xt7k3j390q4r https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7k3j390q4r/data/mets.xml Witherspoon, Pattie French. 1897 books b92-274-32007271 English T.B. Arnold, : Chicago, Ill. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Social life and customs. Through two administrations : character sketches of Kentucky / Pattie French Witherspoon. text Through two administrations : character sketches of Kentucky / Pattie French Witherspoon. 1897 2002 true xt7k3j390q4r section xt7k3j390q4r
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Through Two
Administrations
CHARACTER SKETCHCES
OF KENTUCKYX
PATTIE FIRENCH W4 WITE RSPOO
CHICAGO, ILL.:
T. B. ARNOLD. PUBLISHER.
1897.
This page in the original text is blank.
CONTENTS.
PART FIRST.
Chap. Page
1. In the Reign of Aunt Arethusa ..................... 7
11. The Secret.......................... 37
PART SECOND.
1. Mv Aunt Margaret ........... ................ 42
II. Court Day in Kentucky ........................... 60
lli. Howv We Carried the Election ....................... 81
1 V. The Sunset ...........................0 IG
This page in the original text is blank.
PART FIRST.
CHAPTER 1.
IN THlE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
The name, "Aunt Jinsy,"' stands out in my
memory framed in gray mists of steam and
garlanded with light blue wreaths of fragrant,
aromatic vapors.
Sometimes in my dreams I am a child
again, and then I see Aunt Jinsy, as she
peeps into the steaming oven, "ter see 'f dat
tucky's done ter er turn," or again as she
leans over the boiling pot, fork in hand, "ter
turn dat possum e'en fer e'en."
Aunt Jinsy was not like the up-to-date
combined servant, who accomplishes in the
forenoon what formerly occupied a planta-
tion of negroes a full day, and then spends
her evenings out.
Aunt Jinsy was an old-fashioned painstak-
ing specialist; she was the nighest dignitary
in the domestic hierarchy, being head-cook
or more familiarly speaking, "fust-cook."
8 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
If Aunt Jinsy had lived in this generation
she would have enjoyed the title chef, as it
was, she was only, "fust-cook." She was a
true caterer nevertheless, and helped to win
for Kentucky her reputation for good
cooking.
Aunt jinsy never dressed fowls, prepared
vegetables, scrubbed or scoured, all such
menial tasks were beneath the dignity of her
exalted position.
A visitor, who had been very much im-
pressed with the old woman's deliciously
cooked viands, also with her apparent leisure,
-she could be seen at almost any hour of the
day in summer, standing under a shade tree
with her arms resting on her hips, or fanning
with a turkey wing-one day asked the
pointed question, "What is your part of the
cooking any how" '-La, honey," she re-
plied, as she stooped to mop her face with a
corner of her apron, " 'tain nuffin much, I
jis flabors an tastes leetle an dat's 'bout all."
Aunt Jinsy seldom soiled her hands by
attending to the fire. We used to say her
children were the dampers of her stove. If
the fire needed "mending" she would poke
her head through the window and call out,
"You George Washington." In a short time
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA. 9
that Secretary of the Interior would appear
staggering beneath a huge armful of split
ash. He would throw his burden in the
woodbox with a loud crash, which would be
echoed in a few moments by a smart thrash
over his head; reminded of her majesty's
presence, George Washington would mend
the fire noiselessly and dexterously. If the
fire had been neglected so long it needed a
"leetle coaxin," Aunt Jinsy would again
scream out, "fetch dem chips hyar dis meenit,
Abe Lincoln" In a little while another
woolly head would darken the doorway lean-
ing far over to the left in consequence of a
large basketful of chips which he carried on
his right hip.
Having deposited his basket Abe Lincoln
would convert his lung powers into a bel-
lows, and soon the -coaxin' chips and the
persuasively forceful gusts of wind that
issued from the cavernous depths of Abe
Lincoln's jaws would produce a mighty
smoke, that was clearly shadowed by the
scorched eyebrows and sooty smears on the
face of the bellows.
