THE PUDDLEFORD PAPERS

CONTENTS.


CHAPTER I. PAGE

Puddleford.--Eagle Tavern.--Mr. and Mrs. Bulliphant.--May
Morning.--Birds.--Venison Styles.--General Character of
Society.--The Colonel.--Venison Styles's Cabin. 17


CHAPTER II.

Lawsuit: Filkins against Beadle.--Squire Longbow and his
Court.--Puddleford assembled.--Why Squire Longbow was a
Great Man.--Ike Turtle and Sile Bates, Pettifoggers.--Mrs.
Sonora Brown.--Uproar and Legal Opinions.--Seth
Bolles.--Miss Eunice Grimes.--Argument to Jury, and Verdict. 34


CHAPTER III.

Wanderings in the Wilderness.--A Bee-Hunt.--Sunrise.--The
Fox-Squirrel.--The Blue-Jay.--The Gopher.--The
Partridges.--Wild Geese, Ducks, and Cranes.--Blackbirds and
Meadow-Larks.--Venison's Account of the Bees' Domestic
Economy.--How Venison found what he was in Search of.--Honey
secured.--After-Reflections. 54


CHAPTER IV.

The Log-Chapel.--Father Beals.--Aunt Graves.--Sister
Abigail.--Bigelow Van Slyck, the Preacher.--His
Entrée.--How he worked.--One of his Sermons.--Performance
of the Choir.--"Coronation" achieved.--Getting into
Position.--Personal Appeals.--Effect on the
Congregation.--Sabbath in the Wilderness.--Is Bigelow the
only Ridiculous Preacher? 66


CHAPTER V.

Indian Summer.--Venison Styles again.--Jim Buzzard.--Fishing
Excursion.--Muskrat City.--Indian Burying-Ground.--The
Pickerel and the Rest of the Fishes.--The Prairie.--Wild
Geese.--The Old Mound.--Venison's Regrets at the
degenerating Times.--His Luck, and Mine.--Reminiscences of
the Beavers.--Camping out.--Safe Return. 81


CHAPTER VI.

Educational Efforts.--Squire Longbow's "Notis."--"The
Saterday Nite."--Ike and the Squire.--Various Remarks to the
Point.--Mrs. Fizzle and the Temperance Question.--Collection
taken.--General Result. 96


CHAPTER VII.

Social War.--Longbow, Turtle & Co.--Bird, Swipes, Beagle &
Co.--Mrs. Bird.--Mrs. Beagle.--Mrs. Swipes.--Turkey and
Aristocracy.--Scandal.--Husking-Bees, and "such like."--The
Calathumpian Band.--The Horse-Fiddle.--The Giant
Trombone.--The Gyastacutas.--Tuning up.--Unparalleled
Effort.--Puddleford still a Representative Place. 105


CHAPTER VIII.

Puddleford and Politics.--Higgins against Wiggins.--The
Candidates' Personale.--Their Platforms.--Delicate
Questions.--Stump Speaking.--Wiggins on
Higgins.--Impertinent Interruptions.--Higgins on
Wiggins.--Ike Turtle not dead yet.--Commotion.--Squire
Longbow restores Order.--Grand Stroke of Policy.--The Roast
Ox at Gillett's Corners. 115


CHAPTER IX.

Winter upon us.--The Roosters in the early Morning.--The
Blue-Jays and the Squirrels.--The Improvident Turkey.--The
Domestic Hearth, and who occupied it.--The Old Dog.--The
Blessed Old Mail-Horse.--The Newspapers.--Our
Come-to-Tea.--Mrs. Brown, her Arrival and
Experiences.--Entrée of Bird, Beagles & Co.--Conflicting
Elements, and how Ike Turtle assimilated all.--Gratifying
Consequences. 128


CHAPTER X.

Mrs. Longbow taken sick.--General Interest.--Dr.
Teazle.--His Visit.--"The Rattles."--Scientific
Diagnosis.--A Prescription.--Short and Dr. Dobbs.--"Pantod
of the Heart."--Dismissal of Teazle.--Installation of
Dobbs.--"Scyller and Chara_bi_des."--Ike's Views.--The
Colonel's.--Bates's.--Mrs. Longbow dies.--Who killed her:
conflicting Opinions.--Her Funeral.--Bigelow Van Slyck's
Sermon.--Interment. 148


CHAPTER XI.

Squire Longbow in Mourning.--The Great Question.--Aunt
Sonora's Opinion.--Other People's.--The Squire goes to
Church.--His Appearance on that Occasion.--Aunt Graves, and
her Extra Performance.--"Nux Vomica."--Anxious
Mothers.--Mary Jane Arabella Swipes.--Sister Abigail.--Ike
Turtle, and his Designs.--He calls on Aunt Graves.--She'll
go it.--Sister Abigail's Objection.--The Squire's First Love
Letter.--The Wedding.--Great Getting-up.--Turtle's
Examination.--The Squire runs the Risk of "the
Staterts."--Bigelow's Ceremony.--General Break-Down.--Not