FOREST AND STREAM. 



[km. 12, im. 



DANVIS FOLKS.— XI. 



Hasty Puddin*. 



Desbrtioit by its men folts had not brought complete 

 tjuiet to the Lovel homestead, any more than to others 

 that day similarly deserted in Danvis, for the women's 

 tongues enjoyed unrestrained freedom to wag at will. 



Atint Jerusha fully realized the privilege, when, after 

 stooping at the shop window to watch her husband's slow 

 progress across the fields, she re-entered the kitchen, and 

 seating herself restfully in her favorite chair, she took out 

 her snulJbox and regaled herself with along-inhaled pinch 

 of the fragrant powder, to which she in turn invited each 

 nostril with impartial twists of her mouth from side to 

 side. When she had returned the box to the deep pocket 

 and fumbled forth her copperas-checked, homespun hand- 

 kerchief , she settled back in her chair and made declara- 

 tion: 



"I will say, Huldy, twixt you an' me an' the whippin' 

 pos', 'at it's a raal comfort oncte in a while tu be clean red 

 o' men folks. Not tu say but what I set store by weU-be- 

 haved men folks sech as aourn be, an' consider 'em a 

 necessary blessin', but you du git cl'yed o' the best o' things 

 arter tew long spells." 



Huldah picked up the baby from the floor, seated him 

 on her lap, wiped his chubby cheeks with a moistened cor- 

 ner of her apron, and kissed them with long inhalations 

 of their subtle fragrance that only a mother can catch, 

 before she answered. 



"I spect 'at th' was a time when you couldn't hev tew 

 much of Uncle Lisher, an' begun to hanker arter him the 

 minute he was out of sight." 



The russet of the wrinkled cheeks was tinged with a 

 faint blush, that kindled a responsive glow in Huldah's 

 conscious face, and both laughed an acknowledgment of 

 the touch of nature that makes youth and age akin. 



"I haint denyin' young folkse's foolishness, but that 

 don't signify. What I du say is, 'at when folks gets set- 

 tled daown tu the tussle o' livin' there be times when it's 

 restin' tu hev men folks aouten the way. Women wants 

 a chance tu talk about consarns, an' argy their own way. 

 Somehaow men can't argy, but keep a-giv"n' their reasons 

 an' their whys an' wherefores. Women know a thing is 

 so, an' jest steck tu it, an' thet's argyin' 'at gin'ally fetches 

 men araound er shets 'em up, which answers the pup- 

 pus." 



"Yes," Huldah concluded, as she trotted her boy at 

 arm's length and looked at him in absorbed admiration , 

 "I s'pose the common run o' men folks is sot an' onreason- 

 able, but it doesn't seem 's 'ough Sam was, on'y mebby a 

 leetle grain 'baout goin' bun tin' an' sech." 



"Wal, I can't say 'at father is nuther, not in a gin'ral 

 way, ner yet yer father Lovel. Semanthy argyed him 

 aouten that. But all men folks ain't like aourn, an' I 

 like tu get shet of even them oncte in a while, an' have a 

 raal ri' daown women's talk. I do' know as I enj'yed it 

 much wi' George's wife, 'cause she was everlastingly 

 blamin' George, which went again my gizzard; for if 

 there ever was a commerdatin', clever man, George is, if 

 he is my son, an' she'd orter know it. But ^vith you, 

 Huldy, I enj'y talkin'." So they fell into comforting dis- 

 course, which continued till Huldah became aware that 

 the fire was burning low, and a glance at the clock 

 apprised her that it was drawing toward noon. 



"My sakes," she cried, hastily setting the baby on the 

 floor and rismg with the same movement, "ef it haint j»-st 

 warnin' fer 'leven an' 1 haint done a stroke 'baout din- 

 ner." 



"Wal, Huldy, it don't signify. Le's don't git a reg'lar 

 dinner, but jest make us a cup o' tea an' hev a col' bite; 

 the' haint no men folks tu be p'tic'lar." 



"I tell ye what," said Huldy, moved with a sudden in- 

 spiration, "le's liev some hasty puddin'. I ben hankerin' 

 arter some this ever so long, but Sam says it's dog-robbin' 

 an' father Lovel he don't like it. You like it, don't you?" 