Aunt Jinsy rarely made mistakes from
nervousness. "I'se seldomly eber flustrated,"
I heard her say one day, "cept'n when dey
10 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
tehs me, Mis Arthusalem's done com'd, an
den I Jis goes all ter pieces. Hits wonderful
whut sarchin power dat name Arthusalem's
got ober me, pears lak hit jis runs all ober my
flush an back jints same's er corncob." Irn-
deed, Aunt Jinsy always spoiled the first
meal after Aunt Arethusa's arrival. While
my aunt was her sworn enemy, I think the
old 'cook did not mean to begin hostilities so
soon, but she just smelt the battle from afar
and it "flustrated" her.
Milly, Aunt Jinsy's eldest daughter, waited
on the table and did light housework. As
she would carry the dishes to the kitchen
after the first meal was over she would report
with a grin, "Mis Arthusalem say yo done
furgit all yo eber knew'd bout cookin', an
she say de sughar yo wais on derm appuls is
scanlous, she say dey's sweetin nuff fer
zerbes." "G'long -wid yo sass, gal, I know'd
whut dat ole maid gwine say 'thout yo jawin'
'bout hit," and Aunt Jinsy would bring the
broom handle down on poor Milly's head
with considerable force. Milly would leave
her dinner untasted and go off to the wood-
shed, blubbering and declaring that she
ought not to be blamed for what white folks
said.
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETRUSA. II
So much for Aunt Arethusa's introduction
to the kitchen. Aunt Arethusa was my
father's eldest sister. She spent her early
life on a farm in New Hampshire. When
her parents died the old homestead was sold
for debt, and my aunt came south to live
with her younger sister, with an annual visit
of six months to us thrown in.
I overheard Aunt Arethusa say to a neigh-
bor one day. "Poor William Henry," she
always spoke of my father that way. "might
have landed on the supreme bench if he had
only remained in an atmosphere of energy,
but instead of that he came to Kentucky and
just threw himself awa'."
To mx- atint the most coveted position in
the gift of the people was supreme judgeship.
The neighbor, who was a devoted admirer of
m- mother, did not stay long after Aunt
Arethusa's burst of confidence, and I thought
she was rather stiff when she told my aunt
good evening.
She said afterwards, "IF Miss Arethusa
thinks marrying a beautiful Kentucky girl
that's a saint compared with some folks and
an heiress besides is throwing one's self away
she must have high notions."
12 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
My father's tastes were unquestionably
literary, and I do not know what pre-eminence
he might have attained had he pursued his
profession of law.
He had neither knowledge nor experience
of agriculture, in fact it was an open secret
with the negroes that he knew nothing about
"crapin."
When I was quite young I was told that
our beautiful bluegrass farm was hopelessly
mortgaged.
"What is a mortgage, Aunt Jinsy" I one
day asked when I heard the negroes discuss-
ing our finances in the kitchen.
"Why bress de po leetle chile," Aunt Jinsy
said in tones commiserative of my ignorance,
"er mortige, honey, is er warmint wvhut sucks
yo blood an keeps on suckin' twell hits got
de las drap, dats zactly whut de beeshup said
in spekin' uv de mortige on de mulber'
meetin' 'ouse."
For weeks I could not be persuaded to go
alone in the dark for fear of encountering
that new monster.
Aunt Arethusa came to us the first of
March, that season of all the year that is
most trying to nervous temperaments.
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA. I 3
Father would be depressed from listening
to the hands' gloomy foreboding about the
spring's being so late there would be no time
for ploughing.
Mother, dear little patient mother, who
had been exposing herself all winter waiting
on her own family and sick neighbors, and
who had been wearing old cast-off thin cloth-
ing that we might be warmly clad, would be
in bed with nervous chills and '"a general
give way," as Doctor Tom expressed it.
I have sometimes thought that mother's
nervous chills which came always on the first
of March. may have been something like
Aunt Jinsy's "miseries in her back jints,"
when she heard "Mis Arthusalem's done
co m'd.')
To add to the discomfort of the season we
would be out at elbows and knees and clamor-
ing loudly for new clothes, lhich mother was
too honest to buy until she Lad money to pay
for, and that necessary commodity would not
be forthcoming until the hens should begi
their spring laying, and until the green grass
should turn the butter into a golden market-
able color, for mother ne ver colored her
butter,
14 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
At such times Aunt Arethusa would come
among us as soothing as a March wind.
