forth from every win- 

 dow of the kitchen and square room, and the heavy 

 latch clanked and the door slammed announcement of the 

 frequent arrivals. 



The women folks came forth from the bedroom, where 

 they had bestowed their hoods and shawls and cloaks on 

 Huldah's bed, each with an apron shielding the front of 

 her tidy calico or homespun woolen -gown. Tlie men liung 

 their coats on the pegs of the kitclien wall and became 

 comfortable in their accustomed indoor shirt sleeves. 



Soon pans and knives were brought forth, bushel bas- 

 kets of apples lugged in, chairs drawn into convenient 

 groups, and tlie business of the evening began. 



Tom Hamlin and another almost as famous an apple 

 parer, bestrode their machines, placed on the seats of 

 high-backed chairs, and entered upon such a strife for 

 the championship that the clattering din of their clumsily- 

 geared machines was almost incessant, and the parings 

 spurting from their knives in curved jets, were scarcely 

 broken in the quick shifting of the apples on the forks. 

 Presently a dozen pairs of hands were busy quartering 

 the peeled apples, as many more were coring them, while 

 others strung them with wire needles on long strings of 

 pack thread for drying. 



Every one except Tom Hamlin and his rival was talk- 

 ing, and almost every voice strove to make itself heard 

 above every other and the deafening clatter of the ma- 

 chines. Some couples with heads close togetlier utiUzed 

 the uproar to say things meant for no other ears. 



In the center of an interested group, Uncle Lisba, 

 splitting apxsles with his shoe knife, roared like a lion 

 concerning the wonders of the West, and to as interested 

 ai feminine a,udience. Aunt Jerusha quavered shrilly of 

 tlie discomforts of Western life while she industriously 

 strung the quarters of apples in her pan. 



"Fiftj^ an' a hundred acres in one field o' wheat an' the 

 hull on 't as level as the Forge Pa wnd," Uncle Lisha 

 shouted. 



"Ten miled tu the nighest store," shrieked his wife to 

 her group of listeners, "an' when you got to 't, the tea an' 

 snuff they kept wan't wuth a kerrying hum, though good- 

 ness knows they ast enough for 'em. Land sakes! how be 

 I goin' to git a pinch of snuff, wi' boths my han's in these 

 ere apples?" 



"Jest look o' Mandy Varney," cried a buxom damsel to 

 those around her. "She haint done nothin' onlj' chank 

 every identicle quarter she's cored, an' listen to that Jim 

 Putnam, sence she sod daown. Wonder ef she thinks it's 

 a sparliin' bee steaddy a parin' bee?" 



"What s'pose the reason is, the' haint none o' Cap'n 

 Peck's folks come?" inquired another high-keyed voice, 

 to which a middle-aged matron answered, with a back- 

 ward toss of the head, while she kept her eyes rigidly 

 fixed upon her apple and knife, "Proberbly the're 'bove 

 goin'^ to such common duins, naow 't he's sot in the 

 Leegislatur. Ef 't was 'fore 'lection the'd aU ha' come 

 fast 'nough." 



"They du say 'at on the stren'th on 't she's ben tu 

 V'gennes an' bought a hull set o' flowtn' blue dishes. Clap- 

 ham hadn't nothin' quite good enough for a member o' 

 the Leegislatur's wife," cried another. 



"Highty tighty," said the elder matron, "an' there be 

 them 'at haint so turrible old that remember when the 

 huU fam'ly eat the' puddin' an' milk aouten braown 

 airthenware bowls, an' glad 'nough to get 'em." Even 

 Dan vis was not without its social jealousies. 



"Suthin' ben a ketchin' Joel Bartlett's sheep," an- 

 nounced one of a knot of married men, who, assembled 

 apart from their wives, were not laboring very assidu- 

 ously. "Some thinks it's dawgs an' some thinks it's a 

 animil." 



" 'Taint no ways likely it's a bear," another remarked, 

 "the time o' the year 's agin that. But it might be a 

 painter." 



"Wal, no, 1 don't favor the idee, 'cause the' was ten or 

 a dozen sheep 't was killed aout an' aout; jest the' thrut 

 cut. A ijainter wouldn't ha' killed more 'n one or two, 

 an' sati'fied hisself a eatin' the meat. Haint that so, Sam- 

 wil?" appealing to their host, who had come within call as 

 he moved from group to group to see that each was prop- 

 erly provided for. 



"I cal'late it's a wolf," he said, "from what I've hearn 

 tell o' their duins. More 'n aU. that, I've consaited all 

 the fall 'at the' was one a hangin' raound, for I've seen 

 signs 'at I couldn't lay to no other critter. But if he don't 

 make himself scase 'fore many hours, I reckon we'll have 

 a chance to find aout what he is, for if it don't snow be- 

 fore mornin' I miss my guess." 