"Good land, I guess I du. The' haint no hulsomer ner 

 cleaner-tasted victuals, ner cheaper ner easier got. Lisher 

 likes it, tu, but he says it don't stay by him none, an' ef 

 he's goin' tu eat puddin' an' milk fer supper he wants tu 

 ondress him fust an' sit on the aidge o' the bed an' swaller 

 as quick as he can an' then tumble in and go tu sleep 

 afore he gets hungry. My land, these ere apples is a 

 dryin' complete," as she ran her hand along the tawny 

 festoons and critically pinched some of the lower quar- 

 ters, "they feel real iuthery a'ready. Be you goin' tu sell 

 'em tu Clapham er trade 'em off tu peddlers? I spose you 

 can't git cash nary way." 



"They say they pay cash for 'em tu V'gennes an' I'm 

 , goin' tu coax Sam tu take 'em down there when he sells 

 his fur," Huldah said, amid the clatter of setting the ket- 

 tle of wa er on the stove. 



"Wal, so I would, the' haint no sense in lettin' Clapham 

 er peddlers makin' tew profits on sech barter. Du you wet 

 up your meal in col' water fust er stir it right in when the 

 water biles?" 



"Oh, I stir it right int' the kettle as soon as it biles," 

 said Huldah, bringing the pudding stick and the basin of 

 meal, "an' I salt it well when it's about as thick as gruel." 



"Sodu I," and the old woman nodded emphatic approval 

 of tlie dry meal method. "It's more partic'lar work and 

 there's more danger of it's bein' lumpy; but it needn't be 

 if you're keerf ul tu sprinkle in slow an' keep a-stirrin' the 

 same way all the time. I think it's tastier made so. Old 

 ways is best ways as a gin'ral thing. But law sakes, I du 

 despise lumpy puddin'. Crumbles o' dry meal breakin' up 

 in your maouih an' cliokin' you when you're expectin' 

 nourishment!" 



She critically watched Huldah as she sifted the meal 

 into the seething kettle with one hand and stirred it with 

 rapid turns of the other, while the wholesome fragrance 

 of the boiled meal and the parching of the few grains 

 scattered on the stove began to diffuse itself through the 

 room. Then when the stick was lifted and dripped its 

 burden in an even stream, her face relaxed to an expres- 

 sion of satisfaction. 



"It's as smooth as 'lasses, Huldy. Naow be you goin' 

 tu make a lawful puddin'?" 



"I never heard abaout no law fer puddin'." 



"Wal, there was in Connect'cut in an airly day. Ye see 

 most ev'ybody 'at was anyways forehanded, useter hev 

 printice boys an' gals bound tu 'em till they come of age, 

 an' some on 'em useter keep the' printices on hasty pud- 

 din', an' made it so thin 'at it wau't much more 'n gruel 



an' starved the poor creetm-es so 't they wouldn't sca'cely 

 make a shadder; an' so the Leegislatur passed a law 

 'at they got tu make hasty puddin' so thick 'at the 

 puddin' stick 'ould stan' right up in the middle of 

 the kittle. But I'd ruther not have it quite so thick 

 fer me tu eat bein' 'at I haint a printice gal. You've 

 got it thick 'nough. Naow set it on the back o' the stove 

 an' let it blubber a spell. Oh, hum suzzy day ! Heow that 

 blubberin' kittle o' b'ilin' hot puddin' does kerry me back 

 tu ol' times, when the bear come right int' the haouse an' 

 tipped over aour kettle o' puddin'. Didn't I ever tell ye 

 on't? Wal, 'twas when I was a gal an' we lived in a lawg 

 haouse, an' father an' mother 'd gone off tu see a sick 

 neighbor an' left us younguns tu keep haouse. But we 

 let the haouse keep itself pooty much, an' bed high jinks 

 tillitgottu be'longinthe arternoon, an' the children begin 

 tu git hungry, an' I sot tu an' made a kittle o' puddin fer 

 'em. Wal, I'd took it off 'n the trammel an' sot it on the 

 hatrth tu cool, an' the children was stan'in' raound wi' th' 

 maouths a-waterin' an' the' wooden bowls an' pewter 

 spoons in the' hands when I ketched a glimpse of a shad- 

 der tu the open door, an' lookin' raound what did I see but 

 a gret, monst'ous bear a-lookin' iu at us. My, if I didn't 

 hustle them younguns up the ladder iut' the chamber an' 

