2023-11-23_An_Old-Fashioned_Thanksgiving_by_Louisa_May_Alcott
00:00:00.000 | "Aunt Jo's Scrapbag," an old-fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott, author
00:00:07.160 | of "Little Women, an Old-Fashioned Girl, Little Men, Hospital Sketches," 1882.
00:00:14.600 | "Aunt Jo's Scrapbag," an old-fashioned Thanksgiving.
00:00:20.680 | Sixty years ago, up among the New Hampshire hills, lived Farmer Bassett, with a house
00:00:25.340 | full of sturdy sons and daughters growing up about him.
00:00:29.060 | They were poor in money, but rich in land and love.
00:00:34.680 | For the wide acres of wood, corn, and pasture land fed, warmed, and clothed the flock, while
00:00:42.620 | mutual patience, affection, and courage made the old farmhouse a very happy home.
00:00:48.840 | November had come.
00:00:50.120 | The crops were in, and barn, buttery, and bin were overflowing with the harvest that
00:00:54.780 | rewarded the summer's hard work.
00:00:56.980 | The big kitchen was a jolly place just now, for in the great fireplace roared a cheerful
00:01:01.960 | fire.
00:01:02.960 | On the walls hung garlands of dried apples, onions, and corn.
00:01:07.600 | Up aloft from the beams shone crook-necked squashes, juicy hams, and dried venison.
00:01:14.200 | For in those days, deer still haunted the deep forests, and hunters flourished.
00:01:19.760 | Savory smells were in the air.
00:01:22.000 | On the crane hung steaming kettles, and down among the red embers copper saucepans simmered,
00:01:28.720 | all suggestive of some approaching feast.
00:01:32.600 | A white-headed baby lay in the old blue cradle that had rocked seven other babies, now and
00:01:37.760 | then lifting his head to look out like a round full moon, then subsided to kick and crow
00:01:43.940 | contentedly, and suck the rosy apple he had no teeth to bite.
00:01:49.000 | Two small boys sat on the wooden settle, shelling corn for popping, and picking out the biggest
00:01:54.740 | nuts from the goodly store their own hands had gathered in October.
00:01:59.220 | Four young girls stood at the long dresser, busily chopping meat, pounding spice, and
00:02:04.520 | slicing apples, and the tongues of Tilly, Prue, Roxy, and Rhodey went as fast as their
00:02:10.680 | hands.
00:02:11.680 | Farmer Bassett and F, the oldest boy, were "chorin' round outside," for Thanksgiving
00:02:18.160 | was at hand, and all must be in order for that time-honored day.
00:02:23.680 | To and fro from table to hearth bustled buxom Mrs. Bassett, flushed and flowery, but busy
00:02:30.800 | and blithe as the queen bee of this busy little hive should be.
00:02:34.640 | "I do like to begin seasonable and have things to my mind.
00:02:39.180 | Thanksgiving dinners can't be drove, and it does take a side of victuals to fill all
00:02:43.080 | these hungry stomachs," said the good woman, as she gave a vigorous stir to the great kettle
00:02:47.680 | of cider applesauce and cast a glance of housewifely pride at the fine array of pies set forth
00:02:54.240 | on the buttery shelves.
00:02:55.840 | "Only one more day, and then it'll be the time to eat.
00:02:58.920 | I didn't take but one bowl of hasty pudding this morning, so I shall have plenty of room
00:03:03.480 | when the nice things come," confided Seth to Soul as he cracked a large hazelnut as
00:03:09.320 | easily as a squirrel.
00:03:10.840 | "No need of my starvin' beforehand.
00:03:13.520 | I always have room enough, and I'd like to have Thanksgiving every day," answered
00:03:19.400 | Solomon, gloating like a young ogre over the little pig that lay nearby, ready for roasting.
00:03:25.600 | "Sakes alive, I don't, boys.
00:03:28.280 | It's a mercy it don't come but once a year.
00:03:30.560 | I should be worn to a thread paper with all this extra work atop of my winter weavin'
00:03:35.200 | and spinnin'," laughed their mother, as she plunged her plump arms into the long bread
00:03:39.920 | trough and began to knead the dough as if a famine were at hand.
00:03:44.520 | Tilly, the oldest girl, a red-cheeked, black-eyed lass of fourteen, was grinding briskly at
00:03:51.720 | the mortar, for spices were costly and not a grain must be wasted.
00:03:57.280 | Prue kept time with the chopper, and the twins sliced away at the apples till their little
00:04:01.920 | brown arms ached, for all knew how to work, and did so now with a will.
00:04:08.520 | "I think it's real fun to have Thanksgiving at home.
00:04:11.840 | I'm sorry Grandma's sick, so we can't go there as usual, but I like to mess around
00:04:16.760 | here, don't you, girls?" asked Tilly, pausing to take a sniff at the spicy pestle.
00:04:22.240 | "It will be kind of lonesome with only our own folks.
00:04:26.120 | I like to see all the cousins and aunts and have games and sing," cried the twins, who
00:04:30.640 | were regular little romps and could run, swim, coast, and shout as well as their brothers.
00:04:35.680 | "I don't care a mite for all that.
00:04:38.600 | It will be so nice to eat dinner together, warm and comfortable at home," said quiet
00:04:43.920 | Prue, who loved her own cozy nooks like a cat.
00:04:47.840 | "Come, girls, fly round and get your chores done, so we can clear away for dinner just
00:04:51.800 | as soon as I clap my bread into the oven," called Mrs. Bassett presently, as she rounded
00:04:56.760 | off the last loaf of brown bread, which was to feed the hungry mouths that seldom tasted
00:05:01.960 | any other.
00:05:02.960 | "Hear a man coming up the hill lively?
00:05:06.120 | Guess it's Gad Hopkins.
00:05:07.120 | Pa told him to bring a dozen oranges if they weren't too high," shouted Sol and Seth,
00:05:11.880 | running to the door, while the girls smacked their lips at the thought of this rare treat,
00:05:16.600 | and Baby threw his apple overboard as if getting ready for a new cargo.