Aunt Arethusa had a weather bureau of her
own, that had one peculiar advantage over
most signal services; it was this, she knew
just where a draught would strike five minutes
before it left the storm center. When she
would see us come trooping home from
school she would get out her black handker-
chief and hang it on the knob of a high-back
chair in a conspicuous place before the win-
dow, and then the somber storm signal would
wave at us ominously.
The home-coming would have been rather
gruesome but for the little mother who
stood behind the chair and nodded and
smiled at us brightly, like the sun behind the
cloud.
Aunt Arethusa had another peculiarity
which may have been occasioned by her ex-
tremely sensitive nerves---sound traveled to
her faster than light, science to the contrary
notwithstanding. She would cork up her ears,
and scream a little, fully two seconds before
we slammed the door.
I think my aunt was not in full sympathy
with my mother's methods of housekeeping.
She would spend the first day after her
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA. 15
arrival going through cupboards and presses
and taking a general inventory of the prem-
ises, and for days afterward the atmosphere
about our house would be redolent with the
pungent odors of soapsuds, burnt camphor,
sulphur and various other disinfectants.
The sense of smell was strongly developed
in Aunt Arethusa. I have seen her stick her
nose in a dark press, and after an investigat-
ing sniff or two she would go away, as well
satisfied about the condition of said dark
press as if an arclight had been turned upon
its contents.
A cobweb was not a stud) in (esthetics to
Aunt Arethusa, it was rather a disgraceful
stain on a housekeeper's escutcheon, and she
would have engraved it upon the sluggard's
coat of arms.
After my aunt had looked to the ways of
the household she would turn her attention
to the farm. She would compel my father
to go over his books with her, a task not
much to his liking. but Aunt Arethusa would
hold him to it until the)y had gone over the
very last page of debits and credits.
The result of such invesi:igations would
prove that my father was getting deeper in
debt every year, and Aunt Arethusa would
i6 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
declare that our extravagance was reckless
considering poor William Henry's condition.
Then would ensue a period of cutting down
expenses subject to my aunt's cold, incisive
judgment.
She would take the keys and the manage-
ment in her hands, and my mother's authority
would be usurped in her own house. I have
often wondered why father permitted such
tyranny, and why mother did not openly rebel
against it. I think it was their deep, unques-
tioning affection for one another that made
Aunt Arethusa's interregnum at all sufferable.
My father had great deference for his elder
sister, and respected her opinions on points
of business highly; indeed, Aunt Arethusa's
reputation for economy and good judgment
was far-reaching.
I think my mother was one of the best
economists I have ever known. She mended,
made over and handed down our little gar-
ments in a way that must have appeared truly
pathetic to our more prosperous neighbors.
Our friends often sent her some of the gar-
ments their children had outgrown, and she
always received them gratefully. She prac-
ticed quietly and unobtrusively the most
conservative system of economy.
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUlSA. 17
She sometimes made a great show of tying
a bit of bright ribbon around my sister's
curls, and of sewing new brass buttons on
our shabby coats, hoping by such simple arts
to beguile our innocent fancies from the
chilling effects of early poverty.
She never forgot to put in our school bas-
kets the turnovers of apple-butter, which she
often made with her own hands, partly to
vary the size and print, but principally, I
think, to keep Aunt Jinsv from wasting ma-
terials. Aunt Arethusa's economy was a
gaunt, blatant, hydra-headed monster that
howled at us from all her methods. It stared
at us from her cold, uninviting luncheons, it
mocked us from her smouldering ash-covered
fires. XVood cost us nothing, indeed it was
so abundant my father often gave it to the
town people, the only stipulation being that
they should cut and haul it themselves and
afterwards burn the brush.
Mlly mother often said she thought a bright
wood fire was inspiring; my aunt thought
otherwise, or that it was inspiring notions of
extravagance, which should be suppressed
rather than encouraged. I fancy Aunt Are-
thusa is before me, sitting prim and stiff on a
high, straight chair, never touching the back
I8 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
of it for an instant, her lips are blue and
pinched habitually, as if with cold, though
around her angular form shoulder-shawls
(her one compromise toward comfort) are
piled two inches thick; now and then she
looks searchingly over her glasses at the
poor little sleepy, tow-heads that are bending
low over their books; woe. to the hapless
urchin who is caught studying designs in
wall-paper or carpet rather than arithmetic
or geometry. She raises the index finger
and shakes it threateningly: "Alark my word
you will miss that lesson, sir, and if you do
you shall go over it till you can recite it
perfectly. I shall hear you say it in a short
time, when I've turned the heel." The harsh
clicking of her rapidly flying needles begins
again and suggests to the laggard student
her rigid severity.