 I up arter 'em an' pulled the ladder up arter, quicker'n 

 scat. We c'ld hear the critter's claws chcken' along the 

 floor towards the fireplace, an' when we got over bein' 

 scairt a leetle, we peeked daown through the cracks an' 

 seen him go up tu the kittle an' smell on't. Then he poked 

 his nose in an' lapped a mou'ful, an' he kinder squealed 

 aout an' lapped his chops. He made at it agin an' 

 got burnt agin, an' that made him mad an' he hit 

 the kittle a whack 'at sent it clean across the floor an' sent 

 the puddin' flyin' fer it wan't lawful puddin' an' he got 

 some on't on tu his feet, an', of course, it scalt him, an' 

 you'd orter seen that creetur dance araound an' whine an' 

 suck his paws, julluk a boy wi' his finger pinched, an' we 

 lay there an' snickered. He got a taste o' tlie puddin' an' 

 took a sensible view o' the case, an' sot tu an' eat up ev'y 

 smitch on 't an' arter awhile went a-shoolin' off. We lost 

 aour puddin' but we cal'lated we bed fun 'nough tu pay 

 for 't. Ho, hum! Folks was thankful tu git hasty puddin' 

 an' samp them times. Father an' mother nome here jest 

 afore the 'Sca'ce Year' when lots o' folks bed tu bile beech 

 an' basswood leaA'es tu live on. Aour folks bed one caow 

 'at they fed on browse 'nough tu keep her givin' a leetle 

 mess o' milk, an' father 'd ketch traout an' mianies an' 

 mother 'd kinder stew 'em in the milk an' they kep' soul 

 an' body tugether on sech livin' till things took n turn, 

 More'n oncte next winter father went forty miled on his 

 snowshoes tu git a bushel o' Injin meal an' lelt mother 

 an' my oldcvst brother, not so ol' as bubby here, wi' the 

 wolves a haowlin' all araound the lawg haouse. I wonder 

 'f aour men folks wfll git that aire wolf. Haow Gran'ther 

 Hill will tew 'cause he can't go. Course they won't let 

 hkn, but I don't wanter be in M'rier's shoes this day. In 

 course I'll draw up," and Aunt Jerusha hitched her rock- 

 ing chair to the table and tasted her first mouthful of pud- 

 ding and maple sugar, and still continued to discourse of 

 the old pioneer days. 



"Folks was glad an' thankful tu git hasty puddin' an' 

 milk an' johnny cake in them times, er even no-cake. 

 You never hearn o' no-cake? Wal, that was parched corn 

 paounded up in a mortar an' eat wi' milk ef they bed it, 

 an' ef they hedn't, jest mixed up wi' water. They I'arnt 

 that of the Injins, an' they lowed it 'ould stan' by a 

 man longer 'n any other Injin corn fixin's. TJien they 

 uster make samp in the Plumpin' mill, big mortars they 

 was, 'at went wi' a spring pole, an' they'd change off ontu 

 samp when they got sick o' no-cake. Hasty puddin' an' 

 jolmny cake they couldn't hev, 'thout gittin' the corn 

 graound tu a reg'lar mill, an' them was mebby forty 

 miled off. Bimeby they got tu raisin' wheat, an' tlien 

 some folks begin tu stick up the' noses at Injin. But 

 aour folks didn't 'cause they come f 'm Rho' Dislan' an' 

 allers sot gret store by all sorts o' Injin victuals. Father 

 allers would hev his johnny cake fer breakfus' an' hev it 

 baked on a board, long arter they bed' em a stove. You 

 never eat a johnny cake baked on a board? You don't 

 say. Wal, then, you do' know what johnny cake is, 

 Huldy. Haow did they make 'em? Wal, jest stirred up 

 the meal wi' b'ilin' water an' salt not tew tliick ner tew 

 thin, an' then spread it ontu a oak board 'at was jnade a 

 puppus an' sot it up afore the fire, tilted a leetle mite at 

 fust agin a flat iron, an' kep' a-settin' it up stretter an' 

 stretter till that side was done an' then turn it 

 over an' bake t'other side an' all the time keep 

 a-bastin' on 't wi' sweet cream an' then eat it 

 an' be thankful 't the Lord made Injin corn tu grow an' 

 give his creeturs the knowledge tu use it- proper. But as 

 I was sayin', the' was folks 'at got 'shamed o' eatin' Injin, 

 'cause onee they'd ben obleeged tu, an' they just turned 

 the' backs on the' ol' friend, they was so much beholden 

 tu jest as folks allers has, an' will. The's folks here now 

 'at won't tech Injin. They say Cap'n Peck lies got some 

 three-pronged forks, an' they're jest a-starA'in' 'emselves 

 try in' tu eat their victuals wi' 'em, but I d' know. Haow 

 father did uster laugh," she continued meditatively, 

 stirring the maple syrup into her saucer of pudding, 

 "a-teJlin' 'baout onct when he went intu a neigbor's, an' 

 they sot tu the table eatin' breakfus', an' he seen the 

 womern ketch up suthin' an' hide it imder her apron. 

