"Oh! you mean the time you whistled 'Listen to the Mocking Bird.' I
wish you had repeated it to-night."

Cobb's Twins, William and James, with their wives, were next in line.

"How's farming?" asked Quincy.

"Bill and I," said James, "spend most of our time on our own places,
but we help 'Zeke and Hiram out on their hayin' an' potato diggin'."

"Samantha," said Quincy, addressing Mrs. James Cobb, "do you remember
the first time I came to see Miss Putnam?"

"Oh, yes, I'd heard about you goin' round with Huldy Mason. Didn't I
laugh when I showed you into Aunt Heppy's room? She did the hearin'
for both of 'em, for you remember her husband, Silas, was as deaf as
a stone post."

"Mrs. Putnam found out all about me before I got away. I shall never
forget what she told me about her husband sitting on the ridge pole
of the barn, blowing his horn, and waiting for Gabriel to come for
him."

As Robert Wood came up, Quincy stepped from the line to greet him.

"Your hand ain't quite as hard as it was five years ago," said
Robert.

"No, I'm out of practice. You could handle me now."