00:05:21.840 | But all were doomed to disappointment, for it was not Gad with the much-desired fruit.
00:05:28.180 | It was a stranger who threw himself off his horse and hurried up to Mr. Bassett in the
00:05:32.400 | yard with some brief message that made the farmer drop his axe, and looked so sober that
00:05:37.640 | his wife guessed at once some bad news had come, and crying, "Mother's wuss, I know
00:05:42.920 | she is," outran the good woman, forgetful of the flour on her arms and the oven waiting
00:05:47.360 | for its most important batch.
00:05:49.560 | The man said, "Old Mr. Chadwick, down to Keene, stopped him as he passed and told him
00:05:54.320 | to tell Mrs. Bassett her mother was failin' fast and she'd better come today."
00:05:59.240 | He knew no more, and having delivered his errand, he rode away, saying it looked like
00:06:03.360 | snow and he must be jogging or he wouldn't get home till night.
00:06:06.520 | "We must go right off, Eldad.
00:06:08.600 | Hitch up and I'll be ready in less'n no time," said Mrs. Bassett, wasting not a
00:06:12.480 | minute in tears and lamentations, but pulling off her apron as she went in, with her mind
00:06:18.160 | in a sad jumble of bread, anxiety, turkey, sorrow, haste, and cider applesauce.
00:06:25.360 | A few words told the story, and the children left their work to help her get ready, mingling
00:06:29.840 | their grief for Grandma with regrets for the lost dinner.
00:06:33.080 | "I'm dreadful sorry, dears, but it can't be helped.
00:06:35.880 | I couldn't cook nor eat no way now, and if that blessed woman gets better sudden as
00:06:39.800 | she has before, we'll have cause for Thanksgiving, and I'll give you a dinner you won't forget
00:06:44.120 | in a hurry," said Mrs. Bassett, as she tied on her brown silk pumpkin hood, with a sob
00:06:49.480 | for the good old mother who had made it for her.
00:06:52.860 | Not a child complained after that, but ran about helpfully, bringing moccasins, heating
00:06:57.540 | the footstone and getting ready for a long drive, because Grandma lived twenty miles
00:07:02.180 | away, and there were no railroads in those parts to whisk people to and fro like magic.
00:07:07.560 | By the time the old yellow sleigh was at the door, the bread was in the oven, and Mrs.
00:07:11.780 | Bassett was waiting, with her camlet cloak on, and the baby done up like a small bale
00:07:17.020 | of blankets.
00:07:18.500 | "Now, F, you must look after the cattle like a man, and keep up the fires, for there's
00:07:22.860 | a storm brewing, and neither the children nor dumb critters must suffer," said Mr.
00:07:27.380 | Bassett, as he turned up the collar of his rough coat and put on his blue mittens, while
00:07:31.940 | the old mare shook her bells as if she preferred a trip to Keene to Hollingwood all day.
00:07:36.780 | "Tilly, put extra comfortables on the beds tonight.
00:07:40.000 | The wind is so searching up chamber.
00:07:42.120 | Have the baked beans and Injun pudding for dinner, and whatever you do, don't let the
00:07:46.340 | boys get at the mince pies, or you'll have them down sick.
00:07:49.340 | I shall come back the minute I can leave, Mother.
00:07:52.020 | Paul will come tomorrow anyway, so keep snug and be good.
00:07:55.820 | I depend on you, my daughter.
00:07:57.820 | Use your judgment and don't let nothing happen while Mother's away."
00:08:00.500 | "Yes, um, yes, um, goodbye, goodbye," called the children, as Mrs. Bassett was packed
00:08:05.620 | into the sleigh and driven away, leaving a stream of directions behind her.
00:08:10.380 | F., the sixteen-year-old boy, immediately put on his biggest boots, assumed a sober,
00:08:16.620 | responsible manner, and surveyed his little responsibilities with a paternal air, drolly
00:08:22.060 | like his father's.
00:08:23.660 | Tilly tied on her mother's bunch of keys, rolled up the sleeves of her homespun gown,
00:08:28.700 | and began to order about the younger girls.
00:08:31.180 | They soon forgot poor Granny and found it great fun to keep house all alone, for Mother
00:08:35.580 | seldom left home, but ruled her family in the good, old-fashioned way.
00:08:40.580 | There were no servants, for the little daughters were Mrs. Bassett's only maids, and the stout
00:08:45.460 | boys helped their father, all working happily together with no wages but love, learning
00:08:51.180 | in the best manner the use of the heads and hands with which they were to make their own
00:08:55.680 | way in the world.
00:08:57.460 | The few flakes that caused the farmer to predict bad weather soon increased to a regular snowstorm,
00:09:04.040 | with gusts of wind, for up among the hills winter came early and lingered long.
00:09:09.700 | But the children were busy, gay, and warm indoors, and never minded the rising gale
00:09:14.940 | nor the whirling white storm outside.
00:09:18.580 | Tilly got them a good dinner, and when it was over the two elder girls went to their
00:09:22.700 | spinning, for in the kitchen stood the big and little wheels, and baskets of wool rolls
00:09:27.620 | ready to be twisted into yarn for the winter's knitting, and each day brought its stint of
00:09:32.740 | work to the daughters, who hoped to be as thrifty as their mother.
00:09:37.660 | F. kept up a glorious fire, and superintended the small boys, who popped corn and whittled
00:09:43.220 | boats on the hearth, while Roxy and Rhodey dressed corncob dolls in the settled corner,
00:09:49.500 | and Boze, the brindled mastiff, lay on the braided mat, luxuriously warming his old legs.
00:09:57.020 | Thus employed they made a pretty picture, these rosy boys and girls in their homespun
00:10:02.140 | suits with the rustic toys or tasks which most children nowadays would find very poor
00:10:09.380 | or tiresome.
00:10:11.100 | Tilly and Prue sang as they stepped to and fro, drawing out the smoothly twisted threads
00:10:16.380 | to the musical hum of the great spinning wheels.