Now the fire struggles into a cheerful blaze,
and we are unconsciously stimulated by the
expansive influence, the hum of voices con-
ning their lessons is quickened, and we keep
pace with the spirited fire-captain.
Suddenly my aunt leaves the room; she
returns with a gourd full of water which she
throws spitefully upon the bright flames; we
murmur in our hearts but dare not comnplain;
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETIIUSA 19
the cinders and ashes fly up at Aunt Are-
thusa rebelliously, and she is forced to re-
treat; her eyes are blinded with smoke, and
as she staggers from the roonm she treads
upon our toes--somehow poor Aunt Arethusa
was always treading on people's toes. Our
aunt evidently thought we would not appre-
ciate the necessity of her regulations until
we should be thoroughly aroused to our con-
dition of miserable poverty.
Mly father was an absent-mn nded man, un-
observant of small things, and I think he
was really unconscious of h s sister's disa-
greeable policy. I know he felt sympathy
for her because she had no horne of her own;
perhaps he thought she would feel more in-
dependent if allowed to share in the house-
hold duties. He may have thcught that such
a division of responsibilities wvould prove a
relief to my mother. I think he was un-
advised in that opinion, for my mother con-
tinued to do the work while Aunt Arethusa
carried the keys and did the managing.
If mother submitted gracefully to the new
order of things Aunt Jinsy's grace did not
extend so far. Her disposition, that was uni-
formly cheerful and obliging under mother's
mild regime, became morose and stubborn
20 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
when exposed to Aunt Arethusa's curt
commands.
My aunt's great hobby in regard to food
was that it should be well and thoroughly
cooked; she had a great dread of raw germs.
I must confess the truth, though it show
Aunt Jinsy's disposition in rather a bad light,
we never had raw food upon our table except
during Aunt Arethusa's administration. At
times the cooking would become intolerable,
and my father, who had naturally a small
appetite, would be reduced to a glassful of
milk and a cold cracker. Aunt Arethusa
would storm at Aunt Jinsy, and Aunt Jinsy in
turn would storm at the stove.
"Declar fore gracious, Mis Arthusalem, I
dunno whut curus kin uv speerits done got
in ter dat stove, pears lak hit gits more on-
commodatin' ever day, an hit jes pintedly
'fuses ter cook at de bottom. Mayhap ef
yo'd git de hans ter sort er clean 'er out hit
'ud tak de meanness out uv 'er; 'tain nuffin
but comtra'ness, no ways, I'm spectin."
My aunt would stop the farm hands and
compel them to give the stove a thorough
cleaning under her personal supervision. To
her great wrath and indignation the follow-
ing meal would deteriorate rather than im-
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT AIRETHUSA. 21
prove. She would fly to the kitchen for an
explanation and Aunt Jinsy would be ready
for her.
"Dey done git 'er too clean dis time, Mis
Arthusalem, her ain gwine do no good
twell 'er kin uv fill up leetle; hits jis lak er
nigah whuts dress up, he ain gwine wuk twell
he gits de starch off'n he shut, an git er leetle
grease on ter dat shine, kase 'tain natchel fer
nigah er stove ter be too clean; jis give 'er
time an she'll come roun, Mis Arthusalem"
My aunt would be forced into submission
by such unanswerable philosophy.
Mother, who had suspected all along the
real secret of the trouble, would slip out
quietly and say, "Wont you try to fix things
a little nicer, just for Mars Williarn's sake,
Aunt Jinsy' You know he hasn't much
appetite at best, and he has eaten so little
lately it almost frightens me."
Aunt Jinsy would begin in a loud, excited
tone. "'Tain no use, Mis Kal-line, ter try
ter fix suthin out'n nuffin. Ole Mis Arthu-
salem she don' give me nuff grease ter shorten
er griddle cake let er lone bistits, an ez fer
sugar, 'tain nuff ter tone down one dumplin',
not speakin' uv de sass."
