wn; an' that's the kind of livin' that makes the Yankees so
all-fired good an' smart.

"But the best of all," said Ezra very softly to himself, "oh, yes, the
best scene in all the pictur' is when evenin' comes, when all the
lamps are lit in the parlour, when the neighbours come in, and when
there is music and singing an' games. An' it's this part o' the
pictur' that makes me homesick now and fills my heart with a longin' I
never had before; an' yet it sort o' mellows and comforts me, too.
Miss Serena Cadwell, whose beau was killed in the war, plays on the
melodeon, and we all sing--all on us: men, womenfolks, an' children.
Sam Merritt is there, and he sings a tenor song about love. The women
sort of whisper round that he's goin' to be married to a Palmer lady
nex' spring, an' I think to myself I never heard better singin' than
Sam's. Then we play games--proverbs, buzz, clap-in-clap-out,
copenhagen, fox-an'-geese, button-button-who's-got-the-button,
spin-the-platter, go-to-Jerusalem, my-ship's-come-in; and all the
rest. The ol' folks play with the young folks just as nat'ral as can
be; and we all laugh when Deacon Hosea Cowles hez to measure six yards
of love ribbon with Miss Hepsey Newton, and cut each yard with a kiss;
for the deacon hez been sort o' purrin' round Miss Hepsey for goin' on
two years. Then, aft'r a while, when Mary and Helen bring in the
cookies, nutcakes, cider, an' apples, Mother says: 'I don't believe
we're goin' to hev enough apples to go round; Ezry, I guess I'll have
to get you to go down cellar for some more.' Then I says: 'All right,
Mother, I'll go, providin' some one 'll go along an' hold the candle.'
An' when I say this I look right at Laura, an' she blushes. Then
Helen, jest for meanness, says: 'Ezry, I s'pose you ain't willin' to
have your fav'rite sister go down cellar with you and catch her death
o' cold?' But Mary, who hez been showin' Hiram Peabody the phot'graph
album for more'n an hour, comes to the rescue an' makes Laura take the
candle, and she shows Laura how to hold it so it won't go out.

"The cellar is warm an' dark. There are cobwebs all between the
rafters an' everywhere else except on the shelves where Mother keeps
the butter an' eggs an' other things that would freeze in the butt'ry
upstairs. The apples are in bar'ls up against the wall, near the
potater bin. How fresh an' sweet they smell! Laura thinks she sees a
mouse, an' she trembles an' wants to jump up on the pork bar'