f fried chicken and mashed potatoes, and you ought to see
Uncle Lemuel eat, and Aunt Melissa, too. You'd almost think they didn't
have food in Iowa.

[Illustration: Uncle Lemuel]

But first I noticed that grandpa always kind of shriveled when Uncle
Lemuel came. His voice was high compared to Uncle Lemuel's, besides he
didn't know so much, not even about the Bible, though grandpa hadn't
read anything else for 50 years except the prohibition paper. Well, of
course grandpa gave up to him the sayin' of grace, and Uncle Lemuel said
it in a voice that made the dishes kind of tremble, just like low
thunder, and we all looked down, except me. I looked out of one eye a
little to see him, and watch my grandma, who was lookin' down of course,
but with a look which said: "this is all very well, but here's the
dinner which I got and which is to be et. There's real things here
before us." Then after grace Uncle Lemuel would tell stories about
darkies and things--no swear words, sometimes kind of a funny point, and
grandpa would laugh, sometimes the hired man would laugh, sometimes
grandma would--not much though. And Aunt Melissa would just smile--she'd
heard it before, maybe. Then grandpa would ask Uncle Lemuel questions
about politics and church and things, and ask him what he thought would
happen. And Uncle Lemuel would talk and grandpa would say, "Yes," "Well,
well," "You don't say so," and things like that sometimes, awful
surprised. And all the time Uncle Lemuel would be eatin', and of course,
bein' a son-in-law, he could have as much as he liked; and they kept
passin' the chicken to him until the bones was just piled around his
plate.

This time they didn't bring their boy Archie. They had just one child,
and he was supposed to be awful bad, but they was givin' him a Christian
rearin' and expected to make a good man of him. My grandma said that one
time when they was here he forgot to say his prayers and sassed Aunt
Melissa when she spoke to him about it, and that Uncle Lemuel made her
get a strap and strop him. Uncle Lemuel stood at the head of the stair
and said to Aunt Melissa, "A little more, Melissa, a little harder." And
so they whipped him good, and after that he prayed and thanked God for
parents that wouldn't let him forget his prayers but made him say 'em.
And onct there was a Dutch boy that came over to play with Archie and
Archie got him out in the ice house and got a rope around his neck and
pulled him up. Archi