' 'I'm a goin' aout tu take a look o' the weather jest f er 

 greens," said one of the party, rising with a sigh of relief 

 and dropping his pan in his chair. After an absence 

 which must have enabled him to make a thorough study 

 of the weather, he re-entered the kitchen so powdered 

 with snow that he did not need to proclaim that "it was 

 snowing like tim." 



Many of the company needed further ocular proof of 

 his report and hastened forth to obtain it, while others 

 were content to cool their noses against the window panes 

 and stare out upon the landscape grown more obscure 

 behind the veil of falling snow, all dull and Ufeless, but 

 for the candles' weird reflections — unreal lights by which, 

 perhaps, witches were holding carnival. Perhaps it was 

 the hope of beholding them that so long kept some fair 

 cheeks in close iDroximity to bearded ones. 



"If it holds up by morning I'll take a rantomscoot xip 

 back o' Joel's and see what tracks I c'n find," Sam said 



and hurried away as Tom Hamlin, tossing away the last 

 apple and kicking over the empty basket, shouted, "Fetch 

 on your apples ef you want 'em skinned." 



So with unflagging zeal and unabated clamor of voices, 

 and clatter of implements and machines, the work went 

 on till half a dozen bushels of apples were on the strings 

 and ready to festoon the kitchen walls and poles that 

 hung from hooks in the ceiling, and the welcome 

 announcement was made that the labor of the evening 

 was over. 



"Now then," said Sam, making liis way with careful 

 steijs across the floor, slippery with scattered skins and 

 cores, "we'll clear up the thickest o' this mess and then 

 we'U see ef aom- womern folks has saved any cold 

 victuals for us. I believe I saw some cold 'taters in the 

 buttry an' I do' know but the's some o' Drive's johnny 

 cake left." 



But before the floor was cleaned, a dozen girls must try 

 for their lover's initials with apple parings whirled thrice 

 above their heads and cast over the right shoulder to the 

 floor behind them. 



"Wal, fer all the world," cried Amanda Vamey, blush- 

 ing as red as the apple peeling she just cast behind her, 

 and was now regarding with surprised delight, "ef it haint 

 a perf eck P. " 



"It might be most anything," said Mary Ann Jones, 

 who in the early evening had called attention to Amanda's 

 flirtation. 



"'Twould be good enough ef you'd ha' made it," said 

 Amanda, ' 'I'll leave it tu Uncle Lisher ef 'taint a good 

 P," as the old man drew near the circle widened to admit 

 him. 



"Yes," he said, after adjusting his spectacles and critic- 

 ally examining the initial. "It's juUuk handwriting. 

 But it don't stan' fer Putnam ner fer Peggs. It's tew long 

 and lank. Guess it stands fer Peltier. Come here, Pel- 

 tier." 



The young man, who was moping in a corner, made 

 his way toward them. "It 'pears tu be p'inted by fortin 

 'at you've got tu dance 'long wi' Mandy. Naow, you be 

 ready tu take your place wi' her soon's we get suthin' tu 

 eat." Then whispering into his ear like a blast of noi*th- 

 eastwind, "Naow du try tu shake some o' the sorrow 

 aout o' your heart when th' dancin' begins." 



"Gosh, Uncle Lisher," said Pelatiah, aghast at the plan 

 and casting a hopeless glance upon his big boots, "I can't 

 dance no more 'n a thirty-foot ladder." 



"Wal, 'f you haint got the tools, I do' know who hea, 

 an' you've got tu use 'em if I hafter yard ye top o' the 

 hot stove. Come, gals, le's get things sot tu rights so 

 't we c'n eat an' git tu the real business o' the evenin'." 



Then the guests, janged along the walls of the kitchen 

 and square room, were amply served with Huldah's 

 doughnuts, pies and cheese, and Sam's cider received its 

 usual compliments. 



Then the young people engaged in romping games, the 

 Needle's Eye, wherein every one who could sing and 

 every one who could not, sang, or tried to sing at the top 

 of their voices: 



"The needle's eye, that dofch soffy the thread that runs so true, 

 It has caught many a smiling lass and naow it has caught yeou!" 



or with a volume and zest that would have pleased 

 Gran'ther HiU more than the melody, "We're marching 

 onward tow-ard Quebec." In every game the forfeits 

 were invariably kisses, given and paid in the simplest and 

 most direct manner, or when so decreed, in the contor- 

 tions of a "double and twisted Loddy massy." The move- 

 ments of another popular game were timed to the words 

 of, "Come, Philander, le's be a marchin'." The elders 

 looked on in amused toleration, while a few joined the 

 young folks' games only to be reminded by grudgingly 

 paid forfeits, that the freshness of youth had departed 

 from their wrinkled cheeks, 



"Come," at last cried Uncle Lisha, who by tacit con- 

 sent assumed the office of master of ceremonies, "you 

 young folks orter be abaout cl'yed wi' bussin' an' we ol' 

 folks has eat saour gi-apes long 'nough, so les' all turn tu 

 an' hev a leetle sensible enj'yment a dancin'. Where's 

 thet aire leetle tiddler." 