00:10:19.580 | The little girls chattered like magpies over their dolls and the new bedspread they were
00:10:23.620 | planning to make, all white dimity stars on a blue calico ground, as a Christmas present
00:10:29.420 | to Ma.
00:10:30.420 | The boys roared at F.s jokes, and had rough and tumble games over Boze, who didn't mind
00:10:36.260 | them in the least, and so the afternoon wore pleasantly away.
00:10:40.900 | At sunset the boys went out to feed the cattle, bringing in heaps of wood and lockup for the
00:10:45.740 | night, as the lonely farmhouse seldom had visitors after dark.
00:10:51.060 | The girls got the simple supper of brown bread and milk, baked apples, and a donut all round
00:10:56.620 | as a treat.
00:10:58.020 | Then they sat before the fire, the sisters knitting, the brothers with books or games,
00:11:03.640 | for F. loved reading, and Sol and Seth never failed to play a few games of Morris with
00:11:09.240 | barleycorns on the little board they had made themselves at one corner of the dresser.
00:11:13.300 | "Read out a piece," said Tilly from Mother's Chair, where she sat in state, finishing off
00:11:18.600 | the sixth woolen sock she had knit that month.
00:11:21.660 | "It's the old history book, but here's a bit you may like, since it's about our
00:11:25.900 | folks," answered F.
00:11:27.260 | Turning the yellow page to look at a picture of two quaintly dressed children in some ancient
00:11:31.860 | castle.
00:11:32.860 | "Yes, read that.
00:11:34.140 | I always liked to hear about the Lady Matilda I was named for, and Lord Basset, Pa's great-great-great-grandpa.
00:11:42.460 | He's only a farmer now, but it's nice to know that we were somebody two or three hundred
00:11:46.660 | years ago," said Tilly, bridling and tossing her curly head as she fancied the "Lady
00:11:52.740 | Matilda" might have done.
00:11:54.460 | "Don't read the queer words, 'cause we don't understand 'em.
00:11:57.580 | Tell it," commanded Roxy from the cradle, where she was drowsily cuddled with Rhody.
00:12:02.620 | "Well, a long time ago, when Charles I was in prison, Lord Basset was a true friend to
00:12:09.260 | him," began F, plunging into his story without delay.
00:12:13.220 | The Lord had some papers that would have hung a lot of people if the king's enemies got
00:12:17.240 | hold of him.
00:12:18.420 | So when he heard one day, all of a sudden, that soldiers were at the castle gate to carry
00:12:22.620 | him off, he had just time to call his girl to him and say, "I may be going to my death,
00:12:29.300 | but I won't betray my master.
00:12:31.700 | There is no time to burn the papers, and I cannot take them with me.
00:12:35.660 | They are hidden in the old leathern chair where I sit.
00:12:39.000 | No one knows this but you, and you must guard them till I come, or send you a safe messenger
00:12:45.260 | to take them away.
00:12:47.220 | Promise me to be brave and silent, and I can go without fear."
00:12:52.060 | You see, he wasn't afraid to die, but he was to seem a traitor.
00:12:56.700 | Lady Matilde promised solemnly, and the words were hardly out of her mouth when the men
00:13:01.400 | came in and her father was carried away a prisoner and sent off to the tower.
00:13:07.140 | "But she didn't cry.
00:13:08.640 | She just called her brother and sat down in that chair with her head leaning back on those
00:13:11.860 | papers like a queen and waited while the soldiers hunted the house over for him.
00:13:16.820 | Wasn't that a smart girl?"
00:13:18.300 | cried Tilly, beaming with pride, for she was named for this ancestress and knew the story
00:13:24.340 | by heart.
00:13:25.340 | "I reckon she was scared though when the men came swearing in and asked her if she
00:13:28.980 | knew anything about it.
00:13:30.460 | The boy did his part then, for he didn't know, and fired up and stood before his sister,
00:13:36.300 | and he says," says he, as bold as a lion, "if my lord had told us where the papers
00:13:41.260 | be, we would die before we would betray him.
00:13:44.140 | But we are children and know nothing, and it is cowardly of you to try to fright us
00:13:48.360 | with oaths and drawn swords."
00:13:51.540 | As F quoted from the book, Seth planted himself before Tilly with the long poker in his hand,
00:13:57.020 | saying as he flourished it valiantly, "Why didn't the boy take his father's sword
00:14:01.420 | and lay about him?
00:14:02.420 | I would, if anyone was harsh to Tilly."
00:14:05.460 | "You bantam.
00:14:06.700 | He was only a bit of a boy and couldn't do anything.
00:14:09.460 | Sit down and hear the rest of it," commanded Tilly, with a pat on the yellow head and a
00:14:13.740 | private resolve that Seth should have the largest piece of pie at dinner next day as
00:14:19.420 | reward for his chivalry.
00:14:21.700 | Well, the men went off after turning the castle out of window, but they said they should come
00:14:26.540 | again, so faithful Matilda was full of trouble and hardly dared to leave the room where the
00:14:31.220 | chair stood.
00:14:32.820 | All day she sat there, and at night her sleep was so full of fear about it that she often
00:14:37.700 | got up and went to see that all was safe.
00:14:40.280 | The servants thought the fright had hurt her wits and let her be, but Rupert, the boy,
00:14:45.380 | stood by her and never was afraid of her queer ways.
00:14:49.100 | She was a pious maid, the book says, and often spent the long evenings reading the Bible
00:14:54.240 | with her brother by her, all alone in the great room, with no one to help her bear her
00:14:58.980 | secret and no good news of her father.
00:15:02.120 | At last word came that the king was dead and his friends banished out of England.
00:15:07.340 | Then the poor children were in a sad plight, for they had no mother, and the servants all
00:15:11.900 | ran away, leaving only one faithful old man to help them.
00:15:16.180 | "But the father did come," cried Roxy eagerly.
00:15:19.340 | "You'll see," continued F., half telling, half reading.
