We all bit, eight bites at once; as it chanced no one got a "Jonah," and the eight fried pies rapidly disappeared. "But these are good!" cried our visitor, "Mine was gooseberry." Then turning to Theodora, "How many times can a fellow try for a 'Jonah' here?" "Five times!" replied Doad, laughing and not a little pleased with the praise. The platter was passed again, and again no one got bran and cayenne. But at the third passing, I saw Kate start visibly when our visitor chose his pie. "All ready. Bite!" he cried; and we bit! but at the first taste he stopped short, rolled his eyes around and shook his head with his capacious mouth full. "Oh, but you need not eat it, sir!" cried Theodora, rushing round to him. "You need not do anything!" But without a word our bulky visitor had sunk slowly out of his chair and pushing it back, disappeared under the long table. For a moment we all sat, scandalized, then shouted in spite of ourselves. In the midst of our confused hilarity, the table began to oscillate; it rose slowly several inches, then moved off, rattling, toward the sitting-room door! Our jolly visitor had it on his back and was crawling ponderously but carefully away with it on his hands and knees;--and the rest of us were getting ourselves and our chairs out of the way! In fact, the remainder of that luncheon was a perfect gale of laughter. The table _walked_ clean around the room and came very carefully back to its original position. After the hilarity had subsided, the girls served some very nice large, sweet blackberries, which our visitor appeared to relish greatly. He told us of his boyhood at Paris Hill; of his fishing for trout in the brooks thereabouts, of the time he broke his arm and of the doctor who set it so unskilfully that it had to be broken again and re-set; of the beautiful tourmaline crystals which he and his brother found at Mt. Mica; and of his school-days at Hebron Academy; and all with such feeling and such a relish, that for an hour we were rapt listeners. [Illustration: FRIED PIES.] When at length he declared that he positively must be going on his way, we begged him to remain over night, and brought out his horse with great reluctance. Before getting into the buggy, he took us each by the hand and saluted the girls, particularly "Doad," in a truly paternal manner. "I've had a good time!" said he. "I am glad to see you all here at this old farm in my dear native state; but (and we saw the moisture start in his great black eyes) it touches my heart more than I can tell you, to know of the sad reason for your coming here. You have my heartiest sympathy. "Tell your grandparents, that I should have been very glad to see them," he added, as he got in the buggy and took the reins from Addison. "But, sir," said Theodora, earnestly, for we were all crowding up to the buggy, "grandfather will ask who it was that called."