THE HUSKING-BEE.
When David Newell, a prosperous Southton farmer living "over east," as
that portion of the town was designated, invited all the young people in
the vicinity to his annual husking-bee, every one knew that a good time
was in store. Card-playing was considered a vice in those days, and
limited to a few games of "seven-up," played by sinful boys on a
hay-mow, and dancing was frowned upon by the churches. On the outskirts
of the town a few of the younger people occasionally indulged in the
crime of taking steps to music as a change from the pious freedom of
kissing parties. There was one sacrilegious person named Joe Dencie
living in the east-side neighborhood, who could not only "make a fiddle
talk," as the saying was, but "call off" and keep time and head, foot,
both arms and entire body as well, and at once. To describe his ability
more completely it might be said that he fiddled and danced at the same
time.
When the anticipated evening came, Manson and Liddy, as well as other
invited ones, arrived at the Newell barn, where everything was in
readiness. In the center of the large floor was a pile of unhusked corn
surrounded by stools and boxes for seats, and lighted by lanterns
swinging from cords above. No time was wasted, for Joe Dencie was there,
and every one knew that the best of a husking came after the corn was
disposed of. And how the husks flew! When a red ear was found by a girl
the usual scramble occurred, for unless she could run once around the
pile before the young man who discovered it could catch her, he claimed
a kiss. Manson, who sat next to Liddy, kept a sharp watch, for he didn't
intend to have some other fellow steal a march on him. He noticed that
she husked cautiously, and when presently he saw her drop an unhusked
ear by her side he quietly picked it up and found it was a red one. He
said nothing, but her action set him to thinking. It was not long ere
the pile of corn melted away, and then the floor was swept; Joe Dencie
took his place in one corner on a tall stool, and the party formed in
two lines for the Virginia reel.
There is no modern "function" that has one-half the fun in it that an
old-time husking-bee had, and no dance that can compare with an
old-fashioned contra-dance enjoyed in a big barn, with one energetic
fiddler perched in a corner for an orchestra, and six lanterns to light
the festivities! It was music, mirth, care-free happiness and frolic
personified. The floor may have been rough, but what mattered? The young
men's boots might have been a trifle heavy, but their hearts were not,
and when it came to "balance and swing," with the strains of "Money
Musk" echoing from the bare rafters, the girl knew she had a live
fellow's arm around her waist, and not one afraid to more than touch her
fingers lest her costume be soiled. Girls didn't wear "costumes" in
those days; they wore just plain dresses, and their plump figures,
bright eyes and rosy cheeks were as charming as though they had been
clad in Parisian gowns.
When the dance was over all were invited into the house to dispose of
mince pie, cheese, doughnuts and sweet cider, and then, with the moon
silvering the autumn landscape, the party separated. As Manson drove
along the wooded road conveying Liddy to her home, he felt a little
curious. He could not quite understand why she had taken pains _not_ to
find a red ear. All the other girls had found one or more, and seemed
to enjoy the scramble that followed.
"Why did you not husk that red ear?" he asked her, after they were well
on their way.
"Simply because I do not like public kissing," she replied quietly.
"Some girls do not mind, and perhaps they like it. I do not. It cheapens
a girl in my opinion, or at least it certainly cheapens a kiss. You are
not offended, are you?" turning her face toward him.
"By no means," he answered; and then, after a pause, he added: "I think
you are right, but it seemed a little odd."
"I presume I am a little peculiar," she continued, "but to me this
public kissing at parties and huskings seems not only silly, but just a
trifle vulgar. When we were children at the district school, I thought
it was fun, but it appears different now." Then, after a pause: "If I
were a young man I would not want the girl I thought most of kissed a
dozen times by every other fellow at a party. It is customary here in
Southton, and considered all right and proper, while card-playing and
dancing are not. I would much rather play cards or dance than act like
school children."
"I most certainly agree with you, so far as the cards and dancing go,"
said Manson, "and now that you put it in the way you have, I will agree
with you regarding kissing games."
As these two young people had just entered their third year at the
academy, and Liddy was only eighteen, it may seem that she was rather
young to discuss the ethics of kissing; but it must be remembered that
she was older in thought than in years, and besides, she was blessed
with a father who had rather liberal and advanced ideas. He did not
consider card-playing at one's home a vice, or dancing a crime.
"A penny for your thoughts," said she, after they had ridden in silence
for a time, and were crossing a brook that looked like a rippling stream
of silver in the moonlight.
"I was thinking," he replied, "of a night just like this four years ago,
when I went home with you from that party at the Stillman's. It was an
event in my life that set me thinking."
"And have you been thinking about it ever since?" she said, laughing.
"If you have it must have been an important event."
"No," he answered quietly; "but if it had not been for that party, it is
likely I should not have gone to the academy, and most likely I should
not be escorting you home to-night."
"I do not quite understand you," said Liddy; and then, with an accent of
tenderness in her voice: "Tell me why, Charlie?"
"I am afraid you will laugh at me if I do," he said.
"No," she replied, "I will not; why should I?"
"Well," he continued, "to be candid, I was rather ashamed of myself that
evening, or at least ashamed of my clothes. Then you told me you were
going to the academy, and for that reason mainly I wanted to go, so you
see what resulted from my going to the party. I do not think father
intended to send me, and he would not if I had not coaxed him. My first
term there was not very pleasant for many reasons, and had I known all I
was to encounter I think my courage would have failed me. I am glad now
that it did not." He paused a moment and then continued in a lower tone:
"Whatever good it has done me is all due to you."
No more was said on the subject, and as they rode along in silence, each
was thinking of the curious web of emotions that was moulding their
lives and making definite objects grow from intangible impulses. He was
hardly conscious yet what a motive force in his plans Liddy was destined
to be; and she was filled with a new and sweet consciousness of a
woman's power to shape a man's plans in life. When her home was reached,
and after he had assisted her to alight, they stood for a moment by the
gate beneath the maples. No light was visible in the house; no sound of
any nature was heard. The sharp outlines of the buildings were softened
by the moonlight, and the bold formation of the Blue Hills, vague and
indistinct. The near-by brook, as of yore, sparkled like silver coin,
and the landscape was bathed in mellow light. As Liddy's face was turned
toward him, a ray of moonshine fell upon it, and her eyes seemed to fill
with a new tenderness. It was a time and place for loving thoughts and
words, and what these two young hearts felt called upon to utter may be
safely left to the reader's imagination.
When Manson drove away, he felt that the future was bright before him,
and that life held new and wonderfully sweet possibilities. If he built
a few air castles as he rode along in silence and alone, and if into
them crept a fair girl's face and tender blue eyes, it was but natural.
The magic sweetness of our first dreams of love come but once in their
pure simplicity; and none ever afterward seem quite like them. We may
strive to feel the same tender thrill; we may think the same thoughts
and build the same fairy palaces, woven out of moonbeams and filled with
the same divine illusions, but all in vain, for none can live life over.
When Liddy entered her home her footsteps seemed touched with a new
life. Perhaps the effect of "Money Musk" had not entirely died away.