00:15:24.340 | Matilda was sure he would, so she sat on in the big chair, guarding the papers, and no
00:15:29.120 | one could get her away, till one day a man came with her father's ring and told her
00:15:34.260 | to give up the secret.
00:15:36.140 | She knew the ring, but would not tell until she had asked many questions, so as to be
00:15:40.500 | very sure, and while the man answered all about her father and the king, she looked
00:15:45.460 | at him sharply.
00:15:47.000 | Then she stood up and said, in a tremble, for there was something strange about the
00:15:51.180 | man, "Sir, I doubt you in spite of the ring, and I will not answer till you pull off the
00:15:56.600 | false beard you wear, that I may see your face and know if you are my father's friend
00:16:01.580 | or foe."
00:16:03.420 | Off came the disguise, and Matilda found it was my lord himself come to take them with
00:16:08.460 | him out of England.
00:16:10.000 | He was very proud of that faithful girl, I guess, for the old chair still stands in the
00:16:14.780 | castle and the name keeps in the family.
00:16:17.780 | Pa says, even over here, where some of the Bassets came along with the pilgrims.
00:16:23.260 | "Our Tilly would have been as brave, I know, and she looks like the old picture down to
00:16:28.420 | grandma's, don't she, F?" cried Prue, who admired her bold, bright sister very much.
00:16:34.260 | "Well, I think you'd do the setting part best, Prue.
00:16:37.660 | You are so patient.
00:16:39.220 | Till would fight like a wild cat, but she can't hold her tongue worth a cent," answered
00:16:43.780 | F, whereat Tilly pulled his hair and the story ended with a general frolic.
00:16:48.940 | When the moon-faced clock behind the door struck nine, Tilly tucked up the children
00:16:53.020 | under the "extra comfortables" and, having kissed them all around as mother did, crept
00:16:58.900 | into her own nest, never minding the little drifts of snow that sifted in upon her coverlet
00:17:05.100 | between the shingles of the roof, nor the storm that raged without.
00:17:09.820 | As if he felt the need of unusual vigilance, old Bose lay down on the mat before the door,
00:17:16.260 | and Pussy had the warm hearth all to herself.
00:17:19.280 | If any late wanderer had looked in at midnight, he would have seen the fire blazing up again,
00:17:23.940 | and in the cheerful glow the old cat blinking her yellow eyes as she sat bolt upright beside
00:17:30.380 | the spinning wheel, like some sort of household goblin, guarding the children while they slept.
00:17:36.580 | When they woke, like early birds, it still snowed, but up the little bassets jumped,
00:17:41.580 | broke the ice in their pitchers, and went down with cheeks glowing like winter apples,
00:17:46.580 | after a brisk scrub and scramble into their clothes.
00:17:50.000 | F was off to the barn, and Tilly soon had a great kettle of mush ready, which, with
00:17:55.000 | milk warm from the cows, made a wholesome breakfast for the seven hardy children.
00:17:59.760 | "Now, about dinner," said the young housekeeper as the pewter spoons stopped clattering and
00:18:05.040 | the earthen bowls stood empty.
00:18:07.980 | Ma said, "Have what we like," but she didn't expect us to have a real Thanksgiving
00:18:12.700 | dinner because she won't be here to cook it and we don't know how, began Prue doubtfully.
00:18:18.740 | "I can roast a turkey and make a pudding as well as anybody, I guess.
00:18:23.000 | The pies are all ready, and if we can't boil vegetables and so on, we don't deserve
00:18:27.460 | any dinner," cried Tilly, burning to distinguish herself and bound to enjoy to the utmost her
00:18:34.100 | brief authority.
00:18:35.100 | "Yes, yes," cried all the boys, "let's have a dinner anyway.
00:18:39.100 | Ma won't care and the good victuals will spoil if they ain't eaten right up."
00:18:43.380 | "Pa is coming tonight, so we won't have dinner till late.
00:18:46.900 | That will be real genteel and give us plenty of time," added Tilly, suddenly realizing
00:18:53.320 | the novelty of the tasks she had undertaken.
00:18:56.300 | "Did you ever roast a turkey?" asked Roxy with an air of deep interest.
00:19:01.100 | "Should you darest to try?" said Rhodie in an awestricken tone.
00:19:05.860 | "You will see what I can do.
00:19:07.940 | Ma said I was to use my judgment about things and I'm going to.
00:19:11.900 | All you children have got to do is keep out of the way and let Prue and me work.
00:19:16.260 | F, I wish you'd put a fire in the best room so the little ones can play in there.
00:19:20.640 | We shall want the setting room for the table, and I won't have 'em picking round when
00:19:24.060 | we get things fixed," commanded Tilly, bound to make her short reign a brilliant one.
00:19:29.860 | "I don't know about that.
00:19:32.020 | Ma didn't tell us to," began cautious F, who felt that this invasion of the sacred
00:19:38.580 | best parlor was a daring step.
00:19:41.620 | "Don't we always do it Sundays and Thanksgivings?
00:19:44.340 | Wouldn't Ma wish the children kept safe and warm anyhow?
00:19:48.060 | Can I get up a nice dinner with four rascals under my feet all the time?
00:19:51.860 | Come now, if you want roast turkey and onions, plum pudding and mince pie, you'll have
00:19:55.940 | to do as I tell you and be lively about it."
00:19:59.100 | Tilly spoke with such spirit, and her suggestion was so irresistible that F gave in and, laughing
00:20:05.340 | good-naturedly, tramped away to heat up the best room, devoutly hoping that nothing serious
00:20:10.900 | would happen to punish such audacity.
00:20:14.100 | The young folks delightedly trooped in to destroy the order of that prim apartment with
00:20:18.620 | housekeeping under the black horsehair sofa, horseback riders on the arms of the best rocking
00:20:24.260 | chair, and an Indian war dance all over the well-waxed furniture.
00:20:30.420 | F, finding the society of peaceful sheep and cows more to his mind than that of two excited
00:20:37.420 | sisters, lingered over his chores in the barn as long as possible, and left the girls in
00:20:43.100 | peace.
