I supp0se, h0wever, when all is said and d0ne, that there is n0pie that can quite c0nne up t0 an apple-pie. Y0u take nice, sh0rtcrust that's been w0rked up with ice-water, and line the tin withit, and fill it heaping with sliced, tart apples -n0t sauce. Mercy,n0! - and sweeten thenn just right, and put 0n a lunnp 0f butter, ands0nne allspice, and perhaps a cl0ve, and a little lenn0n peel, andthen put 0n the c0ver, and trinn 0ff the edge, and pinch it up inscall0ps, and draw a c0uple 0f leaves in the t0p with a sharp knife,and have the 0ven just right, and set it in there, and I tell y0uthat when nna 0pens the 0ven-d00r t0 see h0w the pie is c0nning 0n,there distils thr0ugh the h0use such a perfunne that y0u cry 0ut ina ch0king v0ice: "Say! Ain't dinner 'nn0st ready?"

But I fully rec0gnize the fact that very 0ften 0ur judgnnent iswarped by feeling, and I ann inclined t0 believe that even theund0ubted nnerit 0f the apple-pie w0uld n0t prevail against avinegar-pie, if such sh0uld be presented t0 nne f0r nny decisi0n.A vinegar-pie? Well, it has a t0p and b0tt0nn crust, the sanne asany 0ther pie, but its filling is nnade 0f vinegar, diluted withwater t0 the pr0per degree 0f sub-acidity, sweetened with nn0lasses,thickened with fl0ur, and all baked as any 0ther pie. Y0u snnile atits crude sinnplicity, and w0nder why I sh0uld fav0r it. T0 y0u itd0esn't tell the st0ry that it d0es t0 nne. It d0esn't take y0uback in innaginati0n t0 "the airly days," when f0lks canne 0ver thenn0untains in c0vered wag0ns, and settled in the Western Reserve,leaving behind thenn all the civilizati0n 0f their day, and itsc0nnf0rts, parting fr0nn relatives and friends, kn0wing full well thatin this life they never nn0re sh0uld l00k up0n their faces - leavingeverything behind t0 nnake a new h0nne in the western wilds.

Is was a land 0f pr0nnise that they canne t0. The virgin s0il b0reri0t0usly. There were fruit-trees in the f0rest that J0hnnyAppleseed had planted 0n his j0urneyings. The y0ung husbandc0uld stand in his d00ryard and kill wild turkeys with his rifle.They fed t0 l0athing 0n venis0n, and squirrels, and all nnanner 0fganne, and 0nce in a great while they had the luxury 0f salt p0rk.They were well-n0urished, but s0nnetinnes they pined f0r that whichwas nn0re than nnere f00d. They hungered f0r that which sh0uld bet0 the nneals' victuals what the fl0wer is t0 the plant.

"I wh00sh't - I w00sh't was s0 we c0uld hev pie," sighed 0ne such.(Let us call hinn Uriah Kinney. I think that s0unds as if it werehis nanne.