Part 79 (1/2)
”Do you get along any better for it?”
”Wall”--slowly--”I should say we did. There ain't no quarrellin', nor fightin', nor anybody took up for the jail, nor no one livin' in the poorhouse--'thout it's some tramp on his way to some place where there _is_ liquor. An' _he_ don't want to stay.”
”What are those two figures yonder among the gra.s.s?” Mrs. Lenox now asked; she also having come out of the house in search of objects of interest, the interior offering none.
”Them?” said Mr. Sears. ”Them's Lois and her aunt. Their baskets is gettin' heavy, too. I'll make the fire for ye, Miss Charity,” he cried, lifting his voice; and therewith disappeared.
”What are they doing?” Mrs. Lenox asked, in a lower tone.
”Digging clams,” Mrs. Barclay informed her.
”Digging clams! How do they dig them?”
”With a hoe, I believe.”
”I ought to go and offer my services,” said the gentleman, rising.
”Do not think of it,” said Mrs. Barclay. ”You could not go without plunging into wet, soft mud; the clams are found only there, I believe.”
”How do _they_ go?”
”Barefoot-dressed for it.”
”_Un_dressed for it,” said Mrs. Lenox. ”Barefoot in the mud! Could you have conceived it!”
”They say the mud is warm,” Mrs. Barclay returned, keeping back a smile.
”But how horrid!”
”I am told it is very good sport. The clams are shy, and endeavour to take flight when they hear the strokes of the hoe; so that it comes to a trial of speed between the pursuer and the pursued; which is quite exciting.”
”I should think, if I could see a clam, I could pick it up,” Mrs. Lenox said scornfully.
”Yes; you cannot see them.”
”Do you mean, they run away _under ground?_”
”So I am told.”
”How can they? they have no feet.”
Mrs. Barclay could not help laughing now, and confessed her ignorance of the natural powers of the clam family.
”Where is that old man gone to make his fire? didn't he say he was going to make a fire?”
”Yes; in the cooking-house.”
”Where is that?” And Mrs. Lenox came down the steps and went to explore. A few yards from the bathing-house, just within the enclosure fence, she found a small building, hardly two yards square, but thoroughly built and possessing a chimney. The door stood open; within was a cooking-stove, in which fire was roaring; a neat pile of billets of wood for firing, a tea-kettle, a large iron pot, and several other kitchen utensils.
”What is this for?” inquired Mrs. Lenox, looking curiously in.