"He haint come anigh," Sam answered. "He promised 

 he'd come sartin sure, but I'm most afraid he's run agin a 

 snag tu Hamner's 'at he won't git clear on 'fore mornin'. 

 It's tew tarnal bad." 



"Well, that's a pretty how de do," said the old man, 

 "but we won't be cheated aout'n aour dancin' by one 

 drunken fiddler. Tom Hamlin, 'd ye fetch you jewsharp 

 in your pocket? er can you dig one up, Samwil?" Tom 

 "hedn't never thought on 't," nor could Sam find the only 

 instrument upon which he ever played. 



' 'Wal, then, I've got tu sing, which I'll make you hear 

 me, ef I don't charm none. Chuse yom- pardners naow or 

 never an' form ont' the floor. Come, Peltier, git Mandy 

 and stan' up to the dough dish." 



Pelatiah hung back bashfully tiU Amanda, seeing her 

 riA3_al, Mai y Ann, led out by Putnam, blushing with vexa- 

 tion, met him more than half way, and he found his tm- 

 willing feet taking him to his place in the waiting ranks. 



"All ready. Naow I'm goin' tu sing," shouted Uncle 

 Lisha, and began to roar in stentorian tones: 



"Lum tiddle, lum tiddle, t'l law day, 

 Lum tiddle — — 



"Go(^ airth an' seas! Why don't ye start yer hommels? 

 D' ye s'pose I'm goin' tu set an' holler all night for you tu 

 stan' an' gawp julluk tew rows o' stancheled calves?" 



Thus adjured the first couple paddled and sailed down 

 the middle, when he again took up his wordless song and 

 twenty-four pairs of feet, impatient for their turn, began 

 to stamp and shuffle to its rytlmi: 

























^ 



^ 



— * H 





• 









till 



- die, lum 

 -^-^^ 



tirt - die, 



r'l 

 -JS — 



law 



day, 





F — 









^-^[ 





e£ 



— i ' 





lain 



P-^^T 



tirt - 



file, lum 



-1- 



1 - die. 

 -P r- 



t'l 



law 



day. 



1? 



do day bum, 



~\, r ~1 — 



^ — V 



do day huiii, 



\j r-—0 



' ' V- ' 



do day hum, 



t'l law day. 



Antoine, sitting by Uncle Lisha, and attempting to 

 catch the time in snatches of undertone, played an imagi' 

 nary fiddle and pranced time with both feet after the 

 Canadian fashion, evidently considering liimself the chief 

 performer. 



The dancers quickly caught the inspiration ofwell!' 

 meant, if unmelodious, strains and whirled and capered 

 in perfect abandonment to their influence. Even Pela- 

 tiah's bashfulness melted away in the excitement and he 

 made wild rushes at wrong moments and in wrong direc' 

 tions, which involved him and his partner in bewildering 

 entanglement with other couples. 



"Turn yer pardener half way raound, 

 Lum tiddle, lum tiddle, tl law day, 



Half way raound, half way raound, do day hum, t'l law day. ' 



Uncle Lisha sang at Mm vociferously, and Antoine 

 chimed in with, "Turn yo' pahdny wrong side aout," to 

 Pelatiah's complete bewilderment. Then young Putnam, 

 striving to outdo his own agile steps, as he pranced down 

 the middle with Mary Ann Jones, slipped on a fragment 

 of apple peel and fell headlong, i)lowing his way along 

 a rank of dancers and turning a furrow of them on top 

 of himself. Uncle Lisha still sang on, his voice rising 

 above the din of sluieks and laughter, till it dawned 

 upon him that no one was dancing aJid his music was 

 being poured forth to no purpose. 



In the lull that presently succeeded the confusion the 

 company became aware of the notes of a fiddle, whence 

 coming no one could conjecture, faintly yet distinctly 



E laying the famfliar air of "Money Musk." While all 

 reathlessly listened, some puzzled and some breathless, 

 superstitiously alarmed, Solon Briggs oracularly voiced 

 the prevailing feeling in a solemn, awe-stricken tone: 



"That fiddle haint performed by no livin' han's. Wat- 

 son Parmer has pairished, miserable, in the element of 

 the snow, and his speerit has come to fulfill his 'pintment 

 made to Samule. It's Watson Parmer's indivisible 

 apperagotion." 



"Beeswax," cried John Dart, listening at the open 

 door. "Go to thunder wi' yer speerits. It's someb'dy 

 in the woodshed. Gimme a light an' I'll see who 't is." 