00:20:44.100 | Now, Tilly and Prue were in their glory, and as soon as the breakfast things were out of
00:20:49.100 | the way, they prepared for a grand cooking time.
00:20:53.140 | They were handy girls, though they had never heard of a cooking school, never touched a
00:20:57.420 | piano and knew nothing of embroidery beyond the samplers which hung framed in the parlor,
00:21:02.620 | one ornamented with a pink mortar under a blue weeping willow, the other with this pleasing
00:21:08.500 | verse, each word being done in a different color, which gave the effect of a distracted
00:21:14.220 | rainbow.
00:21:15.220 | "This sampler neat was worked by me in my twelfth year, Prudence B."
00:21:23.980 | Both rolled up their sleeves, put on their largest aprons, and got out all the spoons,
00:21:28.660 | dishes, pots, and pans they could find, so as to have everything handy, as Prue said.
00:21:34.100 | "Now, sister, we'll have dinner at five.
00:21:37.020 | Pa will be here by that time, if he is coming tonight, and be so surprised to find us all
00:21:41.820 | ready, for he won't have had any very nice victuals if Grandma is so sick," said Tilly
00:21:46.980 | importantly.
00:21:47.980 | "I shall give the children a piece at noon."
00:21:50.420 | Tilly meant luncheon.
00:21:51.580 | "Donuts and cheese, with apple pie and cider will please him.
00:21:55.340 | There's beans for F. He likes cold pork, so we won't stop to warm it up, for there's
00:21:59.380 | lots to do, and I don't mind saying to you, I'm dreadful dubious about the turkey.
00:22:04.620 | It's all ready but the stuffing, and roasting is as easy as can be.
00:22:08.180 | I can baste first rate.
00:22:10.180 | Ma always likes to have me.
00:22:11.700 | I'm so patient and steady," she says, answered Prue, for the responsibility of this great
00:22:16.540 | undertaking did not rest upon her, so she took a cheerful view of things.
00:22:20.940 | "I know, but it's the stuffing that troubles me," said Tilly, rubbing her round elbows
00:22:25.620 | as she eyed the immense fowl laid out on a platter before her.
00:22:29.220 | "I don't know how much I want, nor what sort of herbs to put in, and he's so awful
00:22:33.660 | big I'm kind of afraid of him."
00:22:35.740 | "I ain't.
00:22:36.740 | I fed him all summer and he never gobbled at me.
00:22:40.220 | I feel real mean to be thinking of gobbling him, poor old chap," laughed Prue, patting
00:22:44.900 | her departed pet with an air of mingled affection and appetite.
00:22:48.900 | "Well, I'll get the pudding off my mind first, throw it out to bile all day, put the
00:22:53.580 | big kettle on and see that the spit is clean while I get ready."
00:22:57.220 | Prue obediently tugged away at the crane with its black hooks from which hung the iron tea
00:23:02.500 | kettle and three-legged pot.
00:23:05.500 | Then she settled the long spit in the grooves made for it in the tall andirons and put the
00:23:10.500 | dripping pan underneath, for in those days meat was roasted as it should be, not baked
00:23:15.620 | in ovens.
00:23:16.620 | Meantime, Tilly attacked the plum pudding.
00:23:19.420 | She felt pretty sure of coming out right here, for she had seen her mother do it so many
00:23:24.260 | times it looked very easy.
00:23:26.740 | So in went suet and fruit, all sorts of spice, to be sure she got the right ones, and brandy
00:23:33.540 | instead of wine.
00:23:35.060 | But she forgot both sugar and salt and tied it in the cloth so tightly that it had no
00:23:39.780 | room to swell, so it would come out as heavy as lead and as hard as a cannonball if the
00:23:44.860 | bag did not burst and spoil it all.
00:23:47.660 | Happily unconscious of these mistakes, Tilly popped it into the pot and proudly watched
00:23:52.540 | it bobbing about before she put the cover on and left it to its fate.
00:23:56.340 | "I can't remember what flavor in ma puts in," she said when she had got her bread
00:24:01.060 | well soaked for the stuffing.
00:24:03.220 | "Sage and onions and applesauce go with goose, but I can't feel sure of anything
00:24:08.120 | but pepper and salt for a turkey."
00:24:10.500 | "Ma puts in some kind of mint, I know, but I forget whether it is spearmint, peppermint,
00:24:16.300 | or pennyroyal," answered Prue in a tone of doubt, but trying to show her knowledge
00:24:20.620 | of herbs, or at least of their names.
00:24:23.500 | "Seems to me it's sweet marjoram, or some are savory.
00:24:27.980 | I guess we'll put both in, and then we're sure to be right.
00:24:31.180 | The best is up, Garrett, you run and get some while I mash the bread," commanded Tilly,
00:24:35.700 | diving into the mess.
00:24:37.500 | Away trotted Prue, but in her haste she got catnip and wormwood, for the Garrett was darkish
00:24:44.660 | and Prue's little nose was so full of the smell of the onions she had been peeling that
00:24:49.940 | everything smelt of them.
00:24:52.060 | Eager to be of use, she pounded up the herbs and scattered the mixture with a liberal hand
00:24:56.440 | into the bowl.
00:24:58.260 | "It doesn't smell just right, but I suppose it will when it is cooked," said Tilly,
00:25:02.760 | as she filled the empty stomach that seemed aching for food, and sewed it up with the
00:25:07.700 | blue yarn which happened to be handy.
00:25:10.020 | She forgot to tie down his legs and wings, but she set him by till his hour came, well
00:25:15.140 | satisfied with her work.
00:25:16.860 | "Shall we roast the little pig too?
00:25:18.940 | I think he'd look nice with a necklace of sausages as Ma fixed one last Christmas,"
00:25:23.940 | asked Prue, elated with their success.
00:25:26.140 | "I couldn't do it.
00:25:27.820 | I loved that little pig and cried when he was killed.
00:25:30.820 | I should feel as if I was roasting the baby," answered Tilly, glancing toward the buttery
00:25:36.220 | where Piggy hung, looking so pink and pretty it certainly did seem cruel to eat him.
