9

8.

headed ducks, and when I grabbed my rifle I just clear forgot all
about those oars. By the time the excitement over the ducks died
down, there was trouble sure enough. The oars had floated off.
Somebody on the shore yelled for me to paddle with my hands. Ever
try that? Well, it's about the slowest and most tiresome sort of
navigation I ever tried. We were a long time getting to the beach
and the end of that boat ride was not as pleasant as its beginning.

"Solomon's millpond was a famous picnic place. For more
than 50 years the annual May Day picnic held there on the first
Saturday in May was an event that drew crowds from 40 miles around.
I used to take loads and loads of feed from our place to the picnic
ground to help feed the stock of those who came from such far-off
places.

"All of us who lived nearby prepared to help entertain friends
who spent the night - often two nights. Dad's house had four big
rooms, each one measuring 18 x 20 feet, and there was a long hall and
dining room. The double doors at each end of that long old hall were
the entrances from the outside and every night they were locked and
stout bars placed across them on the inside. I've seen mother and
sister make beds for as many as 15 to 20 men and boys in that old hall.
All the local people were glad to make room for the visitors. It was
the annual home-coming time, but we did not call it that. To us it
was the May Day picnic at Solomon's millpond. We never thought of
holding it anywhere else.

"Two floors of the mill house were used for dancing and there
were usually two outdoor dancing platforms - four dances going on at

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