22 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
"I know all about it, Aunt Jinsy, but I
can't help it, and besides you know we are
poor now and can't afford such rich season-
ing," mother would reply, while a tear trem-
bled in her voice and perhaps in her eye.
Aunt Jinsy would melt all at once, and her
voice would drop from a high rasping key to
a low mellow croon.
"Jes tek yoself in ter de house, honey, ole
Jinsy ain gwine give in twell she brin' dat
ole heefer roun to some gumption," and Aunt
Jinsy would kick the stove maliciously to
hide her ambiguous remark. "Don yo worrit
yoself, po chile, tings gwine show 'prove-
meant bimeby, in course M1Iars Weelium got
er hab suthin fit'n ter eat, in course."
Aunt Jinsy would return to her good dis-
position and good cooking, and for days
afterward we would fare royally. Aunt Are-
thusa was always greatly mystified at such
seasons of refreshing.
She kept the keys under the strictest sur-
veillance during the day, and slept with them
under her pillow at night. I once heard her
suggest to father that she believed Aunt
Jinsy had a pass-key, but father refuted the
accusation promptly.
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT AlRETHUSA. 23
George Washington one day whispered to
me in the hay loft when we were discussing
our improved fare. "I'se teh yo de secet,
Shanky, ef yo swar yo won neber telh; why
mammy she gittin' de tings fer de good
cookin' out'n her own chist. on' she don wan
ole Mis Arthusalem ter know nuffin tall
'bout hit, kase her's so mean yo know."
I think my mother visited very little when
Aunt Arethusa was With uIS ouz of considera-
tion for our feelings. Sometimes it was
absolutely necessary for her 'io accompany
father to town on business, or again she
would be summoned to a sick neighbor's.
Then would come a day of visitation.
Aunt Arethusa would line us up, black and
white and would read to us from a note-
book that she kept with strict accuracy all
the misdemeanors we had been guilty of since
the day of her arrival, winding up with a
summary review of our faults of the previous
year, which she always declared had not im-
proved but had rather grown worse. Then
proceeding on the mathematical basis of com-
pound interest, she would calculate with
cool impartiality just how many years it
would require, at the present rate, to place
us in the penitentiary.
24 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARET11USA.
It may be interesting to note the effect
such dire prophecies had upon our suscepti-
ble natures. The younger children usually
wept, more over my aunt's expression than
the prophecies, I think; we older ones often
sniggered, while George Washington actually
yawned, in consequence of which my aunt
was wvont to regard him as her most hardened
case.
In our back yard not far from the kitchen
there stood an old two-story bee-house that
had long been abandoned by the active colo-
nies; the ground floor was used for storage
purposes, while the upper room afforded us
a City of Refuge from our dread Nemesis.
I know my aunt strongly suspected our
whereabouts, but she could not make sure of
them, because we usually kept well secreted
after we had once reached our vantage
ground.
She could get no information from the
servants in regard to our rendezvous.
"Fore de goodness, Mis Arthusalem," Aunt
Jinsy would invariably reply to an inquiry
from my aunt concerning our disappearance,
"I dunno whut is become uv dem young rab-
scallions, dey's allUs roun 'n 'bout under yo
feets 'cept'n -when yo wants urn an den yo
IN THlE REIGN OF AUNT Al'ETIIUSA. 25
can't lay hans on er sinle woolly head on um."
The faithful ally would "tot.-" wood and
chips all day rather than betray George
Washington or Abe Lincoln.
The ascent to our loft room was made by
means of a steep, insecure, old ladder. It
was a narrow gauge road that positively re-
fused to bear the weight of people over
twelve years of age; our George Washington
said it sometimes creaked with him after he
had eaten a very heavy dinner. This difficult
access rendered our fortress doubly im-
pregnable.
One Saturday in May mother went to
town with father, to be gone all day. We
children were on the alert, and we escaped
to the bee-house before Aunt ARrethusa had
turned the heel of her stocking, a task which
she never laid aside for any consideration
when once it had been commenced.
It was a warm, spring day, and the close
atmosphere of the musty loft drove me to
the door to seek a cool, inviting breeze on
the outside. I was standing on the topmost
round of the ladder, balancing myself with a
long pole, in imitation of a rope-walker I
had seen at the last circus, when my aunt
appeared upon the scene. The shock was so
26 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
sudden it almost made me lose my balance.
