that line, and whenever he
thought about poor Uncle Lovejoy he didn't seem to care much about
trying anything he wasn't used to. Then they all wanted him to tell
about Uncle Lovejoy and what happened to him. So Mr. 'Possum did tell,
and it went this way:

"Once upon a time," he said, "Uncle Lovejoy--we always called him Uncle
Silas then, and he was uncle on my mother's side, and lived with Aunt
Melissy in a nice place just beyond the Wide Pawpaw Hollows--once upon a
time, as I was saying, he had to go to town on some business, and that
was something that never happened to Uncle Lovejoy before."

[Illustration]

"Well, Aunt Melissy was always a spry woman, as I said, and
stirring--very stirring, and primpy, too. But she was never as stirring
and spry and primpy as she was the day that Uncle Silas started for
town. She dressed him all up neat and proper in his very best things,
and tied his tie for him, and while she was tying it she says:

"'Now, Silas,' she says, 'when you get to town you buy a few little
articles right away and put them on. You don't want folks to see that
you come from the country, you know, and you don't want Cousin Glenwood
to be ashamed of you before folks. Cousin Glen will know just what
things you need and where to get them.' Then she told him not to get run
over by anything, or blow out the gas, or let anybody see that he wasn't
used to things, because, you see, Aunt Melissy was proud, being a
Glenwood herself. Then Uncle Lovejoy promised all those things, and that
he would use his napkin and not eat pie out of his hand or drink out of
his finger bowl, and a lot more things that Aunt Melissy remembered at
the last minute. So you see by the time he got on the train he had a
good deal to think about, and he kept thinking about it until by the
time he got to the city he'd made up his mind he'd try to do for once
everything she told him to and give her a pleasant surprise with the
way he had fixed up and improved his manners when he got back. Uncle
Lovejoy was good natured and always anxious to please folks, especially
Aunt Melissy."

[Illustration]

"Well, Cousin Glenwood met him at the station, and about the first thing
Uncle Silas said was to ask him where he got his clothes, and to tell
him that Aunt Melissy had said he was to fix up, so's folks wouldn't
think he came from the country, which, of course, she had. That just
suited Cousin Glenwood, for he liked to spend money and show off wh