The plovers were dressed, and with a pinch of salt and a bit of pepper
put inside of them and the thinnest possible slice of fat salt pork
tied over their breasts, were roasted for about twelve minutes in a
hot oven.
And with the game was served some of the choicest stalks of celery
that it has ever been the lot of mortal to enjoy at this time of year.
As for the fruit that was donated for this special occasion you would
consider it a treat to hear the landlady tell of it, and of the
sensations she experienced at seeing such a variety when the "apples
on the Early Harvest tree on the south side of the orchard wall were
only just beginning to get mellow."
There were plums of almost every color under the sun; there were
nectarines, the mere sight of which would make one's mouth to water;
there were delicious Delaware grapes and some little white grapes
called the Lady de Coverley, that come from California. They are just
as good, too, as one would expect from the name that has been given
them. There was a curiosity in the shape of a banana cantaloupe, and
there were all sorts of other melons, but the melon _par excellence_
was what is known as the Montreal cantaloupe. They are raised on the
banks of the St. Lawrence River, and simply refuse to grow in any
other locality. Gardeners in other places have done everything to
induce it to become naturalized, but all to no purpose. The particular
specimen that found its way to the Peaceful Valley weighed just
twenty-one pounds, and cost the purchaser $2.50. But it wasn't
extravagance to buy twenty-one pounds of such deliciousness, even if
it had cost twice that sum.
And what do you suppose these nature-worshippers did after partaking
of all the good things herein described and set forth? Well, they
went out and sat under the trees and began to talk of what Thoreau
said about huckleberries!