I knew it was too late to retreat, besides I
felt secure on my lofty perch, so I held my
position.
My aunt did not command me to come
down-I presume she knew it was useless. I
heard her say to Pete, oneof the farm hands
who passed near at that time, "I'll give you
fifty cents, Peter, if you will convey those
young culprits to the house." The bribe was
exorbitant considering the briber, but Pete
declined the flattering reward and won at
once my everlasting gratitude.
"La, Mis Arthusalem," he replied, "hit ud
tak mo'n fif cent ter mek me resk my life on
dat ladder, hits sartin deaf fer er grow'd
nigah ter try sich er caper," and, pulling his
slouch hat low over his eyes, Pete gave me a
dreadfully wicked wink of camaradcrie and
went on his way grinning. Foiled in that
attempt my aunt found recourse in her old
reliable green-backed grammar. Aunt Are-
thusa was a school teacher when she was
young, and I think she always continued the
teaching of grammar as a profession. We
children talked in a way that shocked her
cultured ear greatly. I am sure she thought
that our rude conduct was the result of our
IE THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA. 27
incorrect grammar, for she often said, "Con-
versation is but the parent of conduct."
I heard her say to mother one day, "You
southern people speak a language of your
own that is scarcely intelligible to me, since
it is composed of provincialisms and negro
dialect."
She rarely remained with us ten minutes
at a time without pulling out the old green-
backed grammar. As I stood balancing my-
self with my long pole my aunt, determined
to preserve at least some show of discipline,
called out in a shrill voice, "Clarence, I com-
mand you to conjugate the verb to lov'e in all
of its parts declaratively and interrogatively,
and if you disobey me, sir, I shall certainly
report you to your father."
Now I liked to conjugate verbs, and I
thought I could do it with great credit to my
education; in addition to that, my conspicu-
ous position presented a good opportunity to
show off. Accordingly I consented to go
through with the verb to the edification and
admiration of my audience in. the rear. It
went very smoothly with us both till I came
to the preterit tense interrogatively, then a
wicked suggestion popped into my head.
"Didwe love, did you love,"-a fatal pause.
28 IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETRUSA.
"Go on this minute," my aunt cried, angrily.
"I can't go on till you answer my question,
Aunt Arethusa," I replied, airily.
The audience in the rear, that was now
crowding the open doorway, applauded this
sally tremendously, and I felt as proud as a
stump speaker when he hears his "backers"
call Out, "Amen."
Aunt Arethusa always carried in her pocket
nuts and candies and an orange, which she
said she was keeping for good boys and girls
They rattled temptingly when she walked,
but we had long ago given up the vain hope
of ever deserving them, for we supposed that
no children in this "Wilderness of Woe," as
my aunt always called the world, would ever
receive merit from her hands.
To my surprise my aunt drew from her
pocket an orange and aimed it at my head
with such nicety that in trying to dodge it I
lost my balance, and would have fallen into
the hands of the enemy but for the timely
aid of the faithful Washington, who pulled
me safe into the retreat.
In a short time the orange was peeled and
divided, and I ate my segment with keen
relish. I think it was regarded as the spoils
of my bravery.
IN TIHE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA. 29
My aunt passed on to the kitchen, where
Aunt Jinsy, who had been an eyewitness to
the scene, was trying hard to look "outdone,"
though the tears on her face and the smile
that lurked about the corners of her mouth
were strongly expressive of Ler real senti-
ment. Through the crack in the door wve
heard our aunt give express commands, in a
veryz loud voice, that we were not to have
any dinner.
George Washington was the eldest boy in
our ranks, and was therefore the acknowl-
edged leader of the army.
The original Washington was not more
faithful to his starving soldiers at Valley
Forge than our commander was to his little
staff. ie would scout out or foraging ex-
peditions to the orchard and would return
with his blouse stuffed with green apples and
gooseberries. At other times he would start
from the spring with his old sltraw hat full of
wvater, and the famished garrison would drink
the few drops that remained in it when it
reached them with all the bor:,owed relish of
adventure. When we thoughi: our aunt had
returned to her knitting, George Washing-
ton sneaked to the kitchen to reconnoiter the
prospects for dinner.
