accession of lobsters, life
was mainly supported on winter-green-berries, or box-berries, as they
were called. These grew in large quantities at "Black Ground," a section
of the woods which had been burned over. Daily I met happy groups of
Wallencampers, with baskets and pails in their hands, going "boxberry
plummin.'"

We had boxberry bread, boxberry stews and pies, and one day, I caught a
glimpse of Grandma, in her part of the Ark, frying boxberry
griddle-cakes.

Grandpa, when I met him, at this time, wore an air of deep dejection; yet
he bore his woes in silence, doubtless avoiding any concession that
should suggest the need of another clarification of his system. Once,
when nobody was looking, he cautiously withdrew a handful of scraped
birch bark from his pocket and gave it to me, remarking that he thought
it was "a little more bracin' than them tarnal woodsy plums."

Next in the order of events, as the Modoc stood in her place in the
reading-class and slowly enunciated each separate syllable of the lesson
in a tone as remarkable for a loud distinctness as it was for a total
lack of meaning and modulation, from that side of her dress which had
been sagging most heavily, something fell with a crash to the floor. It
was a boiled lobster of anomalous proportions. The pocket had given way
at last under its overpowering burden, and now appeared ignominiously
upborne on the claws of its former prisoner. The Modoc seized the
crustacean with glittering defiance in her eyes, and at recess, I saw
that turbaned Amazon devouring it, with a group of wistful and admiring
faces gathered round. The boys were out in the bay "setting pots" and
"trolling for bait." Soon, not a child at Wallencamp was lobsterless. I
discovered two under the infant Sophronia's desk one morning, and
afterwards kept a sharp eye in that direction. Sophronia's conduct
throughout the session was in an unusual degree exemplary. I detected no
guilty blush on her countenance, I heard not the crackling of a claw,
but when she went out, I observed that she took no lobsters with her.

Investigating the place where she had been sitting, I found a wild
confusion of claws and shells, as carefully denuded of meat as though
they had been turned inside out for that purpose.

What was my surprise and mortification to find a like collection at
nearly every seat in the school-room, and all the while my flock had
seemed unusually silent and attentive; such proficiency