 Of course they ast him tu set by, an' he did, for aU he'd 

 jest eat, an' fust thing arter he'd set daown, he says, 

 'Molly Hackstaff, take that aire johnny cake outen your 

 apron, fer I want some,' an' she did. Most o' folks hes 

 got over sech foolishness, but there's some 'at haint an' 

 denies 'emselves good hulsome victuals outen pride. But 

 my land sakes, Bubby haint a-goin' tu,, du jest see that 

 chfl' reachin' fer the spoon faster 'n you give it tu him," 

 and she looked intense approval of the baby's assaults 

 upon the pudding, "an' his cheeks is all daubed wi' lasses, 

 but it can't make 'em no sweeter, no, it can't. No, thank 

 ye, I can't eat another maou'ful." 



"Then, I guess," said Huldah, beginning hurriedly to 

 clear away the few dishes, "I'll get the things washed up 

 an' the puddin' kettle aout o' sight fore — " 



"Why, Huldy Lovel," Aunt Jerusha laughed, "I du 

 b'lieve you're afeared the men folks '11 come hum an' find 

 aout vre ben hevin' hasty puddin'. Why, there's puddin' 

 'nough left for Drive's supper, ef you don't fry it fer 

 breakfus, an' it is propper good fried." 



The men did not return from the village tiU the even- 

 ing chores called them. Huldah could scarcely share her 

 husband's satisfaction in the achievement of Gran'ther 

 Hill, for it seemed to her that the honor should rightfully 

 have fallen to tlie mightiest hunter of Dauvis. The 



supper table talk and the later conversation around the 

 glowing fire were all of the day's events, nor was the 

 subject exhausted when some of the tired hunters, fte- 

 quenters of the shop, began to drop in. 



ROWLA.ND B. ROBINSOl^. 



A DISCIPLE OF OLD PY. 



My vacation has come and g6ne. the annual outing 

 week of my chum and myself is a memory. Only a week 

 can we spare, for we are very busy men, but that week is 

 like an oasis in the desert, a rift in the clouds; a let Up 

 from the tootliache, a zephyr from Araby; one balm from 

 Gilead or the 1st of September when your wife's relatives 

 go back to town. We need all of this, for the mental 

 worry of a whole 3' ear after we return as to where we 

 shall go next time is iveai-ing in the extreme. 



I won't bother you with the minutiaj of the trip. You 

 can get these most anywhere and how. There is only 

 one artist in this line and that's "Kingfisher," and I am 

 nnt going to try to imitate him. I'll just give you the 

 principal incidents, "boil it down," and let your imagi- 

 nation supply the rest. 



Monday— Started early, but not before breakfast, please 

 don't forget that. A royal breakfast it was, fit to set a 

 man at peace with all the world and his neighbor's hens. 

 Ben, my chum, (he's a bach.) came over and helped me 

 get away with it. Well! You ought to have been there 

 and seen us. I remember Monday chiefly on account of 

 that breakfast. There's a halo all over it. Broke away 

 at last. Duffle, duds and bric-a-brac to the train. AU. 

 day ride. Lunch at noon from the basket filled with 

 wife's goodies fit for epicures. We lingered fondly just 

 thirty miles or one hour over that assoi-tment, and when 

 we finally abandoned it there was ample reason, there 

 was no assortment left. And my wife said as she put it 

 up, "There, that'll do for supper too, for you'll be tired 

 when you get there, and won't want to cook anything," 



Welasco, our railroad destination; was there at half -past 

 .5— also Tim HoUit, the man with the team. Bundled in. 

 Off through the odorous pine woods. After five or six 

 mdes Lake Wawkasum. "A gem of purest ray serene," 

 set in a wreath of darker green. I drop off that way 

 sometimes. Unloaded. Tim turns his back on us and 

 disappears in the darksomeness. Tents up on a liltle 

 knoll. Trees around. Lake in front. Unpacked. Fire. 

