A Kentucky Cardinal | Page 9

mother and Sylvia accepted. Our walk was a little
overshadowed by their loss; and as I thoughtlessly described the gayety
of that scene--the splendid young fellows dancing in their bright
uniforms, and now and then pausing to wipe their foreheads, the
speeches, the cheering, the dinner under the trees, and, a few days later,
the tear-dimmed eyes, the hand-wringing and embracing, and at last the
marching proudly away, each with a Bible in his pocket, and many
never, never to return--I was sorry that I had not foreseen the sacred
chord I was touching. But it made good friends of us more quickly, and
they were well-bred, so that we returned to all appearance in gay spirits.
The elder daughter came to meet us, and went at once silently to her
mother's side, as though she had felt the separation. I wondered
whether she had declined to go because of the memory of her father. As
we passed my front gate, I asked them to look at my flowers. The
mother praised also the cabbages, thus showing an admirably balanced
mind; the little Sylvia fell in love with a vine-covered arbor; the elder
daughter appeared to be secretly watching the many birds about the
grounds, but when I pointed out several less-known species, she lost
interest.
What surprises most is that they are so refined and intelligent. It is
greatly to be feared that we Kentuckians in this part of the State are
profoundly ignorant as to the people in other parts. I told Mrs. Walters
this, and she, seeing that I am beginning to like them, is beginning to
like them herself. Dear Mrs. Walters! Her few ideas are like three or
four marbles on a level floor; they have no power to move themselves,
but roll equally well in any direction you push them.
This afternoon I turned a lot of little town boys into my strawberry bed,

and now it looks like a field that had been harrowed and rolled. I think
they would gladly have pulled up some of the plants to see whether
there might not be berries growing on the roots.
It is unwise to do everything that you can for people at once; for when
you can do nothing more, they will say you are no longer like yourself,
and turn against you. So I have meant to go slowly with the Cobbs in
my wish to be neighborly, and do not think that they could reasonably
be spoiled on one dish of strawberries in three weeks. But the other
evening Mrs. Cobb sent over a plate of golden sally-lunn on a silver
waiter, covered with a snow-white napkin; and acting on this
provocation, I thought they could be trusted with a basket of cherries.
So next morning, in order to save the ripening fruit on a rather small
tree of choice variety, I thought I should put up a scarecrow, and to this
end rummaged a closet for some last winter's old clothes. These I
crammed with straw, and I fastened the resulting figure in the crotch of
the tree, tying the arms to the adjoining limbs, and giving it the
dreadful appearance of shouting, "Keep out of here, you rascals, or
you'll get hurt!" And, in truth, it did look so like me that I felt a little
uncanny about it myself.
Returning home late, I went at once to the tree, where I found not a
quart of cherries, and the servants told of an astonishing thing: that no
sooner had the birds discovered who was standing in the tree, wearing
the clothes in which he used to feed them during the winter, than the
news spread like wildfire to the effect that he had climbed up there and
was calling out: "Here is the best tree, fellows! Pitch in and help
yourselves!" So that the like of the chattering and fetching away was
never seen before. This was the story; but little negroes love cherries,
and it is not incredible that the American birds were assisted in this
instance by a large family of fat young African spoon-bills.
Anxious to save another tree, and afraid to use more of my own clothes,
I went over to Mrs. Walters, and got from her an old bonnet and veil, a
dress and cape, and a pair of her cast-off yellow gaiters. These
garments I strung together and prepared to look life-like, as nearly as a
stuffing of hay would meet the inner requirements of the case. I them

seated the dread apparition in the fork of a limb, and awaited results.
The first thief was an old jay, who flew towards the tree with his head
turned to one side to see whether any one was overtaking him. But
scarcely had he alighted