00:25:42.260 | It took a long time to get all the vegetables ready, for, as the cellar was full, the girls
00:25:46.980 | thought they would have every sort.
00:25:49.260 | F helped and by noon all was ready for cooking, and the cranberry sauce, a good deal scorched,
00:25:54.500 | was cooking in the lean-to.
00:25:56.940 | Luncheon was a lively meal, and donuts and cheese vanished in such quantities that Tilly
00:26:01.380 | feared no one would have an appetite for her sumptuous dinner.
00:26:05.700 | The boys assured her they would be starving by five o'clock, and soul mourned bitterly
00:26:10.520 | over the little pig that was not to be served up.
00:26:13.300 | "Now, you all go and coast while Prue and I set the table and get out the best chiny,"
00:26:18.380 | said Tilly, bent on having her dinner look well, no matter what its other failings might
00:26:23.420 | be.
00:26:24.480 | Out came the rough sleds, on went the round hoods, old hats, red cloaks and moccasins,
00:26:30.660 | and away trudged the four younger Bassets to disport themselves in the snow and try
00:26:35.840 | the ice down by the old mill, where the great wheel turned and splashed so merrily in the
00:26:41.060 | summertime.
00:26:42.060 | F took his fiddle and scraped away to his heart's content in the parlor, while the
00:26:46.620 | girls, after a short rest, set the table and made all ready to dish up the dinner when
00:26:51.420 | that exciting moment came.
00:26:53.480 | It was not at all the sort of table we see now, but would look very plain and countrified
00:26:59.660 | to us, with its green-handled knives and two-pronged steel forks, its red and white china and pewter
00:27:07.300 | platters scoured till they shone, with mugs and spoons to match, and a brown jug for the
00:27:13.180 | cider.
00:27:14.380 | The cloth was coarse but white as snow, and the little maids had seen the blue-eyed flax
00:27:20.100 | grow out of which their mother wove the linen they had watched and watered while it bleached
00:27:25.140 | in the green meadow.
00:27:26.880 | They had no napkins and little silver, but the best-tinkered and maws few wedding spoons
00:27:32.620 | were set forth in state.
00:27:35.140 | Nuts and apples at the corners gave an air, and a place of honour was left in the middle
00:27:38.980 | for the oranges yet to come.
00:27:40.540 | "Don't it look beautiful?" said Prue, when they paused to admire the general effect.
00:27:46.260 | "Pretty nice, I think.
00:27:48.340 | I wish Ma could see how well we can do it," began Tilly, when a loud howling startled
00:27:53.420 | both girls and sent them flying to the window.
00:27:56.080 | The short afternoon had passed so quickly that twilight had come before they knew it,
00:28:00.180 | and now as they looked out through the gathering dusk, they saw four small black figures tearing
00:28:04.820 | up the road to come bursting in, all screaming at once, "The bear!
00:28:08.540 | The bear!
00:28:09.540 | F, get the gun!
00:28:10.540 | He's coming!
00:28:11.540 | He's coming!"
00:28:12.540 | F had dropped his fiddle and got down his gun before the girls could calm the children
00:28:14.880 | enough to tell their story, which they did in a somewhat incoherent manner.
00:28:18.620 | "Down in the holler coasting we heard a growl," began Sol, with his eyes as big
00:28:22.700 | as saucers.
00:28:23.700 | "I see him first looking over the wall," roared Seth, eager to get his share of honour.
00:28:27.700 | "Awful big and shaggy," quavered Roxy, clinging to Tilly while Rhodey hid in Prue's
00:28:32.340 | skirts and piped out.
00:28:33.580 | "His great paws kept clawing at us, and I was so scared my legs would hardly go.
00:28:39.100 | We ran away as fast as we could go, and he came growling after us.
00:28:42.540 | 'He's awful hungry, and he'll eat every one of us if he gets in,' continued Sol,
00:28:46.700 | looking about him for a safe retreat.
00:28:48.340 | 'Oh, F, don't let him eat us!' cried both little girls, flying upstairs to hide
00:28:52.660 | under their mother's bed as their surest shelter.
00:28:55.180 | 'No danger of that, you little geese.
00:28:57.380 | I'll shoot him as soon as he comes.
00:28:59.140 | Get out of the way, boys!' and F raised the window to get good aim.
00:29:02.460 | 'There he is!
00:29:03.460 | Fire away and don't miss!' cried Seth, hastily following Sol, who had climbed to
00:29:07.900 | the top of the dresser as a good perch from which to view the approaching fray.
00:29:11.900 | Prue retired to the hearth as if bent on dying at her post rather than desert the turkey,
00:29:16.700 | now 'browning beautiful,' as she expressed it, but Tillie stood boldly at the open window,
00:29:22.420 | ready to lend a hand if the enemy proved too much for F. All had seen bears, but none had
00:29:28.700 | ever come so near before, and even brave F felt that the big brown beast slowly trotting
00:29:36.260 | up the dooryard was an unusually formidable specimen.
00:29:40.740 | He was growling horribly and stopped now and then as if to rest and shake himself.
00:29:46.140 | 'Get the axe, Tillie, and if I should miss, stand ready to keep him off while I load again,'
00:29:51.580 | said F, anxious to kill his first bear in style and alone.
00:29:56.460 | A girl's help didn't count.
00:29:58.540 | Tillie flew for the axe and was at her brother's side by the time the bear was near enough
00:30:02.200 | to be dangerous.
00:30:03.460 | He stood on his hind legs and seemed to sniff with relish the savory odors that poured out
00:30:10.580 | of the window.
00:30:11.580 | 'Fire, F!' cried Tillie firmly.
00:30:13.660 | 'Wait till he rears again.
00:30:15.220 | I'll get a better shot then,' answered the boy, while Prue covered her ears to shut
00:30:19.420 | out the bang, and the small boys cheered from their dusty refuge among the pumpkins.
00:30:25.500 | But a very singular thing happened next, and all who saw it stood amazed.
