RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1449 
Pastoral Parson and His Country Folks 
By Rev. George B. Gilbert 
TIoifE AT XiGiiT. — “That man from 
jviipro yon addressed the hig men’s supper 
last year was here todav. and they want 
yon up there again.” So said iMrs. Par¬ 
son. “hut. Daddy, you know if you go 
you must come home that night.” '“Yes,” 
said the Pastoral Parson, “if they cannot 
bring me hack I will not go. But over 
the ’phone next day they said they would 
come for him and bring him back,' and all 
the men wanted to hear him again, and 
though he told them that he said all he 
knew and more last year yet still they 
wanted him, and he agr(*ed to go. 
(jUK.\t Stepper. —Thei'e are some very 
good things about men’s cluh.si in the vil¬ 
lage where he went. Tn the first place 
they do not try to meet too often, only 
about four or five times a year. One 
feature of the midsummer meeting was 
an auto trip up in Massachusetts, those 
having cars taking those who did not. and 
all having dinner at a snug hotel up there. 
Another feature is that there are no dues 
nor requirements for membership. All 
those who wish to come are members. 
This makes it very democratic, as it 
should he. No one can sav it is cliquey 
or a rich man’s club. Both women and 
men come to the annual banquet affair, 
and the night the Parson went there Avere 
just 103 there besides those waiting on 
tables. 
Eating and Talking, — The Par.son 
went light on the supper, eating only an 
ordinary meal. Of course he indulged in 
two pieces of pie in true New England 
fashion, hut cut the ice cream. This part¬ 
ly because he makes so much at home he 
does not hanker for it particularly, and 
partly because he has had dire experiences 
in eating that ice-cold dessert and then 
trying to get the blood into his head ready 
for a little brain activity. However, they 
put on a short program first, and the par¬ 
son fell to it. trying to appear full of his 
subject, like the preacher whose text was 
“The Devil.” 
Home Again.— After the hand-shaking 
the president of the club brought him 
home and backed up his nice saying with 
a nice extraction from his pocket. IM'rs. 
Parson was up writing letters, and after 
telling her of the trip and gl.ancing OA'er 
the evening local paper the Parson was 
with the hoys on the sleeping porch and 
the house was still. He must have been 
dreaming that that lone goose by sheer 
exercise of its vocal organs had nniltiplied 
from one to a thou.sand when he heard 
the half-expected call .and sprang to his 
feet. A word from Moms and he was 
at the ’phone. Good luck! the doctor 
was at home and would be right out and 
bring the nurse with him. With feelings 
of awe and a sort of a hush and a hurry. 
Ave built the tii'es and lightf'd lamijs and 
unlocked the doors, for Avas not a neiv 
day in this household about to begin? The 
doctor’s big car came rolling up, and the 
nurse he took in by the Avay aauis AA'ith 
him._ and in less time than Ave'could think 
of little “Sit” rose up in her little crib 
and rubbing her eys till they stuck out 
big and round, she said. “What’s that 
thing a-sqnealing’?” 
Broken Nose.s. — “Ain’t that dres.sie 
too little for me, mamma?” said Sit one 
day as she and Mrs. P.arson Avere up¬ 
stairs together, and then she was told of 
that little baby that Avas coming. “It’s 
going to be your baby and my baby and 
Ave’ll both love it all to pieces.” And so 
they often talked about it together as 
Muzzer sat .and made the little sliiH? and 
dresses. So it was AA'hen daddy bianight 
out the basket and mamma' and Sit 
trimmed it through the sunny afternoons. 
So she loved it long before it came, and 
since it is really here Daddy has to go 
after the .school children an'd the corn¬ 
stalks and the turnips alone. Sit has not 
yet been persuaded to leave the house. 
