“Jelly is fashionable with meats,” suggested some one.
“There! I haven’t put in a single spoon. And I took the trouble to tie red threads around each handle, then left them on the dresser. That was smart!”
“We will reverse the order of things and have two creams with one spoon, the second to wait until the first is served.”
“Is every plate used? Let’s count. All the elders must come first—thirty, thirty-one, and the young girls wait on the table—thirty-eight—it is but fair that their mothers should have the best once in a while. Sixty-one! Now ring the bell.”
They filled up the first table, putting a little child in here and there. The tea and coffee steamed out their appetizing fragrance, and as we had no vases, we placed mounds of fern, grasses and wild flowers on the table. Every body ate and drank and had a good time. The dishes were washed, wiped, and put on again, the children summoned, and after a while all had been feasted. Then there was a general clearing away, except at one end of the long table where the fragments were collected for those who might get hungry by and by.
“ Sweets to the Sweet.” Page [181].
CHAPTER X.
After the eating and drinking, the elders gathered for a sociable chat. It was as good as old-fashioned country visiting. Modern calls seem to have carried away the charm of social intercourse. After you have staid five minutes you begin to think you must go. You cannot stop to tell this or that bit of pleasantness, or get near to each other. But there was no hurry here. Phases of religious experiences were compared in a homely way, mixed up with the turning of a gown, or buying of a new carpet. With others grace and gardening went hand in hand. Such magnificent clove pinks, great double luscious blossoms!—blue salvias that were quite a rarity—ivies, geraniums—sick neighbors who enjoyed them—odd enough snatches where one couldn’t understand.