Taking a candle and protecting it with his hollowed 

 hand, he made his Avay to the Avoodshed, followed by the 

 bolder of the company, close at liis heels, tlie more timid 

 crowding one another in the rear, where the light of the 

 open door mistily illumined the falling snow. Under 

 cover of the shed, and held high above Dart's head, the 

 candle struggled Avith the gloom till it disclosed a dismally 

 comic little figm-e crouched in a limp heap, Avith its back 

 against a barrel, its disproportionately long legs looped 

 over the bar of a saw horse on which it had attempted to 

 seat itself. The snoAv-laden hat had fallen over the face, 

 and the short body AA'as hidden by the fiddle which the 

 owner was playing with a skill that had siuvived inebria- 

 tion, whfle in a thin and drunken voice he prompted the 

 movements of a country dance. 



"Firsh cou'le. DaoAv' er mi'le. Balansh. Daow' & 

 rou' shide." 



"Wal, I SAvan," Dart ejaculated, '"f 't aint sperits, ai'ter 

 aU. Hamner's, inside o' ' Wat Parmer. Hamner 'd ortu 

 be kicked tu death by cripples for a-lettin' on him git so, 

 Wat," taking the hat from the fiddler's face, shaking the 

 snow from it and adjusting it in its proper place, "don't 

 be a-wastin' your music on the wood pile. You can't get 

 no dancin' aout on 't. Come int' the haouse." 



But the hunchback's face, vacant of everything save its 

 habitual expression of pain, only stared bhndly into apace 

 and the merry tune went on. 



"You might as Avell talk tu a post. Take a holt o' the 

 light, some on ye," and giving the candle into other 

 hands, he got behind the little man, and placing his arms 

 under the Ump legs, lifted him as easily as one might a 

 child, and in such a position the playing of the A'iolin Avas 

 not interrupted and so, preceded by the candle-bearer, 

 bore him into the house. As they entered. Palmer's 

 drunken fancy moved him to strike up, ' 'The Campbells 

 are Coming." 



"The camels is comin'," cried Beau Putnam, "Don't ye 

 see the hump?" 



"Shut yer head, you blasted monkey," Dart gi'owled go 

 savagely that the grin faded out of. Putnam's face, and 

 the laugh that his coarse jest created died out in a sup- 

 pressed titter. 



"Here's your music, Lovel," Dart announced, as he de- 

 posited his light burden on a chair, "the best tiddler in 

 Charlotte county. He's a leetle mite tired jest naow, but 

 when he gets rested he'll set all your feet fly in' in spite of 

 ye. Mis' Lovel, won't ye give him a cup o' tea, hot an', 

 strong?" 



AVhen the little man had been somewhat restored to his 

 proper self he tuned his violin and then drew from it such 

 blithe and melodious strains that all forgot his deformity. 

 Even he, vA'ith loving eyes fixed upon his instrument, his 

 Avorn face alight with a tender emotion that softened the 

 lines which pain and dissipation had drawn upon it, 

 seemed for the time also to have forgotten it. 



Uncle Lisha, relieved of his musical labors, abandoned 

 himself to the pleasures of the dance Avith a grace and 

 agflity that filled Aunt Jerusha's heart Avith pride, albeit 

 they Avere such as a sportive bear exhibits. Antoine Avas 

 given the floor for a while, as, to a tune of his OAvn choos- 

 mg, he danced a Canadian jig. Every one was a wide- 

 awake and active participant in the gayety except the 

 baby and the old hound, the one sleeping, undisturbed by 

 the noise and commotion, whereof the other Avas a re- 

 signed but unhappy spectator under the circumscribed 

 shelter of the stove. 



When the dance ended, and the guests, even now ac- 

 knowledging no fatigue, began to depart, the morning 

 star was shining through the breaking clouds and the 

 day Avas faintly dawning upon a world Avhose new Avhite- 

 ness looked strange to eyes that la.st beheld it dun and 

 gray with the drearin^s of late autumn. 

 ''"Naow fetch on tliat leetle fiddler," John Dart com- 

 manded when he had tucked his Sarah Ann snugly in the 

 buffalo skins, "I'm a goin' tu get him vSafte past Hamner's 

 ef I Ixafter lock him up in his liddle box. We wanter 

 keep him for another apple cut. Here, Wat, cuddle in 

 there 'tAvixt me an' Sary Ann, we're both on us small. 

 Here ye be. Good night, Lovel, ef 'taint tu airly. I'll be 

 on hand ef the's a wolf hunt, G'lang, Bob." 



"It's complete trackin' snow," said Sam to a group of 

 htmters who fingered last at his threshold, and he stooped 

 to imprint the snowy banking v?ith his finger, "I'll see 

 what it's got tu tell us an' let you know. Good mornin'." 



The wagons moving over ;the jQiuflBed roads, and the 



