 A Real New England Girl by Anna I. Parsons 1. The Shower 2. Oxford County 3. The Stranger and the Girl 4. The Youth and the Girl 5. Pansy and Richard Go Trading 6. The Marvelous Storyteller 7. The Dinner 8. The The Minister Comes for Tea 9. Pansy's Father 10. Pansy and Her Mother 11. Poland Springs 12. The Birthday Cake 13. Ned Patterson Comes for a Visit 14. The Blue Berrying Party 15. The Beginning of Wisdom 16. The Tempted and the Penitent 17. The Concert 18. Stanley's Ride 19. The Bench by the Wayside 20. The Banker and the Widow 21. The Bag of Nuts 22. How They Kept Thanksgiving at Little Farm 23. Hardly a Merry Christimas 24. A Call Down and a Caller 25. The Pride of Mrs. Bradford 26. A Happy New Year 27. Amusement and Winter Sport 28. Kim 29. Richard, the Lion Hearted 30. A Tour of the White Mountains 31. Talking Over the Trip with Henry Bright 32. Thoughts That Lie Too Deep for Words 33. Economics 34. His Toast 35. The Busy Haunts of Man 36. Christmas in New York 37. The Last Night of Their Visit 38. The Language Understood by All 39. Sugaring Off 40. Correspondence 41. Commencement 42. Conclusion Afterward     |
The Minister Comes for Tea. "I sing not of the ruby wine, My years do not allow. Though grown-ups praise the fruitful vine, Clink glasses to this toast of mine, Long live the Mooly cow." -- R. Johnson The minister was coming to spend the afternoon and have tea with the Bradfords, and Pansy sat awaiting his arrival in a small rocking chair in front of the house. She wore a pink chambray dress, and her short, loose brown curls were parted and held securely in place by a fillet band of white moirč ribbon, knotted at the top of her head. She looked the typical Puritan girl with an innate sense of modesty that New England has produced since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. As she rocked, she read, and seemed unmindful of anything going on about her. Richard was driving stakes into the ground, as if in preparation for some game. The Winthrop motor car came up the hill and over the avenue of maples. All the family were in the car and also a strange lady and gentleman. "There she is, father!" said Stanley Winthrop, as they neared the Bradford house. The three gentlemen removed their hats and bowed profoundly to the little country lass who had been too absorbed in her book to notice their approach, and only looked up when her brother spoke to her. The motor went on over the level and up the hill, and the son of the banker stood up in the car until the last vestige had disappeared of the son and daughter of the farmer in their front yard. "Sit down, Stanley, or you will be thrown out!" warned Mrs. Winthrop, but the father took too firm hold of his son to permit any such catastrophe. The minister arrived, carefully and neatly dressed, and looking quite the elegant gentleman that made him the standard of comparison in the Bradford household. He hung his cane on his arm, and carefully removed his grey gloves before shaking hands with any one. For sometime he sat in the parlor and conversed with Mrs. Bradford and Ruth, and then asked leave to walk about the place. "You know we don't have your expansive view from the village," he remarked, "and it is always one of the pleasures of my visit to see your mountain fastness." Pansy and Richard accompanied him, and they walked down through the fields toward the west where the scenery is unsurpassed, perhaps, by any other in the whole world. When they returned, Richard brought out the quoits, and the three engaged in a lively game, the minister contesting every inch of the way, and when the distance from hub to quoits seem equal, he carefully measured with a spear of grass the intervals that credit might be given the right party. Pansy and Richard each made a ringer, and Richard won at the end of the game. While it was in progress, the Winthrops returned from their ride to the village, and passed slowly by the house. "Why didn't we think of it, Stanley," said Mr. Winthrop, his keen eyes watching the players. "I believe I could still beat the minister at quoits." Mrs. Bradford had a substantial supper of cold chicken, hot biscuits, raspberries, spice cakes, and tea. When it was over, Mr. Alden and Richard went to the barn as usual to do the milking, and after a while Pansy accompanied the minister thither, and sat on the provender box while the minister drank warm milk out of a milk can cover. The barn was redolent of recently made hay, and Pansy attempted to explain the use of the various kinds. "The clover up in the loft is for the horses, and the red top and timothy in the bay are for the cattle. The red top has the airy panicle and the timothy has the close panicle. Some folks call it all herd's grass. Late on we shall have Hungarian. When Richard and I are a little older and can earn something, we want to have a silo, so the cattle can have green fodder all winter. It is called ensilage." "Your cattle are very well fed now, judging from the milk," said the minister. "Yes, very soon we shall begin to give them fodder corn at night. They are all Herefords, and have been examined by the state authorities and wear an ear-ring showing they are free from tubercles." "Think I will have another coverful of milk," said the minister. When he took his leave, after the sun had dropped behind Mt. Washington and the sky was aglow with color, Pansy and Richard walked with him as far as the big grey house where the roads crossed, and there he bade them each a warm good bye. As they turned their faces homeward, Pansy remarked, "I think I shall go to bed as soon as we get home, Richard. I love the minister, but it is hard to keep precise for such a long time." Click Here for Chapter 9 |