The Boy.s. —“You don’t know hoAV 
SAveet the hoys aie over it,” said Momsy 
as Daddy Avent up to sit aAvhile Avith her 
last night. Every morning and every 
night after school they tiptoe in and take 
a peek at its little red nose*and its long 
Idack hair. And theT’e they stand, first 
on one foot, then on the other, so proud 
and^ fond of it. But the aagi.v.s of tiny 
babies and romping boys are far apart, 
and soon they turn like a shot and the 
noise of their school shoes rattle.A doAvn 
the hack stair,s and dies aAvay toAvard th'^ 
barn. 
Little Clos.sie. —But for most two 
days little Clossie refused to go in. We 
never thought of his feeling displaced. 
It Avas the .second night Avhen at last he 
Avent in and put his head down on the 
bed and Avouldn’t look at the tiny thing 
in the basket. And then it flashed upon 
us. Had he not been Mnzzer’s baby hoy 
all these year.s. and Sit was her baby girl? 
And noAV .she had another baby boy. But 
IMother put her arm.s around him and 
loA’cd him as she had so many thousand 
times, and told him that noAV he Avas her 
big baby boy and in the basket was her 
little baby boy and his little baby boy, 
too. And slowly he stepped over toward 
it and peeked at it under the cover, and 
his face lighted up and his eyes shone and 
then he went and loved his Muzzer some 
more and like his old self he went out of 
the doorway and his shoes rattled doAvn 
the hack stairs and sounded a hop and a 
skip toAvard the barn. 
A Boa' at That.—M oms had counted 
on a girl. The I’arson had .said a hoy for 
him, and h.ad declared that if it Avas il boy 
he AA'onld sit doAvn and roar all day. But 
he hasn’t laughed all day, for he, too, 
really Avanted another girl just like Sit. 
He never dares think how much he love.s 
her. IIoAV SAveet she Avas hist night! It 
was after supper and getting on toAvard 
nighty time. She craAvled up in a cliair 
beside mothers bed. “Ho\a’ long are von 
going to he sick. Mamma?” “Not .so awful 
nine pounds in the basket Avas Maida, the 
dog. Daddy has always been her favorite, 
with Moms a clo.se second. But for a 
little over a week she never entered tin* 
room Avhere such strangi* things seem to 
hapiien, and from Avhich such strange 
noises came. Then one day she crept 
softly in, Avith no one round, and reacht'd 
her black ])aAV up on the side of the bed. 
.\nd then her black jiaw and her head 
came up, and Moms loved and talked to 
her, and then she went over and smelled 
all round the basket, and from that she 
has been in and out and been content. 
uei:^ 
The Parson Arrives at the Schoolhouse 
long.” said IMoBier. And then the little 
lips began to quiver—“Who’s going to un¬ 
dress me?” And mother Avent over the 
names of the groAvn-ups. “I gue.ss Betty 
will have to.” But the tears still came. 
Aunt ilillie” (avIio arrived the night be¬ 
fore) ?” Still tears. “Oh. I know. Old 
Daddy Boy Avill have to undress his baby.” 
And didn’t those tear.s dry and Avasn’t 
Daddy called back from going to the barn 
Avith hi.s milk pail in hand to put Sit to 
bed ? 
Bungled It. —“And even at that he 
bungled the job. Was she not all ready 
for bed and in kissing iMuzzer good night? 
So Daddy Avent doAvn and grabbed that 
milkimil again Avlnm a AV.-iil of gii(‘f gi-eet- 
The Parion Has Cut the Boys’ Hair 
ed his ears, :ind ti shmit from upstairs to 
coiiie hack. “Who’s going to cover me 
up/’ she sobbed. And so Avith tit h'ast six 
others .standing round. Old Daddy Boy 
covered her uj) and kissed her. and Avith 
her old worn and rtiggt'd Teddy she snug¬ 
gled under tin' covtu's timl wtis gone. 
