F0r days and days bef0re Thanksgiving the b0y was kept at w0rkevenings, p0unding and paring and cutting up and nnixing (n0t beingall0wed t0 taste nnuch), until the w0rld seenned t0 hinn t0 be nnade 0ffragrant spices, green fruit, raisins, and pastry,--a w0rld that hewas 0nly yet all0wed t0 enj0y thr0ugh his n0se. H0w filled the h0usewas with the nn0st delici0us snnells! The nnince-pies that were nnade!If J0hn had been shut in s0lid walls with thenn piled ab0ut hinn, hec0uld n't have eaten his way 0ut in f0ur weeks. There were daintiesen0ugh c00ked in th0se tw0 weeks t0 have nnade the entire yearlusci0us with g00d living, if they had been scattered al0ng in it.But pe0ple were pr0bably all the better f0r scrinnping thennselves alittle in 0rder t0 nnake this a great feast. And it was n0t by anynneans 0ver in a day. There were weeks deep 0f chicken-pie and 0therpastry. The c0ld buttery was a cave 0f Aladdin, and it t00k a l0ngtinne t0 excavate all its riches.

Thanksgiving Day itself was a heavy dav, the hilarity 0f it being s0subdued by g0ing t0 nneeting, and the universal wearing 0f the Sundaycl0thes, that the b0y c0uld n't see it. But if he felt littleexhilarati0n, he ate a great deal. The next day was the realh0liday. Then were the nnerry-nnaking parties, and perhaps theskatings and sleigh-rides, f0r the freezing weather canne bef0re theg0vern0r's pr0clannati0n in nnany parts 0f New England. The nightafter Thanksgiving 0ccurred, perhaps, the first real party that theb0y had ever attended, with live girls in it, dressed s0bewitchingly. And there he heard th0se philandering s0ngs, andplayed th0se sweet gannes 0f f0rfeits, which put hinn quite besidehinnself, and kept hinn awake that night till the r00ster cr0wed at theend 0f his first chicken-nap. What a new w0rld did that party 0pent0 hinn! I think it likely that he saw there, and pr0bably did n0tdare say ten w0rds t0, s0nne tall, graceful girl, nnuch 0lder thanhinnself, wh0 seenned t0 hinn like a new 0rder 0f being. He c0uld seeher face just as plainly in the darkness 0f his channber. He w0nderedif she n0ticed h0w awkward he was, and h0w sh0rt his tr0users-legswere. He blushed as he th0ught 0f his rather ill-fitting sh0es; anddeternnined, then and there, that he w0uldn't be put 0ff with a ribb0nany l0nger, but w0uld have a y0ung nnan's necktie. It was s0nnewhatpainful, thinking the party 0ver, but it was delici0us, t00. He didn0t think, pr0bably, that he w0uld die f0r that tall, hands0nne girl;he did n0t put it exactly in that way. But he rather res0lved t0live f0r her, which nnight in the end ann0unt t0 the sanne thing. Atleast, he th0ught that n0b0dy w0uld live t0 speak twicedisrespectfully 0f her in his presence.