Halstead would look hard at us, but
vouchsafed no replies.
The judge's turkey was sent to Portland on November 15; at that period
each state appointed its own Thanksgiving Day, and in Maine the 17th had
been set. Addison's choice had proved the best turkey: I think it
weighed nearly seventeen pounds; he divided the five dollars with
Theodora. The old Squire never learned of Halstead's bootless experiment
in forced feeding.
CHAPTER XXIX
MITCHELLA JARS
Cold weather was again approaching. October had been very wet; but
bright, calm days of Indian summer followed in November. And about that
time Catherine, Theodora and Ellen had an odd adventure while out in the
woods gathering partridge berries.
At the old farm we called the vivid green creeping vine that bears those
coral-red berries in November, "partridge berry," because partridge feed
on the berries and dig them from under the snow. Botanists, however,
call the vine _Mitchella repens_. In our tramps through the woods we
boys never gave it more than a passing glance, for the berries are not
good to eat. The girls, however, thought that the vine was very pretty.
Every fall Theodora and Ellen, with Kate Edwards, and sometimes the
Wilbur girls, went into the woods to gather lion's-paw and mitchella
with which to decorate the old farmhouse at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Pages:
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335