By The Time My Stiffened Body Could Get Inside,
The Stove Had Been Filled To The Top With Pine Wood That Roared And
Crackled In A Most Cheerful And Inviting Manner.
But the snow out there!
I do not consider it advisable to tell the
exact truth, so I will simply say that it was higher than the cabin,
but that for some reason it had left an open space of about three feet
all around the logs, and that gave us air and light through windows
which had been thoughtfully placed unusually high. The long stable,
built against a bank, where the horses and mules were kept, was
entirely buried underneath the snow, and you would never have dreamed
that there was anything whatever there unless you had seen the path
that had been shoveled down to the door. The cabin the men lived in, I
did not see at all. We were in a ravine where the pine forest was
magnificent, but one could see that the trees were shortened many feet
by the great depth of snow.
Our meals were brought to us by Bryant from the soldiers' mess, and as
the cook was only a pick-up, they were often a mess indeed, but every
effort was made to have them nice. The day after we got there the cook
evidently made up his mind that some recognition should be shown of
the honor of my presence in the woods, so he made a big fat pie for my
dinner. It was really fat, for the crust must have been mostly of
lard, and the poor man had taken much pains with the decorations of
twisted rings and little balls that were on the top. It really looked
very nice as Bryant set it down on the table in front of me, with an
air that the most dignified of butlers might have envied, and said,
"Compliments of the cook, ma'am!" Of course I was, and am still,
delighted with the attention from the cook, but for some reason I was
suspicious of that pie, it was so very high up, so I continued to talk
about it admiringly until after Bryant had gone from the cabin, and
then I tried to cut it! The filling - and there was an abundance - was
composed entirely of big, hard raisins that still had their seeds in.
The knife could not cut them, so they rolled over on the table and on
the floor, much like marbles. I scooped out a good-sized piece as well
as I could, gathered up the runaway raisins, and then - put it in the
stove.
And this I did at every dinner while I was there, almost trembling
each time for fear Bryant would come in and discover how the pie was
being disposed of. It lasted long, for I could not cut off a piece for
Faye, as Bryant had given us to understand in the beginning that the
chef d'oeuvre was for me only.
Nothing pleases me more than to have the enlisted men pay me some
little attention, and when the day after the pie a beautiful little
gray squirrel was brought to me in a nice airy box, I was quite
overcome. He is very much like Billie in size and color, which seems
remarkable, since Billie was from the far South and this little fellow
from the far North. I wanted to take him out of the box at once, but
the soldier said he would bite, and having great respect for the teeth
of a squirrel, I let him stay in his prison while we were out there.
The first time I let him out after we got home he was frantic, and
jumped on the mantel, tables, and chairs, scattering things right and
left. Finally he started to run up a lace window curtain back of the
sewing machine. On top of the machine was a plate of warm cookies that
Charlie had just brought to me, and getting a sniff of those the
squirrel stopped instantly, hesitated just a second, and then over he
jumped, took a cookie with his paws and afterwards held it with his
teeth until he had settled himself comfortably, when he again took it
in his paws and proceeded to eat with the greatest relish. After he
had eaten all he very well could, he hid the rest back of the curtain
in quite an at-home way. There was nothing at all wonderful in all
this, except that the squirrel was just from the piney woods where
warm sugar cakes are unknown, so how did he know they were good to
eat?
I was at the saw-mill four days, and then we all came in together and
on bob sleds. There were four mules for each sleigh, so not much
attention was paid to the great depth of snow. Both horses knew when
we got to the bridge and gave Bryant trouble. Every bit of the trail
out had been obliterated by drifting snow, and I still wonder how
these animals recognized the precise spot when the snow was level in
every place.
We found the house in excellent order, and consider our new Chinaman a
treasure. A few days before Faye went to the mill I made some Boston
brown bread. I always make that myself, as I fancy I can make it very
good, but for some reason I was late in getting it on to steam that
day, so when I went to the kitchen to put it in the oven I found a
much-abused Chinaman. When he saw what I was about to do he became
very angry and his eyes looked green. He said, "You no put him in
l'oven." I said, "Yes, Charlie, I have to for one hour." He said, "You
no care workman, you sploil my dee-nee, you get some other boy."
Now Charlie was an excellent servant and I did not care to lose him,
but to take that bread out was not to be considered.
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