00:30:30.780 | For suddenly Tillie threw down the axe, flung open the door, and ran straight into the arms
00:30:34.660 | of the bear, who stood erect to receive her, while his growlings changed to a loud 'Ha,
00:30:40.220 | ha!' that startled the children more than the report of a gun.
00:30:44.060 | 'It's Gad Hopkins trying to fool us!' cried F, much disgusted at the loss of his
00:30:49.660 | prey, for these hardy boys loved to hunt and prided themselves on the number of wild animals
00:30:55.260 | and birds they could shoot in a year.
00:30:57.420 | 'Oh Gad, how could you scare us so?' laughed Tillie, still held fast in one shaggy arm
00:31:03.540 | of the bear, while the other drew a dozen oranges from some deep pocket in the buffalo
00:31:08.260 | skin coat, and fired them into the kitchen with such good aim that F ducked, Prue screamed,
00:31:13.980 | and Sol and Seth came down much quicker than they went up.
00:31:17.220 | 'Well, you see I got up,' sighed Over yonder, 'and the old horse went home while
00:31:22.060 | I was floundering in a drift.
00:31:24.220 | So I tied on the buffalers to tote 'em easy and come along till I see the children playing
00:31:28.860 | in the holler.
00:31:29.860 | I just meant to give 'em a little scare, but they run like partridges, and I kept up
00:31:33.500 | the joke to see how F would like this sort of company, and God ha ha'd again.'
00:31:38.300 | 'You'd have had a warm welcome if we hadn't found you out.
00:31:41.820 | I'd have put a bullet through you in a jiffy, old chap,' said F, coming out to shake hands
00:31:46.100 | with the young giant, who was only a year or two older than himself.
00:31:49.700 | 'Come in and set up to dinner with us.
00:31:51.900 | Prue and I have done it all ourselves, and Pa will be along soon, I reckon,' cried Tillie,
00:31:56.260 | trying to escape.
00:31:57.260 | 'Couldn't no ways.
00:31:59.100 | My folks will think I'm dead if I don't get along home, since the horse and sleigh
00:32:03.500 | have gone ahead empty.
00:32:04.940 | I've done my errant, and I had my joke, and now I want my pay, Tillie.'
00:32:09.740 | And Gad took a hearty kiss from the rosy cheeks of his little sweetheart, as he called her.
00:32:14.940 | His own cheeks tingled with the smart slap she gave him as she ran away, calling out
00:32:19.420 | that she hated bears and would bring her axe next time.
00:32:22.340 | 'I ain't afeard.
00:32:24.380 | Your sharp eyes found me out, and if you run into a bear's arms, you must expect a hug,'
00:32:29.780 | answered Gad, as he pushed back the robe and settled his fur cap more becomingly.
00:32:33.660 | 'I should have known you in a minute, if I hadn't been asleep when the girls squalled.
00:32:38.660 | You did it well, though, and I advise you not to try it again in a hurry, or you'll
00:32:41.900 | get shot,' said F, as they parted.
00:32:44.700 | He rather crestfallen, and Gad in high glee.
00:32:48.780 | 'My sake's alive.
00:32:50.260 | The turkey is burnt one side, and the kettles have biled over, so the pies I put to warm
00:32:54.260 | are all ashes,' scolded Tilly, as the flurry subsided and she remembered her dinner.
00:32:59.420 | 'I can't help it.
00:33:00.820 | I couldn't think of victuals when I expected to be eaten alive myself, could I?'
00:33:05.300 | pleaded poor Prue, who had tumbled into the cradle when the rain of oranges began.
00:33:10.420 | Tilly laughed, and all the rest joined in.
00:33:12.500 | So good humor was restored, and the spirits of the younger ones were revived by sucks
00:33:18.020 | from the one orange which passed from hand to hand with great rapidity while the older
00:33:22.660 | girls dished up the dinner.
00:33:24.500 | They were just struggling to get the pudding out of the cloth when Roxy called out, 'Here's
00:33:28.900 | Pa!'
00:33:29.900 | 'There's folks with him,' added Rhodey.
00:33:31.500 | 'Lots of 'em.
00:33:32.500 | I see two big sleighs, chock full!' shouted Seth, peering through the dusk.
00:33:36.620 | 'It looks like a cemetery.
00:33:39.140 | Guess Grandma's dead and come up to be buried here,' said Saul in a solemn tone.
00:33:44.020 | This startling suggestion made Tilly, Prue, and F. hasten to look out, full of dismay
00:33:48.740 | at such an ending of their festival.
00:33:51.060 | 'If that is a funeral, the mourners are uncommon jolly,' said F. dryly, as merry
00:33:57.420 | voices and loud laughter broke the white silence without.
00:34:00.860 | 'I see Aunt Cynthia and Cousin Hetty, and there's Moes and Amos.
00:34:05.620 | I do declare Pa's bringing 'em all home to have some fun here!' cried Prue as she
00:34:09.340 | recognized one familiar face after another.
00:34:11.940 | 'Oh, my patience!
00:34:13.540 | Ain't I glad I got dinner, and don't I hope it will turn out good!' exclaimed
00:34:17.620 | Tilly, while the twins pranced with delight and the small boys roared, 'Hooray for Pa!
00:34:23.100 | Hooray for Thanksgiving!'
00:34:25.300 | The cheer was answered heartily, and in came father, mother, baby, aunts and cousins, all
00:34:30.020 | in great spirits, and all much surprised to find such a festive welcome awaiting them.
00:34:35.180 | 'Ain't Grandma dead at all?' asked Saul in the midst of the kissing and handshaking.
00:34:40.020 | 'Bless your heart, no.
00:34:42.060 | It was all a mistake of old Mr. Chadwick's.
00:34:44.340 | He's as deaf as an adder, and when Mrs. Brooks told him Mother was mendin' fast and she
00:34:49.100 | wanted me to come down today, certain sure, he got the message all wrong and give it to
00:34:53.940 | the first person passin' in such a way as to scare me most to death and send us down
00:34:57.700 | in a hurry.