’I'avo Wekk.s l.-ATEit.—Hert' it is, a rainy 
day two Aveeks later, ttud Ave don’t retilize, 
at least tin* I’jir.son dot'sn’t, th:it there is 
really tinotlutr one of us. How sweet Sit 
has been ahotit it all! It Avas most too 
much for Inu-, to have Moms in bed so 
long. And Avhen first she found her sit¬ 
ting Ill) one day she just stood and stood 
and feasted her eyes upon the scene. She 
Using an Abandoned Schoolhouse 
has gotten to the point of letting others 
ludp dress her in the morning, but at 
night, Avhen .so tired, no one hut Daddy 
Avill do. Last night he lingered a hit over 
the Avar neAvs at the .supjier table and her 
little heart Avas <|uite broken, lie found 
her sobbing upstairs, Avith hmi lumd upon 
the bed. 
'^riii.NG.—What a Avon- 
derfiil thing love is! How the Avhole 
household—and there are eleven under the 
roof just now—is learning to loAm the 
little one more and more. And nothing 
else suffers for Avant of it. Billy Goat 
and Bunny Babbits and little Maida, the 
dog, and Mammy Kiltie, and even the 
white yearling heifer—all get ju.st a.s 
much loving as before, and more, 
D.\e .Tealocs. —The one that it took a 
Giiarles.—Y es. that’s the name AA'e set- 
hist; Ave had no name ready at 
all. ihe doctor asked each time, but no 
name. The Parson suggested to begin 
noAA Avith niimher.s. and call this nnmher 
'*•. But the law reiiuired more. Then Ave 
hit on Charles. It is a good name and 
nuiny pmd men have carried it, iNfost 
of all, it had family connections. 
A Good Heritage.—W as not the name 
of Aunt IMilhn’s father Charles? though 
noW’ if you Avill neA'er tell, the Parson 
AviIl admit he didn’t know it till after¬ 
ward. And then Avas there not good TTicle 
( liarles, Avho used to come to the old farm 
tor riuuiksfjiviiig and bring; oel(M’y and 
cranberries to go Avith the tAvo roosters? 
And Avas there not Cousin Charlie, his 
son. the very idol of the Parson’s life for 
years.^ aa’Iio used to come np from toAvn 
.•ind nde lickety-cut doAvn the hill astride 
the cart on Sunday aftiumoon. to the high 
gioo of ns boypf, as wo (diasod scroaining 
after, and to the horrilicatioii of the 
neighbors? And then. too. as Mrs. Par.son 
repeatedly pointed out, av.-is not Charles 
(he name of our family doctor? 
.V Great Asset.—W hat a tower of 
strength and comfort the family doctor 
may be. We think Ave have the best one 
in the world, and may CA'ery familv ever 
thiiik^ the same. Hi's presence and his 
visit is Avorth f.ar more than his medicine. 
Ills cheerfulness is sinqily astoni.shing. 
iN hen the I’arson got him np the other 
night at tAvo he could not luiAm ansAA'cred 
jnore cheerfully if I AV(>re telling him he 
had just been elected President. 
Goes Anyaviiere. — The glare of his 
auto lig;bt55 may bo stuai on any road 
round here, no matter Iioav bad.' Some 
time agm he was telling Iioav he had broken 
11 siirings on that car—such AA'cre some 
of the roads he traveh'd. Sometimes, as 
(he I arson, gets out in the mud and down 
on his knees to jack uj) a tire Avheel to put 
on the chains he is tempted to pitv him- 
sclt .a bit. hut Avhen he thinks of this doctor 
he IS quite ashamed of himself. And be- 
sidi's all this, is he not a man of large 
means avIio need never Avork a day as far 
as a living is concerned ? What pos.sihili- 
tios for ffood in (he g;rand old family dor- 
tor .s life And how mu<*h fjood some of 
tlii'in do, no one here below Avill ever 
knoAV. 
The Manger Baba'.—S omehoAV as the 
1 arson goes up to look again at the Avhite 
mother face and the little babe, nestled so 
clo.se upon h(‘r arm, he kei'ps thinking of 
the manger baby of old and not only the 
white, hut worn and Avorried face of the 
mothi'i- as Avell. The journey up to Beth- 
loluau was om* of somo TO milos—]u)w lonj' 
and sloAV and hard that must h.-u’e been ! 
