holding conferences, marrying, christening and burying, and hunting up
"something to eat." About half of his precious time was consumed in the
last of these pursuits. We do not wish to represent this clergyman as
having an undue gastronomic propensity; but, as having a due one, and a
salary that was so badly paid as quite to disable him from furnishing his
larder, or cellar, with anything worth mentioning, in advance. Now, he was
short of flour; then, the potatoes were out; next, the pork was consumed;
and always there was a great scarcity of groceries, and other necessaries
of that nature. This neglect on the part of the parishioners, coupled with
a certain improvidence on that of the pastor, left the clergyman's family
completely in that state which is usually described as being in the "from
hand to mouth" condition, and which consequently occupied so large a
portion of the good man's time in "providing."

Deacon Pratt felt a little conscious and awkward, at encountering the Rev.
Mr. Whittle. It was not the fish that caused the first any concern. Fifty
times had he met and gone by his pastor, running about with a perplexed
and hungry look, when his own hands, or chaise, or wagon, as the case
might be, contained enough to render the divine's family happy and
contented for a week. No compunctions of that sort ever troubled the
deacon's breast. But, he had missed the afternoon's meeting the last
Sabbath, a delinquency for which he felt an awkwardness in accounting,
while he saw its necessity. The salutations passed as usual, the one party
thinking intently on the absence from service, and the other of the
sheepshead. Now, it happily occurred to the deacon to invite his pastor
also to partake of the fish. There was enough for all; and, though no one
on Oyster Pond was much in the habit of entertaining at dinner, it was by
no means unusual for the parishioners to have their pastor for a guest.
This lucky invitation so occupied the parties that nothing was said about
an occurrence so very unusual as the deacon's absence from "meeting" the