--But
DIDN'T come:--
We got a postal later, sayin' when they had no trade
They filled the time "invoicin' goods," and that was why
he stayed.
And then he quit a-writin' altogether: Not a word--
Exceptin' what the neighbers brung who'd been to town
and heard
What store John was clerkin' in, and went round to in-
quire
If they could buy their goods there less and sell their
produce higher.
And so the Summer faded out, and Autumn wore away,
And a keener Winter never fetched around Thanksgivin'-
Day!
The night before that day of thanks I'll never quite fergit,
The wind a-howlin' round the house-it makes me creepy
yit!
And there set me and Mother--me a-twistin' at the
prongs
Of a green scrub-ellum forestick with a vicious pair of
tongs,
And Mother sayin', "DAVID! DAVID!" in a' undertone,
As though she thought that I was thinkin' bad-words
unbeknown.
"I've dressed the turkey, David, fer to-morrow," Mother
said,
A-tryin' to wedge some pleasant subject in my stubborn
head,--
"And the mince-meat I'm a-mixin' is perfection mighty
nigh;
And the pound-cake is delicious-rich--" "Who'll eat
'em?" I--says--I.
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