00:34:59.000 | Mother was sittin' up as cherk as you please and dreadful, sorry you didn't all come.'
00:35:03.180 | 'So to keep the house quiet for her and give you a taste of the fun, your Pa fetched us
00:35:07.940 | all up to spend the evening, and we are going to have a jolly time, aren't ya, judged by
00:35:12.220 | the look of things?' said Aunt Cynthia, briskly finishing the tale when Mrs. Bassett paused
00:35:16.820 | for want of breath.
00:35:18.060 | 'What in the world put into your head we was comin' and set you to gettin' up such
00:35:22.060 | a supper?' asked Mr. Bassett, lookin' about him, well pleased and much surprised at the
00:35:26.660 | plentiful table.
00:35:28.500 | Tilly modestly began to tell, but the others broke in and sang her praises in a sort of
00:35:32.980 | chorus in which bears, pigs, pies, and oranges were oddly mixed.
00:35:38.300 | Great satisfaction was expressed by all, and Tilly and Prue were so elated by the commendation
00:35:43.220 | of Ma and the aunts that they set forth their dinner, sure everything was perfect.
00:35:48.880 | But when the eating began, which it did the moment wraps were off, then their pride got
00:35:53.440 | a fall, for the first person who tasted the stuffing (it was big cousin Moe's and that
00:35:59.060 | made it harder to bear) nearly choked over the bitter morsel.
00:36:03.620 | 'Tilly Bassett, whatever made you put wormwood and catnip in your stuffin'?'
00:36:08.260 | demanded Ma, trying not to be severe, for all the rest were laughing and Tilly looked
00:36:13.140 | ready to cry.
00:36:14.140 | 'I did it,' said Prue, nobly taking all the blame, which caused Pa to kiss her on
00:36:19.700 | the spot and declare that it didn't do a mite of harm, for the turkey was all right.
00:36:23.940 | 'I never see onions cooked better.
00:36:26.500 | All the vegetables is well done, and the dinner a credit to you, my dears,' declared Aunt
00:36:31.020 | Cynthia with her mouth full of the fragrant vegetables she praised.
00:36:35.380 | The pudding was an utter failure, in spite of the blazing brandy in which it lay, as
00:36:41.260 | hard and heavy as one of the stone balls on Squire Duncan's great gate.
00:36:46.740 | It was speedily whisked out of sight, and all fell upon the pies, which were perfect.
00:36:52.540 | But Tilly and Prue were much depressed, and didn't recover their spirits till the dinner
00:36:56.940 | was over and the evening fun well underway.
00:37:00.620 | Blind Man's Bluff, Hunt the Slipper, Come, Philander, and other lively games soon set
00:37:06.700 | every one bubbling over with jollity, and when F. struck up Money Musk on his fiddle,
00:37:13.620 | old and young fell into their places for a dance.
00:37:16.700 | All down the long kitchen they stood, Mr. and Mrs. Bassett at the top, the twins at
00:37:21.020 | the bottom, and then away they went, heeling and toeing, cutting pigeon wings and taking
00:37:26.180 | their steps in a way that would convulse modern children with their new-fangled romps called
00:37:31.820 | dancing.
00:37:33.020 | Mose and Tilly covered themselves with glory by the vigor with which they kept it up, till
00:37:37.740 | Fat Aunt Cynthia fell into a chair, breathlessly declaring that a very little of such exercise
00:37:43.500 | was enough for a woman of her heft.
00:37:46.860 | Apples and cider, chat and singing finished the evening, and after a grand kissing all
00:37:51.540 | around, the guests drove away in the clear moonlight which came out just in time to cheer
00:37:56.620 | their long drive.
00:37:58.740 | When the jingle of the last bell had died away, Mr. Bassett said soberly as they stood
00:38:03.160 | together on the hearth, "Children, we have special cause to be thankful that the sorrow
00:38:08.700 | we expected was changed into joy.
00:38:11.620 | So we'll read a chapter before we go to bed and give thanks where thanks is due."
00:38:17.100 | Then Tilly set out the lightstand with the big Bible on it and a candle on each side,
00:38:21.700 | and all sat quietly in the firelight, smiling as they listened with happy hearts to the
00:38:26.500 | sweet old words that fit all times and seasons so beautifully.
00:38:31.860 | When the good nights were over and the children in bed, Prue put her arm around Tilly and
00:38:36.620 | whispered tenderly, for she felt her shake and was sure she was crying, "Don't mind
00:38:42.380 | about the old stuffin' and puttin', dearie.
00:38:44.540 | Nobody cared."
00:38:45.820 | And Ma said, "We really did no surprisein' well for such young girls."
00:38:50.420 | The laughter Tilly was trying to smother broke out then, and was so infectious, Prue could
00:38:56.340 | not help joining her, even before she knew the cause of the merriment.
00:39:00.540 | "I was mad about the mistakes, but don't care enough to cry.
00:39:04.260 | I'm laughing to think how Gad fooled F and I found him out.
00:39:07.940 | I thought Moes and Amos would have died over it when I told them it was so funny," explained
00:39:12.460 | Tilly when she got her breath.
00:39:14.140 | "I was so scared that when the first orange hit me I thought it was a bullet and scrabbled
00:39:18.660 | into the cradle as fast as I could.
00:39:20.980 | It was real mean to frighten the little ones so," laughed Prue, as Tilly gave a growl.
00:39:26.420 | Here a smart rap on the wall of the next bedroom caused a sudden lull in the fun, and Mrs.
00:39:31.820 | Bassett's voice was heard, saying warningly, "Girls, go to sleep immediate or you'll
00:39:36.540 | wake the baby."
00:39:37.540 | "Yes, mam," answered two meek voices.
00:39:41.020 | And after a few irrepressible giggles, silence reigned, broken only by an occasional snore
00:39:47.700 | from the boys, or the soft scurry of mice in the buttery, taking their part in this
00:39:53.580 | old-fashioned Thanksgiving.
00:39:55.660 | [BLANK_AUDIO]