io6 The Old Kitchen Door 



to quarter the pie intended for the next 

 meal. Age brings no experience in such 

 matters. It is a case where we advance back- 

 ward. 



Of the almost endless phases of life cen- 

 tring about the kitchen door there is one 

 which stands out so prominently that it is 

 hard to realize the older a6lor is now dead 

 and that of the young on-lookers few are 

 left. Soon after the dinner-horn was sounded 

 the farm hands gathered at the pump, which 

 stood just outside the door, and then in solemn 

 procession filed into the kitchen for the noon- 

 day meal. All this was prosy enough, but 

 the hour's nooning after it, — then there was 

 fun indeed. 



Scipio — Zip," for short — was not ill- 

 natured, but then who loves too much teas- 

 ing? An old chestnut burr in the grass 

 where he was apt to lie had made him sus- 

 picious of me, and I had to be extra cautious. 

 Once I nearly overstepped the mark. Zip 

 had his own place for a quiet nap, and, when 

 stretched upon the grass under the big linden, 

 preferred not to be disturbed. Now it oc- 

 curred to me to be very funny. I whittled 

 a cork to the shape of a spider, added mon- 