And then the inn Avas full—nothing bul; 
the barn to go to. There may not have 
been much science there, hut oh how much 
love and tenderne.ss it took to carry her 
through it all! Perhaps the measure of 
the value of the coming of the little life_ 
the.se little lives in this Avorld—^^is the 
great OAuu-flow of love that must needs siir- 
rouiid them and kee;) them and cherish 
them HI their hel.de.ssness. 
The D.anger.—T he Parson keeps think¬ 
ing of the Avorry and anxiety that came to 
that little family there. They kept Avhis- 
pering terrible things to her. The king 
Avas going to send his soldiers to kill the 
boy babies of the toAvn. Was not tlie 
pain and care enough Avithout this terrible 
worry being added? Goarse, rough men 
Avoiild come and snatch her baby from her 
breast and dash him against the stones. 
Ho they miLSt start off again and go aAvay 
off doAvn into Egypt. Avhere they kneAV n'o 
one and no one cared one Av'ay or the 
other. Hnrely from the very start He Avas 
a _man of sorroAvs and acquainted Avith 
grief. IIoAV wonderful this story of the 
first riiristmas is, in all its simidicity and 
humilBy and tenderne.ss and affection. 
^la.AT it he retold once more by every' 
Ghristma.s tree, by every hearthstone in 
the land. 
Thi.s Ghkist.aias.—A nd this Ghristmas 
Avill he different from any that we have 
had for a long time. We will cut out the 
(’hri.stmas candy this year—there doesn’t 
.seem to be much sugar to spare. It Avill 
in-ohably be a grand good thing as far as 
(he children’s health is concerned, any¬ 
way. The mi'clmnical toys that are out 
of order before the first night conies Avoiild 
better go by the board, too. Rich Ghrist¬ 
ma.s caki's and puddings can better he 
sjiared than not. The everlasting puzzle 
as to Avhat to buy for people Avho have 
more things than they ought to have any¬ 
way may not trouble us this year. There 
is the best excuse in the AVorld for quitting 
it, and let us have the courage to do it 
once for all. I'lie Great Gift Avas from a 
heart bursting with love to hearts crying 
out in need. 
A Family on the String. —The Par- 
sou loves to get .some family on the string 
(Gontinued on page 1452.) 
out of your 
OllDBAGS^ 
loll will 1)(! siiipiisoil how iniH-li inoiioy we wil 
pii.V .von I’or your old Imsrs. torn or soiinil,—iinv 
ilimnlity. Don’t let them lie around and rot when 
yon can turn thorn into money. 
AVE (’AY THE FREIGHT 
and we mail elieclc a.s soon as shipment is received, 
lake advantaftoof present hiffh prices—write today 
for price-list and sliippinR in.striictions. Lartres’t 
direct buyers of baprs in the world. References — 
Citizens Bank of Biitfalo, Dim or Bradstreet. 
IROQUOIS BAH CO. 
3!i.’) Howard St.. Buffalo, N. Y. 
LET US TAN 
YOUR HIUE. 
Horse or Cow hide, Cal f or other skiim 
with hair or fur on, and make them 
into coats (for men and women), robes, 
rmrs or (flovos when so ordered. Your 
fur good* will cost you less than to buy 
tiiem and bo worth more. ’’ 
"If**''**?? catalog irives a lot of 
infoiIllation. It tells liow to take off 
and care for iiides; Iiow and wlien wo 
pay the froipht both wa.vs; about our 
safe dyeing process on cow and horso 
hide, ealf and other skins; about tho 
lur goods and gramo trophies we sell, 
taxidermy, etc. 
Then we have recently got out an- 
btlier we call our Fashion book, whol Iy 
devoted to fashion plates of muffs, 
neckwear and oilier line fur garments 
\Mtb prices ; al.so tur garments remod¬ 
eled and repaired. 