 Then supper. Ben was cook and I was rustler or wrestler, 

 rustling for wood and water and wrestling with the dishes 

 after meals, though I could boil a pot of water on a pinch 

 first-rate, or cook the nose or handle off a cofl'ee-pot. It 

 didn't take long to get that supper. Just a pot of tea to 

 boil, the re.st cold. Luncheon beef, sliced ham, jellies, 

 light rolls, Saratoga chips and cake did very well to begin 

 camp life on; and as the shadows came down and the 

 moon came up, the fire flickered and the katydids did, we 

 lolled on our blankets, poured down the fragrant decoc- 

 tion, sampled the savory supyjer, talked, ate, drank and 

 planned for the morrow, until cloyed nature, replete to 

 repletion, would no more. Then we pulled the pipes, and 

 for an hour the smoke arose in a voluptuous swell ;'nd 

 puckered lips sucked smoke through lips that puffed again. 

 Then the cots were unfolded, blankets spread, and as the 

 lonesome loon awoke hysterics from the sleeping lake and 

 a derisive owl sent cold shivers down the back of a blasted 

 pine, we slept. 



Next morning we were out early, and after a delicious 

 plunge in the wash basin, I evoked caloric from the ma- 

 terial thereto collected and Ben laid himself out on break- 

 fast while I made suggestions, and between ns there was 

 as fine a spread as heart could wish. Ahl The aroma of 

 that Mocha. It lingers around my nostrils now. It min- 

 gles its odor with the perfumes of the morning, floating 

 far and wide upon the dewy air, imtil the twittering 

 birds flitting from bough to bough, gather expectant. 

 Long we fingered, tickling the palate with the savory 

 food until the rising sun warned us to "ciat it short." 

 Next thing we put the Osgood together, and with trolhng 

 lines out pulled along shore a mile or two without a strike. 

 Came to a creek; beached the boat, caught some minnows 

 and frogs; off again. Fished up and down and across and 

 went back to camp with two bass and a small muscal- 

 longe. Dressed them and set about dinner. Fish fried 

 brown. Ah! There is nothing like fish right out of the 

 water and into the pan and out of it into you — or me. 

 Firm, white and toothsome, with a dash of sauce, it hits 

 the spot. No week-old occupant of a refrigerator, this, 

 hmp and flabby, served with an apology, gingerly tasted 

 and put by; but picked to the last glistening bone before 

 we leave it, wishing for more, it sends a soul-satisfying 

 swash of bliss from center to circumference, and soothes to 

 rest. Pigs in clover! Cows in the cornfield! Indian^ at 

 a beef issue! Bears in a bee tree! How we did eat! Grim 

 havoc cut loose and red-handed destruction got there with 

 both feet. But there is a limit to some things, more's the 

 pity, and acknowledging defeat, reluctantly we drew off 

 m some disorder, and leaning up against a friendly tree 

 with pipes aglow we s^^ent the fragrant smoke in circling 

 wreaths aloft. 



When we were well rested we took the canvas again, 

 and rowing over to a fittle bay in the lower end of the 

 lake, where the grass in some five feet of water gave 

 promise of lurking bass or pike, we stojiped outside within 

 good casting distance, and by sundown, moving easily 

 from place to place, had a nice string of smaU-mouths 

 playing gracefully on the string at the boat side. Then 

 easfly campward we went in the light canoe that scarce 

 touched, and ere the gloaming gloamed one single gloam, 

 Ben had outdone himself again, and we fell to. Shades of 

 yomr grandmother! Hot fight biscuit right from the 

 Dutch oven, and maple syrup! I was a boy again in Yer- 

 mont, trudging over the snow crust across the fields to my 

 uncle's sugar camp, and in the evening at the supper table 

 feasting on hot biscuit and syrup. 



"Ben," said 1, "you're a trump, two trumps, a whole 

 handful. Let us to the fray." 



And we went, company front, double quick, ch-a-r-r-g-e! 

 Um-m-ml What a supper. Tea that titillated the utmost 

 nerve in the system,' flushing the entire being with 

 a carmine flush that was a revelation of Nirvana; chipped 

 beef, tender, transparent and tasteful; cheese that fur- 

 nished a taste of dissolution as sudden as it was easy and 

 brief. But wliat's the use? No description f m-nishes any 

 idea of that spread and its disappearance. We never 

 could have had such appetites anywhere else. That's 

 what we came for. Once a year it's good to feel ' ' wolfish" 



