if to
say: "Can you keep Thanksgiving without us?" Poor Hannah! She did her
best to set these thankless thoughts aside, but almost dreaded the
coming festival. One night, as she sat knitting by the fire, a special
messenger from Litchfield rode up to the door and brought stirring
news. Master Loomis's mother was dead, and the master himself, seeing
there was a new levy of troops, was now going to the war. But before
he went there was to be a wedding, and, in the good old fashion, it
should be on Thanksgiving Day, and Madam Everett had bidden as many of
Sylvy's people to the feast as would come.

There was great excitement as Hannah read aloud the madam's note. The
tribe of Perkins shouted for joy, but a sudden chill fell on them when
mother spoke:

"Now, children, hush up! I want to speak myself, ef it's a possible
thing to git in a word edgeways. We can't all go, fust and foremost.
'Tain't noways possible."

"Oh, Mother! Why? Oh, do! Not go to Sylvy's wedding?" burst in the
"infinite deep chorus" of youngsters.

"No, you can't. There ain't no team in the county big enough to hold
ye all, if ye squeeze ever so much. I've got to go, for Sylvy'd be
beat out if mother didn't come. And Dolly's the oldest. She's got a
right to go."

Loud protest was made against the right of primogeniture, but mother
was firm.

"Says so in the Bible. Leastways, Bible folks always acted so. The
first-born, ye know. Dolly's goin', sure. Eben's got to drive, and I
must take Obed. He'd be the death of somebody, with his everlastin'
mischief, if I left him to home. Mebbe I can squeeze in Betty, to keep
him company. Joe and Sam and Dianner won't be more'n enough to take
care o' the cows and chickens and fires, and all. Likewise of each
other."

Sam set up a sudden howl at his sentence, and kicked the mongrel
yellow puppy, who leaped on him to console him, till that
long-suffering beast yelped in concert.

Diana sniffed and snuffled, scrubbed her eyes with her checked apron,
and rocked back and forth.

"Now, stop it!" bawled Joe. "For the land's sake, quit all this noise.
We can't all on us go; 'n' for my part, I don't want to. We'll hev a
weddin' of our own some day!" and here he gave a sly look at Dolly,
who seemed to understand it and blushed like an apple-blossom, while
Joe went on: "Then we'll all stay to 't, I tell ye, and have a right
down old country time."

Mother had to laugh.

"So you shall, Joe, and dance 'Money Musk'