You can liave either book by sendin'-l 
Your eorreet address naming wliicli, (Tv 
both iiooks it you need both. Address 
Company, 
571 LyeH Ave., Rochester. Y. 
GRIMM’S Maple Syrup Evaporators 
What theORIMAI EVAPORATOR has done for others— 
It will do lor you—fast and shallow boiling and thesiphon. 
whicli clanlieH tlie licjuid, produces QUALITY. We will 
start you on the road to biKKcr profits by Rfvinir yon the benefit of 
pur experience aud particiiTurs about the BRST APPARATII‘^ mn4i« 
•■licvH for 1-UUK MAP1.E I’RODUlJTS are higher Hie 
hapated—ti>e denumd 
la increusinK rapitlly. 
Our COMFLKTKLY 
KOUIPI'KD KVAP- 
ORATOK will pro¬ 
duce the best quality 
of MAPLE SYRUP. 
OHOER NOW. 
G. H. GRIMIM ESTATE 
Ask for catalog 
" li " atid state 
number of trees 
yon tap. 
Rutland, Vt. 
FarmCropsSell 
Double Normal Prices 
Corn, wheat, oats. beef, porlc, poultry and other farm 
products now bring war-time prices—and tlie demand 
far exceeds the supply. With a little farm in Virginia 
or North Carolina along the Norfolk <t Western you 
can prosper now if ever. Good fertile soil, excellent 
schools, churches and neighbors. Mild, even climate 
the year’round. Fruit, poultry, truck and eeneral farm¬ 
ing, dairy or stock farms thrive lustily here. Write 
for illustrated magazine—“Li* Southern 
Jlomeierier”—today. It tells all about 
the wonderful opportunities that await 
you here. Mailed free upon request. 
F. H. LaBAUME, Agr. & Ind. Agt. 
N. & W. Ry. 
211 N. & W. BLDS. ROANOKE. VA. 
Bo you Avniil: a fnnn where Largest profits are 
mmie? 'Pile South’s great variety of crops 
and wonderfully productive eliinate make it the 
most iirolitable farm section of America. It is 
the place for the lowest cost meat prodiietion 
and dairy farming. It grows the largest variety 
of forage crops. Good lands, in good localities, 
as low as Jhlo to ,$25 ait a<*re. Let iis show you 
local ions lliat will give the highest profits, ‘m. 
V. KK’HA HDS. Comniissioner. Room 87, SolllU- 
ern Railway System, Washington, D. (j. 
A Small California Farm mil"® 
crop.s you know about-albiifa, whe.U.'bnUey! etc!l! 
also oniiiRes, grapes, olives and ligs. Ideal for 
dairy mg. pigs, and eliickens. No cold weatlier; rich 
soil; low prices; easy terms; good roads: sciiools 
•Hid eliurcjies. Enjoy life here. Newcomers wel- 
come. Write for onr San Joaquin Valley nl.so Dairy- 
c"l ‘seagravLs'^ Raising Illustrated Eolde?s, free. 
349-Acre Farm ["o® 
to all crops. 100 acres of acorn orcliVird'^feiiceif for 
hogs. 200 acres cleared. »e..500; half cash 
Harry Vail, Owner, NEW MILFORD, Orange Co.? N Y. 
The Farm Brokers’ Association, Inc. e?.s”fo"r'‘g.ii'd 
Linns and otJun* country real estato everywhere in New 
York state. UersonalJy inspected properties. Careful 
1 1 Ar *^‘^l**^ prices. (iKNTKA L OKFR'?: AT 
UM‘JI>A, N. Y., otlier ulliees througliout tlie State. 
Hwfor SaleSe*eii(7)Farn!s 
Rogers Wood-Rim Banios I*.''®,"'’ lomi. sweet tone. 
otie on 5 days test. 
H KO<»KK.S, Jr,, Imriiiiugdale, JN, J, 
Our New Handy Binder 
.Side.s are lieavy Book Boartl, luiita- 
tiou Leatlier Back and Corners. 
Cloth .Sides, Two Tongues Inside! 
Inside of Cover Neat Lining Paper, 
•Stamped in Gold— “Rural New! 
Yorker”— on outside. 
Will hold 52 issues, or more. 
Sent prepaid upon receipt of 
price, 50c. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th St. New York City 