30 IN THE REIGN' OF AUNT ARETHUSA.
He returned in a short time with the joy-
ous report, "Mammy's all right, an say she
gwine whustle when hits time ter come fer
de bastit."
We were tearing around at a great rate in
a game of Blind Mlan's Buff wvlhen we heard
a low whistle. The game was quickly sus-
pended, and George Washington climbed
down the ladder on his hands, head foremost,
a cautious measure that we highly approved.
He started toward the house, creeping on
all fours, to indicate to his anxious watchers
the cunning vigilance that was necessary on
so hazardous an undertaking. lHe told us
afterwards that when he stepped upon the
porch he heard "Mils Arthusalem" coming
down the hall. Ie wvas certainly hard pressed,
he dared not advance, retreat would cut off
all hope of the much needed supplies; like
his illustrious prototype, he resorted to
stratagem. He was a ventriloquist of no
mean skill. Knowing that my aunt was both
absent-minded and suspicious, he threw his
natural voice in the direction of the pantry
door. Aunt Arethusa supposed she had left
the key in the door, and she trotted back in
great haste, expecting, as she afterward de-
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA. 31
dared to Aunt Jinsy, to find George W ash-
ington head foremost in the sugar barrel.
Meanwhile the wily conjurer had secured
his prize and was relating to us his thrilling
adventures. While poor Aunt Arethusa was
dining frugally on cabbage and corn-dodgers
we were feasting sumptuously on fried
chicken, hot biscuit and pound cakle, which
latter wve accompanied with some of Aunt
jinsv's choice blackberry wine.
My aunt had a special program for each
day of the week, which was carried out with
unvarying regularity.
Monday was set apart for washing and
scrubbing. On Monday my aunt constituted
herself a custom house officer with full
authority to examine all shoes that passed
through the doors. I know, there was no
smuggling allowed, and I can vouch for her
fidelity to her government. We were often
detained a half-hour in the rain and snow,
scraping and cleaning our feet, before being
allowed to venture upon the sacred precincts
of a white pine kitchen floor.
Tuesday was smoothing day, when every-
thing was arranged and smoothed, except
perhaps a few wrinkled brows and ruffled
tempers. Chairs were ranged along the wall
32 IN TIlE REIGN OF AUNT ARETTITUSA.
with grim precision, and children were
expected to sit where the chairs were placed
without disarranging the harmonious order
of things. Wednesday was called "baking
day," though more truthfully speaking it
was starving day. The supply of the week
before was always exhausted on that day,
and the new allowance was not to be
touched under twenty-four hours. I can
scarcely now imagine a feast on WVednesday.
Thursday was miscellaneous day, which
included dusting and sweeping, the airing of
feather beds, the darning of stockings, the
counting and sorting of silver, the washing
and rearranging of empty bottles, the
winding of loose strings into one ball, and all
the odds and ends that had been left over of
the previous day's work. Friday was charity
day. My aunt was not remiss in her church
work, on the contrary she was aggressively
prompt.
Friday morning Aunt Arethusa would
start out, wrapped in a sort of gray mist,
composed of gray bombazine, gray veil,
and gray or grim smile. She carried on her
arm a large basket filled with home-made
bread, soap and lectures. I do not know
what become of the lectures, we sometimes
IN THE REIGN OF AUNT ARETHUSA. 33
found the bread and soap airine in the alleys.
Saturday was a general review of the week's
work. Servants were required to freshen
and perfect the various tasks they had
thought completed, children were enjoined
to demonstrate by incontestable proofs the
progress they had made at school during the
week. Sunday was children's day. Before
breakfast my aunt began paying us her
attentions by rubbing smartly our heads and
necks with a coarse, crash washrag, because,
as she said, the Saturday night's bath had
been unsatisfactorv. After that enlivening
exercise wve were allowed to sharpen our
appetites on a breakfast that consisted of
oatmeal and cold light-bread with a tumbler
design of milk in water colors.
We were then marshalled into the library
where we stood, one at a time, with our feet
on a line, our hands crossed behind us, while
our tongues rattled through wvith the Con-
fession of Faith without the moving of a
muscle or the grasping of al